Guided By Dog
A lot of people warned us that if we got a dog, we’d never sleep in again. But they were wrong. WE got a dog, and I’VE never slept in again.
It was June 2020 when we welcomed an adorable Alabama shelter puppy into our home.
He’s a mutt, and doggie DNA testing revealed that he’s mostly Husky, with some German Shepherd, Collie, Labrador Retriever and Chow Chow mixed in. What this tells us is that he needs daily exercise and mental stimulation, or we’ll all go nuts.
I’m pretty sure he reads my brain waves, because every morning around dawn, if I’m even just slightly stirring (think, eyelids fluttering), he stretches and shakes out and jangles his tags and stands, panting, then whining, and pawing, eventually leaping up and bounding around the bed and it’s like OKAY OKAY I’M UP NOW GEEZ and there we go.
I’ve got the early morning routine down to a science:
Set running clothes in a bundle on the heater in the bathroom the night before.
Get dressed and downstairs (as the dog excitedly knocks against my legs and the cats race past us meowing and they all almost trip me).
Flip on the already prepped coffeemaker (it even grinds the coffee!).
Pour a little cream into saucers for the cats (so they stop yowling).
Slip on sneakers (or boots) and all the layers (including a reflective vest) as dog works himself up to hyperdrive at the front door.
Pull out a doggie bag from the roll and flick it open so I won’t have to remove gloves in the cold. (I have Raynaud’s.)
Stuff the Smartphone in the pocket and snap the leash on the beast and OUT WE GO!
After the initial blast of fresh cold air, it’s actually pretty nice being out and about while it’s still quiet. There’s time to think a bit, before distracting workday realities kick in.
This makes sense, given the science:
Just owning a dog is associated with greater overall well-being, according to a 2022 study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Yes, this dog prods me up and out of bed, forces me to breathe fresh air and get some exercise every morning. Every. Single. Morning.
This may explain why dog ownership is also associated with significantly greater self-reported and device-measured physical activity, especially walking, findings supported by multiple studies over the years.
Which may then explain why dog ownership is also associated with a significantly lower risk of dying, particularly from cardiovascular disease. A 2019 meta-analysis of ten studies published in Circulation analyzed pooled data from over 3 million people and found that owning a dog was associated with a 31% decreased risk of death from a cardiovascular event (think, heart attack, stroke…) and a 24% lower risk of dying from anything, as compared to not owning a dog.
So, yes, the warnings about never being able to sleep in again were accurate, but I’m truly enjoying our (very) early morning fresh-air walks, and I know for a fact that it’s (really) good for me.
I’m definitely getting in more daily movement than I did before we adopted our pup. I guarantee that I would never, ever motivate myself to get up and out of the house at dawn as consistently, without him!
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A version of this essay was originally published on my personal blog, at DrMoniqueTello.com.
For more sensible and science-backed ways to stay fit and healthy, check out my book Healthy Habits for Your Heart.
