Obesity is at epidemic levels worldwide. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that by 2018 the cost of treating weight-related illnesses will double to almost $350 billion a year. A 2010 report by the U.S. Surgeon General estimates that two-thirds of American adults and almost one in three children are now overweight or obese. Similar statistics emphasize the staggering problem in other industrialized countries. This volume originated in a special 2009 symposium funded in part by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) and sponsorship from Mars-WalthamTM on how human-animal interaction may help fight obesity across the lifespan. It provides systematic presentation of the scientific evidence for this powerful expression of the benefits of the human-animal bond. The volume will be especially valuable as a sourcebook of evidence-based studies for public health professionals treating overweight humans and veterinarians treating obese dogs.

"This book provides the scientific evidence about the benefits of dog walking for both humans and dogs to manage weight"--Provided by publisher.

A dog is an ideal workout partner: always supportive, happy to go for a walk, and never judgmental. When people and dogs exercise together, fitness and health happen on both ends of the leash. As the obesity epidemic spreads, 70 percent of Americans and 50 percent of dogs are overweight or obese, resulting in staggering health care costs and suffering. The causes, consequences, and treatment for the overweight and obese are strikingly similar in people and dogs. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, written by an expert veterinary surgeon and leading nurse researcher, helps you move from a food-centered relationship with dogs to an exercise-centered relationship. This volume is designed for dog lovers, dog owners, and families. Based on the latest scientific findings, it will also help professionals (including physicians, veterinarians, and physical therapists) fight obesity and promote fitness in both people and pets. Never has there been a more compelling time for innovative approaches to increasing physical activity, reforming sedentary lifestyles, and enhancing fitness. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound provides specific strategies for people and dogs to exercise together, lose weight together, and have fun in the process.

Walking your dog regularly provides a basic foundation for physical and mental health. Like a child, your dog wants to know the world. If he or she is confined to the house for too long, your dog will get bored, and boredom can lead to destructive behavior. Your dog is dependent on you to take them out to explore the sights, smells, and sounds of the world. This is why it's also good to vary the places you take your pet as dog much as possible. You've probably noticed how busy (and excited) your dog gets when he or she is walking, so let them enjoy every opportunity to discover! If walking your dog is a challenge, then this is the book for you! It outlines what equipment you'll need for successful walks, as well as techniques to achieve great loose lead walking. It talks about dog walking etiquette and how you should interact with other people and their dogs while out and about. This book discusses how much exercise your dog should have and what form it should take. It also looks at what you can do on those days when you just can't walk your dog, for whatever reason.

According to Kevin B DiBacco in "Pets Make People Better," pets provide profound mental and physical health benefits, from alleviating anxiety and depression to enhancing happiness and well-being through their comforting presence and unconditional love.

Nine out of ten adolescents fail to achieve Healthy People 2020 recommended levels of aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity leading to deleterious consequences for individuals and a public health epidemic (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Whereas all adolescents comprise a vulnerable population because of minimal levels of physical activity, those with an orthopedic limitation, including slipped capitol femoral epiphyses or Blount's disease, are at greater risk despite shared characteristics with the general adolescent population such as normal cognition and independent ambulation. Few, if any, interventions examine effective strategies for physical activity in this population. Therapy dog-walking is proposed as an original approach for physical activity. Although this form of human-animal interaction is a potential strategy for increasing physical activity and overall health, it lacks credibility due to a paucity of studies using well-constructed, experimental designs (Marino, 2012). The objective of this pilot study was to use a one group (n=7), prospective, pre/post design to assess feasibility and acceptability, and to serve as the foundation for future research on therapy dog-walking in this population. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed by results of the recruitment strategy, by process evaluation, and by participant satisfaction survey and interview. Descriptive statistics summarized participant demographics and protocol requirements, including the use of accelerometers. Wilcoxon matched pairs tests were used to assess participants' experience with the dogs. Paired samples t-tests compared physical activity levels before, during, and after the dog-walking intervention. Pender's health promotion model was the guiding framework for this study. Physical activity levels were significantly increased during the intervention compared to before (p=.049) and after (p=.025) as well as during the walking sessions themselves (p=.000). Participants and parents expressed high enthusiasm for the program: six of the seven participants attended 100% of the walking sessions when no restrictions to physical activity participation were present. No differences between the participant's pre and post-intervention dog experience were found. These findings indicate a therapy dog-walking program is an acceptable and feasible strategy for increasing physical activity in this population. Additional research with more rigorous methodological design and refinement of the data collection methods is required.

Why do people who have dogs live happier, longer, and more fulfulling lives? Sociologists and veterinarians have spent years investigating the positive effects that dogs have on people's health and happiness yet their findings are inaccessible to ordinary people, hidden in obscure journals to be shared with other experts. Now the international bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series has collected the most current and significant data from more than a thousand of the best scientific studies on the profound relationship between humans and our canine companions. These findings have been boiled down to the one hundred essential ways dogs positively impact our lives. Each fact is accompanied by a inspiring true story. If you love your dog, and science tells us that you do, this book will inspire and entertain. Communicate Better: It sounds odd to say a creature that communicates with barking and body language can have such a profound effect on human communication. But by providing a common point of reference and concern, dogs help us to feel a connection to other humans. That connection makes us feel more comfortable communicating with each other. When meeting a new person, the presence of a dog reduces the time before people feel comfortable while talking with each other by 45 percent. Live Longer: There is perhaps no better gift that dogs offer us humans than this simple fact. People who care for a dog live longer, healthier lives than those who do not. On average, people who cared for dogs during their lives lived 3 years longer than people who never had a dog. No Monkey Business: Primates are genetically more similar to humans than any other creature. But try to tell a chimpanzee something and you will be hard pressed to get your message across. Dogs are uniquely attuned to the messages we send. Dogs study humans and have evolved to build social skills that help them to function around us. Dogs are 52 percent more likely to follow human cues such as pointing toward a source of food than are primates. Around the Block: Good habits are often misunderstood as difficult or unpleasant chores. But there is tremendous value in the simple act of taking a walk. Walking not only burns calories, it also decreases stress. Having a dog means regularly talking walks – it's something you do for your dog but in truth your dog is doing for you. Dog owners walk 79 percent farther in an average week than non–dog owners.