Exercise Is For Pets As Well As Humans

Exercise Or Lack Of It Has Serious Effects.

Dogs, like people, can suffer from various mental health issues. They can become depressed, and in this depressed state suffer from loss of appetite, and interest in normal activities. They may seem to mope around a lot and be distracted during your attempts for their attention. Dogs can suffer from aggression, which can also be a mental health issue. And, they can become timid or fearful. If your dog suffers any of these mental health issues, regular exercise may help him to snap out of it.

Consider is your dog in a depressed state, because of the loss of a companion or friend.  Getting your dog in an exercise routine can distract him from his feelings of loss. Then you can direct his attention to other things to get his mind off of it.

Consider if your dog is timid or fearful.  If you take your dog for a walk regularly, he may learn to deal with fear issues. This can be because of his exposure to varied outside stimulus.

If your dog is aggressive towards humans or dogs, walking him may help get him socialized to other animals. Exercise will also relieve some of his pent-up energy so it isn’t directed at others in an aggressive manner.

Exercise Is Beneficial For Pets And Humans

Exercising your dog on a regular basis will also help a normal dog’s mental health. He will be more apt to learn new things because he is constantly exposed to new stimuli. His thinking and problem-solving processes will be in better working order.  He will learn more about the world around him and how to deal with unfamiliar situations.

For example, when taking your dog on one of his walks you come to a busy street corner. Instead of just marching ahead on through the intersection, you and your dog stop for oncoming cars.  After this happens a few times, your dog learns to wait to cross the road until the way is clear. The exercise has increased his learning of how to handle the world outside his home environment.

Exercise Studies Have Shown

It has been proven medically, that exercise supplies oxygen to the brain. Walking, as is seen in humans, increased blood circulation, and oxygen and glucose levels that reaches the brain. This can also help them to “clear their head” and think better. Any movement and or exercise can increase the breathing and heart rates. The more blood that flows to the brain enhances energy production, as well as waste removal.  Studies show that exercise can help cerebral blood vessels grow, even in some extent to middle-aged relatively sedentary animals.

Studies in humans have proved that walking regularly can significantly improve memory skill. This can also improve learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning. This applies to dogs, so in fact exercise can improve your dog’s ability to think, along with their learning capacity.

In other animal studies, more vigorous exercise like running showed that brain cell survival increased.  In recent studies done with mice, it was found that in sedentary mice, most newly born brain cells died. But when the mice were exercised, the numbers of newly formed brain cells increased. Which in effect this was thought to have made the mice ‘smarter’. Exercise can put off the degenerative effects which cause Alzheimer’s disease and boost the brain’s ability to remember.

This shows the positive effects that exercise can have on animals and humans. This can also result in a better mental health benefit for you and your dog.