Email Reminders Lead to Health Benefits of Walking Dogs

The Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI) Foundation is a non-profit research and education organization that is gathering, funding and sharing scientific research to demonstrate the positive health impacts of companion animals. They’ve revealed a cool and easy way to stay in shape with the help of email reminders boosting health benefits of walking dogs.

Recently, the organization conducted research that found even just an occasional email reminder, can result in increased physical activity among dog owners as well as non-dog owners. During the 12-months of the study, email intervention consisted of positive messages stressing the importance of walking. The emails highlighted the health benefits for both dog and walker. Participants received emails twice every week for the first four weeks of the intervention along with emails once a week for the next eight weeks. Investigators targeted the confidence of participants which they hypothesized would directly influence the frequency and consistency of walking. Dog owner participants reported that dogs started expecting their walk during the study as a result the humans were actually conditioned to meet their dog’s expectation.

“Because an email reminder is so simple, these findings should be easy to replicate, encouraging dog owners and non-dog owners alike to lead more physically active lifestyles” said Elizabeth A. Richards, Ph.D., RN, CHES, of Purdue University.