People throughout the ages have said that getting a dog forces them to get some exercise.  This seems intuitive — Dogs need to be walked!  Walking = exercise.  Done.

But, a recent study examining the effects of social influences on activity levels found that walking the dog was neither a positive nor a negative influence on activity levels.

Some social factors that had a negative impact on activity were:

• others discouraging activity
• no one to exercise with

Positive influences included:

• being a member of a sporting club
• exercising with a family member  (but, interestingly, exercising with a friend did not offer a positive influence)
• if walking was the preferred exercise, then walking with a neighbor was a positive influence

This study has many other interesting results. . .more later.  Or read it yourself at International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2008, 5:27