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Your Health

August 26, 2006

The Dog Walker's "Diet"

via "Renaissance Poodles" Poodle Rescue of New England Newsletter - Autumn 2006

A new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia has found that having a pet can encourage owners to get more exercise and results in more weight loss than most nationally known diet plans. . . .

"The results of the first group were wonderful. . . . By the end of the study, all the participants were walking for longer periods of time and walking for daily errands instead of using some other type of transportation.

"In addition, two of the participants made a trip to the humane society to adopt animals, and several began volunteering to walk the dogs at the shelter. Many of them told us that they didn't necessarily walk in the study because they knew it was good for their health; they enjoyed walking because they knew it was good for the animals."

Read about the study on line at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine website: "Daily Dog Walks Work Off Weight for Owners, MU Researchers Find."

February 6, 2005

Health benefits related to dogs

My intent was always to have a place to work that was the right mix of corporate and artistic—part of creating that environment is to wear suits and have dogs.

The dog-friendly corporate philosophy of Roger Sametz, president and founder of Boston branding firm Sametz Blackstone Associates, is not just about dogs: it's about a better workplace for people. Sametz Blackstone Associates was featured in an article on December 12, 2004 in the Boston Globe, "Some companies help to lick stress by allowing dogs at work" (via Boston Pooch*). According to the article

a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in 2001 found that having pets in the office created a more productive work environment among 73 percent of the participating companies. The association's survey, which included workplaces with dogs, cats, fish, small animals, reptiles, and birds, showed a reduction in absenteeism of 27 percent among employees.

Another study conducted at the State University of New York at Buffalo and published in 2001 found that "control of borderline hypertension [high blood pressure] can be assisted by a behavioral intervention involving a pet dog."

Now, if having a pet dog in your home can help to lower your blood pressure, and if allowing pets in the workplace can improve employee morale, reduce absenteeism and help to make employees more willing to stay late, it stands to reason that allowing residents to enjoy municipal parks with their pets will also reduce tension, for example the tension in neighborhoods between people who want to enjoy parks with our dogs and people who want to enjoy dog-free parks.

It just so happens that it was precisely the dog-friendly Sametz Blackstone Associates who researched and installed the multi-colored educational signs at Somerville's "story park," Conway Park. As a Globe article put it last year, the City hired the corporate branding firm "to boost its self-respect and attract outsiders." An article in the Somerville Journal emphasized that

the park and story signs were created to be accessible to kids. It has been tailored so that children can take field trips to the park and learn about the history. However, there is something there for everyone, from sports, to industry and gardening.

Correction: there is something at Conway Park for everyone except families with dogs.

Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy playing sports—both in organized leagues and in casual games among family and friends, but not residents who enjoy playing with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy bicycling, walking, in-line skating and running, but not residents who enjoy walking with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy simply spending time outdoors—gardening, reading, socializing, etc., but not residents who enjoy spending time outdoors with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate families with young children, but families must leave our dogs home while we enjoy Somerville's parks.

A dog-friendly policy for Somerville's open spaces is not about dedicating parks to dogs, it's about creatively managing the City's open spaces in a way that accomodates the diverse needs of Somerville families. "The right mix" of recreational opportunities is exactly what Somerville needs.

*UPDATE 22 February 2006: The BostonPooch site is, alas, defunct.

November 22, 2004

The Dog Walkers Diet

When Sue Lundstrom hit middle age, she knew she was going to have to work harder to keep the pounds from creeping up on her.

So she grabbed a leash and took her dogs for a walk. ``Once I turned 40, I realized I needed to do a lot of walking to keep off weight,'' said Lundstrom, 45, who walks a 3-mile path in North Reading with her dogs, Bert and Thomas, five times a week.

Via the Boston Herald.

Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., the makers of Science Diet® and Prescription Diet®1 sponsored the People and Pets Exercising Together (P-PET) study, a study of "the effectiveness of treatment of both overweight people and overweight pet dogs in a combined targeted program compared to focusing on people alone and pet dogs alone," and has tips for exercising together.

1Strummer eats Eukanuba® Natural Lamb & RiceTM.