Maybe you should consider a four-legged personal trainer

By Karen KaplanStaff Writer

Nov. 30, 2009 1:47 PM PT

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If you’re thinking of investing in a gym membership to work off all the holiday goodies coming your way in the next few weeks, maybe you should consider springing for a pet instead.

A British survey has found that dog owners spend an average of eight hours and 11 minutes walking their pets each week. By comparison, petless people logged an average of only 1 hour and 20 minutes at the gym or heading outside for a run or stroll. Almost half of them admitted making no attempt to exercise whatsoever, according to this write-up in London’s Daily Telegraph.

Only 16% of the 5,000 people surveyed said they looked forward to hitting the gym. By contrast, 86% of dog owners said they looked forward to their ambulatory excursions with Fido, according to another article in the Daily Mail.

Not coincidentally, the results could be a boon for Bob Martin, the British pet-care firm that sponsored the survey.

-- Karen Kaplan

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Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.