Dogs Help With Health and Aging

It is well known that we need to get regular exercise to minimize the effects that aging has on us. "Use it or lose it" as the saying goes. The thing about dogs, they need to be outside regularly throughout the day to empty out. Doesn't matter if we're feeling lazy and don't want to move. When they need to go out for a walk, unless we don't mind a mess in the house, we need to accommodate their needs.

Going for a walk with our dog is nice therapeutic exercise. Its also nice that its needed multiple times throughout the day. The more we move, the better our joints respond. We need need physical activity to keep healthy, just as we need a healthy diet and good sleep. Dogs are our autopilot health persuaders, its good for them and good for us. This is especially important now that many of us work remotely at a desk all day.

My 81 year old mother is in great shape for her age, she can hike for 2 hours in the forest no problem. She hikes multiple times with her dog throughout the day, this is something that really keeps her aging trajectory going in a good direction. Her strength and mobility are great and she doesn't have any aches or pains typical in elderly people.

So consider taking your dog on longer walks instead of just a lazy moment out in the back yard. It will help with your health and aging, and also theirs. Here's a couple pictures of us recently walking one night in the forest with my mom and our dogs. She's the one with the flashlight leading our way heading into total darkness by the time we finished our hike.