26-06-2025
Why walking your dog on a long leash can help you avoid back pain
For all its benefits, dog walking can have at least one major health disadvantage: back trouble.
On the one hand, a four-legged friend ensures the owner goes for regular walks, which helps strengthen the small of the back, where the spin curves in.
On the other, eager dogs can often pull on the owner's back and cause injury, says orthopaedic surgeon Reinhard Schneiderhan. That's why it's important to make sure the dog's leash is long enough to avoid strain.
For anyone with back problems it's also important that the dog stays by your side, rather than racing ahead and forcing you to pull them back. If that doesn't work, a professional training can help.
Despite the risk of back trouble, pet owners can go ahead and count the walks they do with their pooches as their exercise, says Schneiderhan.
A person can even add stretching and strengthening exercises during the walk, like lunges or a quick round of push ups against a park bench.
Leash training
It's not only your back that will benefit from good leash etiquette, but also your hand and wrists. Research shows these are among the most common parts of the body to be injured by leash-pulling.
Walking the dog also becomes a far less relaxing pastime when your pet is always pulling on the leash or dashing off in every direction. Training your dog to have good manners on the leash makes everyone's life easier and takes only a little time and patience.
Look where you're going: Dogs follow human's eyes and body language. If you keep turning your head towards the dog while walking, the animal will be slowed down. Let the dog know where you're going by turning your body and head in the same direction.
Give proper praise: If the dog is walking well on the leash, then there's nothing wrong with rewarding the behaviour with a little treat. However, owners shouldn't hold the treat in front of the dog's nose so that it walks beside them - this encourages the dog to focus only on the treat in front of it, instead of on its master.
No yanking: If your dog smells something and suddenly stops, don't yank on the leash. By doing so, the dog forms negative associations towards the line. The better move is to stop, directly address the dog and lure it back into moving in the desired direction with you.
