Injured dog walkers could be costing NHS £23m a year

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨HumanPenguin@feddit.uk⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩

https://news.sky.com/story/injured-dog-walkers-could-be-costing-nhs-23m-a-year-13388228

Ill sum this up. Research suggests Untrained dogs pulling causes more injuries than expected.

3/4 of injured are female and mostly over 65.

Opinion: 65+ year olds walking dogs are likely healthier than those not. So the 25m number may be rubbish.

But anyone reading this worried about a dog that pulls. The simple way to stop it.

Spend some time when every time the dog pulls harder than you like. Turn around and head the opposite way.

Dogs soon learn that pulling leads to failure to progress. Takes a few days for most dogs to learn. Then takes a rare reminder for the dog to remember you choose the direction, and it doesn’t get to assume.

No need to tell the dog off or punish in any way. Just remind it when on the lead. Trying to direct you to move at its speed will always slow its progress.

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Comments

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truthfultemporarily@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I btlet they are saving the NHS multiple times that amount due to having an enforced consistent sleep rhythm and going for walks twice a day.

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- HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Walks Def. Plus company desire to play. It was known in the 80s that pets reduced blood pressure. Just from spending time.
  
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JohnSmith@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Great advice to deal with pulling on lead. We got a rescue as second dog year and a half ago. He had clearly not been trined at all and was pulling on walks. My wife, who is the knowledgable dog trainer in our house, got it sorted in just few walks doing just what you decribe.

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- HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Nods saw it on social media so tried it with my little dog.
  
  Was stunned how effective and quick it was.
  
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tetris11@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
“Thieves of Healthcare Damage Society with Their Negligence Towards Pets”

What kind of headline…

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- HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Well it’s sky so I’m not going to disagree with the intent.
  
  But it’s very open to interpretation. Many right wing readers may interpret it that way. But the tittle just questions the cost. Reading the article it seems more like a warning.
  
  “For elderly females that dogs may be a bad pet for them and the NHS.”
  
  I worry more that it makes no effort to compare the huge cost saving regular walking of dogs has on elderly heart and muscle health. And companionship has on mental health.
  
  But that’s less click baity. And really clicks is all they care about.
  
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7bicycles@hexbear.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
There really should be just a specific pet owners license. It’s insane that every idiot can just buy an animal and then unknowingly and with the best of intentions mistreat the fuck out of it

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- OrlandoDoom@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I’m not sure a license is the best way to go about it, but I certainly do think something needs to change.
  
  I think there should be some sort of minimum commitment to training if a person gets a new dog, i.e. you can have a puppy but you must have already booked up x amount of training sessions.
  
  And with cats, it’d like to see pre-booked appointments for neutering/spaying and microchipping, because apparently according to my neighbours, you can buy kittens, not do any of that and then just let them be feral around your neighbourhood and not really have to take care of them at all.
  
  I’d actually like to see legislation on new cats not being let outside unless contained in a catio or something.
  
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  - HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    according to my neighbours, you can buy kittens, not do any of that and then just let them be feral around your neighbourhood
    
    Ignoreing the not having to care for them. And legally cats must be chipped now. But that is a very very recent rule change.
    
    This is very much a majority opinion in the UK that cats kept inside is cruelty to the cat. You opinion that all cats are required to be inside creatures is the rare one. More common in the younger generation. But not one backed up by evidence.
    
    Bird deaths are the most common sighted evidence. But cats have been in the UK at least since the Romans first arrival. So 2000 years. And have been used as pest control on farms extensively since at least that period. Urbanisation may mean more cats. But the expansion of humanity and removal of habitate is the real issue.
    
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- HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Or you know. More information shared with the public about the needs of certain pets.
  
  Hamsters are the worst off. Most have no idea how big the cage needs to be for them to be unstressed. There already short lives are way shorter and stressed due to pet shops not advising the need a much much larger cage.
  
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DerArzt@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Gonna try that method with my dog. Thanks!

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- HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Nods saw it somewhere on social media myself. I have an over eager chihuahua I inherited from an ex.
  
  So gave it a try. Half an hour of doing this he stopped pulling.
  
  I’m far from an expert.
  
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