What's More Important For Your Good Health - Your Dog Or Your Personal Trainer?

According to Texas A&M University, numerous studies show that pets provide undisputed medical benefits:

(1) Dog owners have lower blood pressure. It only takes 10 minutes in the company of a dog to significantly reduce blood pressure rates.

(2) Owning a dog is estimated to decrease heart attack mortality rates by 3% - many thousands of lives a year.

(3) Dog owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than non-dog owners.

(4) In a study of Medicare patients, dog owners made 21% fewer trips to a physician.

(5) Children exposed to dogs during their first years of life have a lower frequency of some allergies and asthma.

(6) Pet owners have better overall physical health due to exercise with their pets
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So what's your excuse? Dogs make wonderful trail companions and it is a hobby you can do anywhere, at anytime of the year.

For dog owners it is important to realize that not all parks are open to our four-legged friends. it is sometimes hard for dog owners to believe but not everyone loves dogs. We are, in fact, in the minority when compared with our non-dog-owning neighbors. As such, rules can change rapidly to ban dogs from even more of our public parks. It doesn't take a referendum or a ballot count for "NO DOGS" signs to appear overnight.

So make sure your dog is a good citizen on the trail - don't bother other hikers and pick up after him - and you will be embarking on a passion that will last a lifetime.

Get fit - grab a leash and hit the trail!