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Owning a dog and going on regular dog walks both have proven health benefits. But a new study suggests that no matter how many times you hear that pounding the pavement with your pup is good exercise, that’s ultimately not what gets you (and your four-legged friend) up and moving.
养狗并定期遛狗已被证明能带来健康益处。但一项新的研究表明：不管你多少次听说和狗一起压马路是健康锻炼的说法，让你（和你四条腿的伙伴）站起来走动的真正原因并不在此。
According to research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, dog owners are motivated to walk their pets because it makes them happy—not for health or social reasons. Also up there on the list of reasons? They think it makes their dogs happy, too.
发表在《国际环境研究和公共卫生杂志》上的研究表明：狗主人愿意遛狗是因为遛狗能使他们快乐——而不是因为能使他们健康或交到新朋友。还有什么其它的原因呢？他们认为遛狗的话狗也会快乐。
The study analyzed interviews and personal written reflections from 26 people about why, exactly, they walk their dogs. While many owners said they do it to benefit their pooch, the researchers say the importance of the owners’ happiness and well-being was also clear.
研究采访了26个人，分析这些人的采访以及个人的书面反思，分析他们究竟为什么要遛狗。虽然很多狗主人说遛狗是为了狗好，但研究人员却表示狗主人的幸福和健康也十分明显。
But that happiness depends on the owner believing that the dog is enjoying the walk, the researchers noted in their paper. Motivation to walk was decreased when owners had reason to doubt this notion—like when they felt their dog was misbehaving, “lazy,” or “too old” to walk regularly.
但研究人员在文章中指出，这份快乐取决于狗主人是否认为狗狗十分享受被溜的过程。当狗主人怀疑狗狗是否享受被溜时——比如狗狗行为不端，“懒”或者“年纪太大”不能定期被溜，他们遛狗的动力就会下降。
The study mainly suggests that dog owners keep doing what they’re doing, since they can still rack up the health benefits of dog-walking even if that's not the primary goal.
研究主要表明：狗主人会继续做他们正在做的事情，因为遛狗还能让他们更健康（即使这不是他们的主要目标）。
But it does make the case that health advocates might want to tweak their message when promoting dog-walking in order to appeal to more people. (Dog owners are generally more physically active than non-owners, the authors say, but some rarely walk their dogs at all.)
但当宣传遛狗是为了吸引更多的人时，健康倡导者可能会调整他们的信息，这确有其事。（作者说，一般而言，养狗的人比不养狗的人运动的更多，但也有些人几乎不遛狗。）
Lead author Carri Westgarth, PhD, a research fellow at the University of Liverpool, says she hopes these findings resonate with dog owners and animal lovers. “Dog walking can be really important for our mental health, and there is no joy like seeing your dog having a good time,” she says. “In this age of information and work overload, let’s thank our dogs for—in the main—being such a positive influence on our well-being.”
利物浦大学的研究员，本研究的首席作者卡里•韦斯特加斯博士说，她希望狗主人和动物爱好者能从这些研究结果中找到共鸣。“遛狗对我们的精神健康十分重要，没有什么比看到狗狗十分享受而更开心的事情了，”她说道。“在信息时代，人们超负荷地工作，我们应该感谢狗狗对我们的健康产生了积极的影响。”
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