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Don't get off the couch that much? It could be time to fetch yourself a pooch.

People who own and walk dogs are much more likely to meet physical activity guidelines, according to a new study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

While walking a dog obviously gets people out, well, walking, it also seems to encourage more active lifestyles.

"Obviously you would expect dog walkers to walk more, but we found people who walked their dogs also had higher overall levels of both moderate and vigorous physical activities," Mathew Reeves, an epidemiologist at Michigan State University, said in a release.

Looking at data from the Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a yearly survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Michigan Department of Community Health, Mr. Reeves found that people who owned and walked a dog were 34 per cent more likely to meet U.S. federal benchmarks for physical activity, which call for at least 150 minutes of such activity each week.

"There is no magic bullet in getting people to reach those benchmarks. But owning and walking a dog has a measurable impact," Mr. Reeves said.

Less than half of Americans manage to meet the recommended levels of physical activity, according to the release.

In Canada, less than half of adults and only 12 per cent of children met the 60 minutes and 90 minutes, respectively, of daily activity recommended under standards that were recently lowered.

Previous studies have suggested that owning a dog has several benefits, including lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

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