Table 1.

A Typology for Dog Walking Programs in Practice.

Level of Prevention Practice	Program Strategy	Potential Relevance for Dog Walking: Facilitators and Barriers in Different Practice Settings
Individual targeted programs	Health professional advice; individualized counseling; primary care/physician’s offices	● Potential high population reach
		● Brief advice on dog walking is potentially efficacious
		● Specific “dog walking” advice is potentially stronger due to specificity of the behavior
		● Challenge is scaling up physical activity advice generated from selected primary care settings to widespread delivery of dog walking advice
	Individualized interventions; ehealth; tailored to individual	● Motivator and “reminder” potential of dog walking groups
		● Could be supported by social media, dog walking groups on Facebook and other social media
		● Act as social support and reinforcement
		● Focus on moving from action to maintenance of dog walking behavior
	Disease-based group programs (eg, diabetic patients)	● Potential for referral to dog walking programs to provide physical activity and social support for people with chronic diseases
		● Difficulty in recruiting participants; transport to dog walking venues; may be suitable only for a subset of all walking-group patients
	Veterinarians/animal behavioristsa	● Clear messaging for the exercise recommendations of dogs by breed type and age, emphasizing that nearly all dogs benefit physically and psychologically from being walked
		● Reward-based dog training advice to owners to help overcome barriers (eg, dog aggression to people or dogs, pulling on lead, not coming when called) to enjoying dog walking
Group and organizational settings	School or worksite settings	● Established as a specific approach for physical activity and mental health promotion (eg, among children with and without disabilities)
		● Consider incorporating dog walking into workplace challenges to increase physical activity
Community settings	Local-level community programs, neighborhood programs	● Main setting for dog walking is in local communities through dog walking groups and clubs
		● Promote and support “loaner” dog walking groups; groups can be formal (ie, via animal welfare organizations) and informal (ie, via neighbors and friends sharing dog walking duties with owners)
		● Foster use of local facilities, dog walking routes, animal shelter grounds and adjacent routes, park redevelopment, and off-leash areas
Population-wide high reach settings	Website or ehealth population-wide interventions	● Potential for wide population reach, and may fit into scalable strategies, but dog walking may be only one component of physical activity promotion
	Mass media/social marketing campaigns	● Modelling dog walking behaviors used as an achievable strategy for increasing physical activity in large-scale prevention-focused mass media campaigns
	Policy interventions/large region or national programs	● Policies at local municipal level around dog walking regulations, infrastructure, and developing dog walking-friendly environments that are compatible with the activities of non–dog walkers
		● Include dog walking as a specific strategy mentioned in national policy and plans around promoting physical activity

^aIt is recommended that veterinarian/animal behaviorist professionals use reward-based training methods rather than force or intimidation.