Exercise as it relates to Disease/Are there health benefits for dog owners?

This Wikibook contains a critical appraisal on the research article “Understanding Dog Owners’ Increased Levels of Physical Activity: Results From RESIDE” by Hayley Cutt, Billie Giles-Corti, Matthew Knuiman, Anna Timperio, and Fiona Bull.

What is the background to this research?
As sedentary behaviour is rapidly increasing globally, physical activity is decreasing significantly. Regular physical activity is proven to decrease the risk of diseases such as diabetes, some cancers and forms of heart conditions. There are many health benefits associated with physical activity, such as improving mental health and well-being if physical activity is implemented often and for an adequate duration and intensity.

1 in 4 adults and 3 in 4 adolescents do not meet the physical guidelines recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO). These statistics are the reason that physical activity interventions need to be implemented to promote physical activity.

Owning a dog comes with many responsibilities, one of which is dog walking. Dog walking has been shown to encourage engagement to regular physical activity. Owning a dog also promotes physical activity through companionship and active play such as playing fetch and running around with the dog. Owning a dog could be a possible physical activity intervention which could reduce sedentary behaviour and aid adults and adolescents to meet the physical activity guidelines.

Where is the research from?
Hayley Cutt and the PhD authors worked alongside the School of Population Heath, the University of Western Australia, the Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School; of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia. This research article was funded by the Australian Research Council and The Petcare Information and Advisory Service. The RESIDE project includes over 50 scientific publications on the results, along with over 15 postgraduate students from the University of Western Australia, that lead new projects in the field.

What kind of research was this?
This article is a quantitative research study which examined cross-sectional data through the use of questionnaires and surveys. The cross-sectional data limits the studies conclusions to an associative outcome, between owning a dog and the effect on physical activity and health benefits.

What did the research involve?
A total of 1813 consenting participants aged between 19-78 of which 40.5% were men. Using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire participants were to self-report their physical activity over a week. This cross-sectional data was then examined as a part of a 5-year longitudinal study, named RESIDE.

Information gathered was used to explore the association between dog ownership and:


 * Physical activity
 * Walking
 * Walking for recreation in the neighbourhood

Specific data was collected based on sociodemographic, physical environment, social environment and interpersonal factors of the neighbourhood and participants.

Examples of the information collected:

This study displays a successful physical activity intervention though the conclusions of this study are not causal. This research presents a comparison of physical activity between dog owners, for the data to be causal the study must be designed differently.
 * Gender of participants
 * Age of participants
 * Occupation and employment status of participants
 * Income of participants
 * Age and gender of family or housemates living the same house and marital status
 * If the participant owned a dog
 * Total walking time
 * Number of days active
 * Total physical activity

What were the basic results?
The results that this study found that dog owners are significantly more likely to participate in physical activity. Comparing dog owners to non-owners on recreational walks, dog owners are more likely to walk for a longer duration. Not only did dog owners participate in more frequent and longer duration of physical activity, but dog owners also perceived that they had more social support from their family and outlined increased neighbourhood cohesion. Dog owners additionally had higher intentions to walk and participate in other physical activity matching the recommended levels.

In a week, 22% of dog owners didn’t walk their dog and 23% of dog owners walked their dog more than 5 times a week. On average, dog owners walked their dog 2.6 times in a week. These results show that owning a dog could play a role in increasing physical activity in families.

What conclusions can we take from this research?
As 36% of Australians own a dog there is potential for a physical activity intervention. Interventions to increase physical activity should consider implementing the responsibility of owning a dog. Though through the results from this study there is only an association between physical exercise and dog ownership, not causality. There are many studies that have come to the same conclusion that dog owners are more likely to achieve the physical activity guidelines. Though, dogs are not the only animal to promote physical activity, pet owning in general has also been shown to promote physical activity. As this study was published in 2008, there has been further research in this field. In addition to the increase in physical activity for dog owners, there are also many physical and mental health benefits that have been investigated in more recent years. For example, tackling barriers and the lack of motivation to participate in physical activity.

Practical Advice
Increasing physical activity levels will have a beneficial impact on overall health. Following the WHO physical activity guidelines presents a better strategy to be able to meet the physical activity guidelines. Owning a dog will only assist in meeting the guidelines. Owners must participate in additional physical activity to meet the guidelines. The evidence shown in this study along with other research highlights the positive effects on health from owning a dog. However, for the intervention to be effective dog owners must accept the responsibility of owning a dog and commitment needed to keep the dog in good health, including necessary walks.

Further Information/Resources
For further information concerning the health benefits for dog owners; see the links below.


 * Health and Mood-Boosting Benefits of Pets: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/mood-boosting-power-of-dogs.htm
 * Benefits of Pet Ownership – RSPCA: https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-are-the-health-benefits-of-pet-ownership/
 * Pet Companionship: https://cvm.msu.edu/news/perspectives-magazine/perspectives-fall-2018/the-health-benefits-of-owning-a-companion-animal
 * Scientific Benefits of Dog Walking: https://whiskerstotailspetsitting.com/2020/03/benefits-dog-walking/