Pet Dog's Are More Than Just Friends

Pet Care

oi-Denise Baptiste

By Denise Baptiste

Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 17:15

Dogs are man's best friends and the best part is that dogs can actually help one around the house. Proved to be the best house pet in a family, a dog is one animal who is indeed helpful, friendly and loving.

In a research that was conducted recently it is said that a pet dog can initially help your child get rid of being lazy. The study conducted by professor Sirard at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville said, “ You can think of your dog not only as your best friend, but also a social support tool for being active."

It is also said that keeping a dog at home can actually increase the child's behaviour as he/she becomes more physically active with the pet dog in physical fitness. The research showed that the test was done on 618 pairs of adolescents along with their dogs and parents who noticed the difference were quite stunned. The contestants who participated in the study were asked to wear accelerometers which helped them to see the time they spent moving around with the pet dog.

The accelerometers proved that the teenagers with the pet dogs showed more movement and were less concerned to slouching on a couch the whole day. The study also brought about the difference saying that the pet dog could log in 15 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity among parents at first but towards the result they were surprised to see that it was reflected in the kids and their physical fitness.

The researcher, Sirad stated that,'If dog ownership has an effect, we hypothesized it would have an effect on adults, but we didn"t see that. We saw it in the kids."

Therefore, whether you take the dog for a walk or not your child undergoes a certain amount of physical fitness for the animal makes you get off your feet and on the move constantly thus lessoning the chances of children becoming victims of obesity in the near future.