On Saturdays, I walk dogs with Daughter for 2 hours at the local dog shelter. We only take out the small dogs which usually means chihuahuas. There are 2-4 dogs per kennel so we take a kennel at a time.
Putting the harnesses on the dogs is the main challenge. Why do dogs want to leap at your face? So while I’m putting the harness on one dog, I’ve got at least one jumping at my face. Some dogs try to climb in my lap while I’m harnessing another dog.
With all dogs harnessed up, we start the walk. For the first hundred yards, the boy dogs have to stop every 2 feet to smell and pee. When we finally get on a real walk, one of the dogs does his business. Stop, clean up. Repeat x more times for how many dogs we have.
With so much stopping and starting, can walking these dogs be classified as exercise? I don’t think my heart rate increases at all. At least I’m not sitting and I am moving. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?
Exercise is exercise! You are standing and moving, not sitting on the couch. All that stooping to pick up poo also counts. A lot of waist bending going on.
So yes, it qualifies as exercise. If more people were on their feet for 2 hours straight on a Saturday instead of on their duffs in front of some electronic time-waster, think how much healthier we’d all be. Not to mention how happy all the dogs would be.
Also, I think being around a Chihuahua in itself qualifies as exercise. All that nervous energy and shivering and spinning in circles is exhausting just to watch! So you’ve doubly exercised because of the Chihuahua factor.
There you have it, proof positive that dog-walking qualifies as exercise. 🙂
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