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Too Busy to Walk the Dog? 2 Tips You Need to Read

Dr. Andy Roark is a practicing veterinarian in Greenville, SC. He’s best known for his popular Facebook page and YouTube show, Cone of Shame.

Dr. Roark is great about giving awesome advice that’s actually manageable for most pet owners — plus, he’s a seriously funny dude — so we took one of the most common questions we receive and tweaked it to reflect the issues some of our pet-loving readers face for Fit Bottomed Pets Week:

I’m crazy busy and I have no time to get in a solid workout for myself, let alone take my dog for an hour-long walk. Am I a terrible person? And is there any way to help my dog get some exercise without spending huge chunks of time? Bonus points if  I can get some exercise, too.

Dr. Roark to the rescue!
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Dr. Andy Roark: So, this is a great question. I think most pet owners are spread thin in ways that previous generations don’t even understand. I look at my own family life and see two working people trying to stay healthy, raising two young kids and attempting to tire out a (thankfully) senior Vizsla. Exercise is critical in managing life stress, but how do we fit it in? I follow two steps when life gets hectic and I’m not exercising like I should. Here they are:

 1. Look at our lives.

How often do we get to the end of a busy day when we’re just trying to hold everything together and realize that we didn’t exercise ourselves or our pets? For most of us, these realizations come a split second before we attack ourselves with guilt and shame. The whole scenario is destructive and incredibly common. Let’s start by ending this unhealthy habit.

Next time you don’t get to exercise, try this: Instead of attacking yourself, just stop and ask why it didn’t happen. For me, if I don’t exercise myself and my dog, that’s a red flag. It’s not a terrible, soul-shattering event or justification for me to be mean to myself, but it is a sign that maybe I’m squeezing too much into my day. Perhaps I’m not being focused with my time. Sometimes, it just means that chaos happens and I had to prioritize other things this once.

No matter what the reason, I’m going to forgive myself and then go on with my life. If I come to a place where these red flags are becoming a cluster, then it may be time for a family meeting to discuss all the things we are doing and what is feasible going forward.

So, to summarize step 1, forgive yourself immediately and consider the need to make changes for your own health and happiness.

 2. Get realistic.

When I think of getting in shape, I don’t think of my current body minus five pounds. I think of my head super-imposed onto Patrick Swayze’s body circa 1990. It’s completely unrealistic, and it always leaves me feeling dejected, even if I drop those five pounds I actually cared about.

Many of us fall into this trap when we decide to get busy exercising with our dogs. We imagine ourselves in an REI catalog on top of a mountain with our hairy best friend who’s sporting a designer dog backpack and a look on his face that says, “If you fell off this mountain, I would go find someone to rescue you.” For most of us, these sorts of outings simply aren’t going to fit into the schedule on a regular basis.

The key to overcoming this is giving up the idea that if we don’t have 90 minutes, it’s not worth exercising. It’s more important to look at our daily calendars, decide how much time we actually have to exercise today, and then do it. Most of us ignore 30- to 45- minute blocks of time in our day. We discount them as not being enough time to get anything meaningful accomplished, and then we kill them with Facebook. What if we didn’t? What if we knew that small window of time was coming up, and we made sure our tennis shoes, leash, and Chuck-It were next to the door and ready to go?

Sure, we won’t end up on top of a mountain, but we’ll get outside, get our heart rates up, spend quality time with our dogs and make our days more meaningful. When our schedule allows REI-worthy outings, we’ll take them. In the meantime, let’s be active (and guilt-free) in the time we have.

Sound like advice you can handle? We think Dr. Roark just earned himself some legit Fit Bottomed Dude points right here. Kristen

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!