Take Your Dog For a Walk

A modified version of the following post appears in the Be Active Your Way Blogmaintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I wrote it on behalf of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine to celebrate May as National Physical Activity Month.

I’ve written many blog posts recently about ideas to get American adults and kids more physically active. I think it is critical that everyone tries to achieve the standards set by the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans produced by the Department of Health and Human Services. These guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity three times per week. Obviously strenuous exercise, such as running and other forms cardiovascular exercise, and sports are excellent ways to achieve these goals. Plus I encourage both children and adults to try to figure out ways to change their normal activities in ways that increase the activity involved.

A new study published in the March issue of The Journal of Physical Activity and Health suggests a potentially great idea for all Americans to become more active. The study, presented by Matthew J. Reeves et al., looks at whether owning a dog and walking the dog are associated with increased physical activity. They gathered data from the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey to try to determine if a relationship existed between owning a dog and physical activity.

The authors found that people who own a dog are more active overall and walk more. Dog owners who take their dogs for walks on average walk about one hour more per week than the one-third of dog owners who don’t walk their dogs. Interestingly they also found that younger Americans and the elderly walked their dogs the most and that people with large dogs (weighing over 45 pounds) walked longer than owners of smaller dogs. Finally the study seems to suggest that the benefits of owning a dog, as it pertains to physical activity, may actually be more than just the actual walking, as dog owners seem to be more physically active than non-dog owners in general.

When I heard about this study, I was not terribly surprised. I am encouraged to discuss it, as I always like to find easy ideas to stimulate physical activity. For instance, I think it is helpful to take the stairs instead of an elevator whenever possible. Also, parking at the end of the parking lot away from stores and businesses forces people to walk a little bit more with their normal activities. Owning a dog and walking it are more examples of easy changes to implement.

What this study did not address, but most dog owners will tell you, is that the benefits of having a dog are not just seen with physical activity. Most of my friends who have a dog point out the happiness that comes when their dogs greet them when they get a home from school or work. They also love taking their dogs to the park and the beach. So to everyone out there who owns a dog – get outside and walk with your four-legged friend. It just might improve your health too.

These dogs are friendly with children

American cocker spaniels make great adoptees as rescue puppies. These are agile, friendly and bold dogs that are keen to work and they are suitable both as pet dogs and as hunting dogs. These are the dogs whose aim is not to catch and bring an animal but to seek out the place where it hides. American cocker spaniels make great adoptees as rescue puppies.

The smallest member of the sporting group, the cocker should be compact and sturdy. Its gait is ground-covering, strong and effortless. The coat is silky, flat or slightly wavy, not overly long. Excessive coat can hinder the dog in the field. The head and expression are hallmarks of the breed; the expression is soft and appealing. Though seldom used for its original purpose, the cocker should still be able to spend a day in the field and should be balanced and athletic. It is true, however, that most cockers now have too much coat for field work.

This breed is known as the "merry" cocker, and the name is most fitting. It is playful, cheerful, amiable, sweet, sensitive, willing to please and responsive to its family's wishes. It is not known for retaining its hunting instincts, but it is inquisitive and will appreciate a country outing. It is equally at home in the city and will happily walk on leash for its exercise needs. Some bark a lot; some are overly submissive.

They are friendly with children, other dogs and even strangers. They are playful, tolerant and devoted animals with average intelligence and an abundance of kindness. They have a tendency to humanize and, thus, must be socialized from the very beginning. American cocker spaniels make great adoptees as rescue puppies.

African elephants and Asian elephants

When one says that an elephant is the largest land animal, one refers to the African elephant. Male African elephants grow up to the height of 12 ft to 15 ft and the female African elephants grow up to 9.8 ft tall. They are also heavier, compared to the Asiatic elephants, as African elephants weigh around 3,600 to 4,600 kg.

Though elephants are huge animals, their needs are minimal. All they need is plenty of food and water and a bit of privacy! African elephants live on the savannas and other dry woodlands. They also live in the Sahara desert, where there is scanty vegetation. You can also find African elephants in the grasslands or in dense rainforests, in countries like Congo. The other African countries where elephants are found are, Kenya, Zaire, Zimbabwe and Mauritania.

Asian elephants are smaller in size compared to African elephants. They weigh up to 500 kg and grow between 8 ft to 10 ft. Asian elephants are found in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, dry broadleaf forest as well as tropical deciduous forest, grasslands, mountains, tropical savanna and tropical rainforests. The Asian countries like Nepal, Burma, Thailand, India etc, which have the above ecosystems are lucky to be the homes of these elephants.


Elephants are one of those species of animals that can adapt to almost any habitat. Forests, woodlands, grassy plains, savanna, swamps and deserts are some of the ecosystems where they easily survive. Research on elephant history revealed that elephant fossils were found in all continents except for Antarctica and Australia. But now, elephants live mainly in Asia and Africa. In Africa, they are found mainly in the Southern regions. Due to poaching, the number of elephants has decreased alarmingly, largely in West Africa, and in lesser proportions in North and East Africa.

As we all know, elephants are herbivores. The diet of the African elephant is similar to the diet of the Asian elephant. Asian elephants feed on bamboo as it is found abundantly, while the African elephants generally feed on fruits and shrubs. Talking about how much they can eat, well, elephants eat about 149 to 169 kg of food daily. Besides fruits and leaves, elephants can also consume tree barks, bushes, roots, grass and small plants. Tree bark is their favorite food and it is also beneficial to them as it contains calcium and roughage.

Pity the poor peacock

Pity the poor peacock. He can truss himself up in iridescent blues and greens built of billions of intricate, light-catching nanostructures in the feather barbules; he can fan his train of tail feathers that open their hundred eyes to a peahen like an adoring audience; he can coo, bob his head, and shiver so that he positively glimmers like blue bonfire in the forest; and still, the female — who isn’t even that hot — can sniff and walk away. He is the product of millions of years of sexual selection for extravagance, and possesses the most spectacular, show-stopping plumage in the world, but he is far from irresistible. Having seen plenty of peacocks in my life, nowadays I’m more intrigued by the peahens and their discerning gaze. So frustratingly fickle! So charmingly coy! It’s that pickiness that has undoubtedly driven the male to such desperate majesty.

Who hasn’t felt a little like a peacock at times, trying their best to be noticed by the object of their affection and falling short no matter what? What am I doing wrong?, I’ve asked myself. What am I missing? What could she possibly be looking for? I find myself sympathizing with the peacock and his unrequited attempts at winning love on the zoo lawn, coldly rebuffed time after time until he’ll display for any toddler in a pair of brown overalls. Because peacocks look more or less equally fantastic to us, we can’t imagine why a female chooses one and not another. Some guys just don’t have it, the biologists tell us, after a peahen takes a pass on a shimmering fountain of male grandeur. Not wanting to guess the mind of a peahen, they throw up their hands and decline to say what “it” is. That certain something that captures the peahen’s heart. That je ne sais quoi.

Well, to hell with that! Je veux savoir “quoi”! If the peacock can look like that and still get shot down in flames, unless it possesses that je ne sais quoi, I think I speak for males of all species when I say I sure as hell want to know what the “quoi” is.

The Proud National Bird symbol of The United States- Bald Eagle

The bald eagle, with its snowy-feathered (not bald) head and white tail, is the proud national bird symbol of the United States—yet the bird was nearly wiped out there. For many decades, bald eagles were hunted for sport and for the "protection" of fishing grounds. Pesticides like DDT also wreaked havoc on eagles and other birds. These chemicals collect in fish, which make up most of the eagle's diet. They weaken the bird's eggshells and severely limited their ability to reproduce. Since DDT use was heavily restricted in 1972, eagle numbers have rebounded significantly and have been aided by reintroduction programs. The result is a wildlife success story—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has upgraded the birds from endangered to threatened.
Though their numbers have grown in much of their range, bald eagles remain most abundant in Alaska and Canada. These powerful birds of prey use their talons to fish, but they get many of their meals by scavenging carrion or stealing the kills of other animals. (Such thievery famously prompted Ben Franklin to argue against the bird's nomination as the United State's national symbol.) They live near water and favor coasts and lakes where fish are plentiful, though they will also snare and eat small mammals.
Bald eagles are believed to mate for life. A pair constructs an enormous stick nest—one of the bird-world's biggest—high above the ground and tends to a pair of eggs each year. Immature eagles are dark, and until they are about five years old, they lack the distinctive white markings that make their parents so easy to identify. Young eagles roam great distances. Florida birds have been spotted in Michigan, and California eagles have traveled all the way to Alaska.