It's a well-worn cliché: A dog is man's best friend. But the benefits of dog ownership extend beyond mere companionship. According to the Humane Society of the United States, researchers have long known that pets, particularly those of the canine variety, can greatly benefit our physical health. Interacting with pets can lower blood pressure, slow the loss of bone tissue and generally help people live longer.

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And now the University of Missouri finds that dogs might be an instrumental tool in weight loss. A new study indicates that having a pet can encourage owners to get more exercise and results in more weight loss than most nationally known diet plans.

"Our goal was to look for ways to increase the average exercise regimen, and we found being responsible for a pet, such as committing to walk a loaner dog, encouraged people who did not own dogs to walk more often and for longer periods of time," said Rebecca Johnson, associate professor of nursing and director of the College of Veterinary Medicine's Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction. "Our first study group averaged a weight loss of 14 pounds during the one-year program."

The research project encouraged economically disadvantaged, disabled participants to walk with dogs on a regular, graduated schedule. Participants began the program by walking 10 minutes per day, three times each week. Eventually, the participants walked up to 20 minutes per day, five times each week. During rainy days, the participants walked an inside route.

The study suggests that the increase in exercise and weight loss wasn't just because walking became habitual, but because of the dogs themselves. Johnson explained, "Two of the participants made a trip to the humane society to adopt animals, and several began volunteering to walk the dogs at the shelter. Many of them told us that they didn't necessarily walk in the study because they knew it was good for their health; they enjoyed walking because they knew it was good for the animals."

The dogs in the study were provided by the Pet Assisted Love and Support program at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. The dogs are pets of faculty and staff at the college and must pass rigorous safety training procedures and a "good citizenship" test before they are allowed to be in the program. In addition, all human participants in the program were fitted with new walking shoes.

The Missouri Foundation for Health funded the study. Johnson's next research project involves people taking animals to the gym. While walking only addresses certain aspects of fitness, Johnson believes that animals viewed as support companions while at the gym can increase a participant's self-esteem and encourage them to exercise in other ways that will benefit their health.

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