Dogs as Walking Buddies
10/20/09, East Hartford

The International Society for Anthrozoology annual conference begins today. Findings of a study, to be released at the conference, reports that older adults, age 74 to 87, displayed "significant increases" in balance, confidence and the speed of their walk when walking shelter dogs for 12 weeks. These markers help seniors avoid what is referred to as a "downward spiral."

The decline typically happens after an older adult has taken a spill and is now afraid to walk with a normal gait, fearing another fall. As individuals walk less, they lose lower-body strength (another good reason to get to the gym or to do chair exercises). Older adults may even isolate themselves from others because they feel they can't keep up with others. These findings are reported by the study's author, Rebecca Johnson, from the University of Missouri.

Johnson says that individuals in the 70-80 age bracket are devoted volunteers. Their motivation for showing up daily, without fail, to walk the dogs, was that "there was a dog that needed them." On the other hand, the group which was assigned to walk with another person frequently made excuses for not walking, especially if the weather was bad or the walking partner wasn't feeling well.

Seniors walking shelter dogs sounds like a great match. The people receive exercise and companionship and.....the dogs receive....exercise and companionship!

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