大家喜歡遛狗的真正原因
Owning a dog and going on regular dog walks both have proven health benefits. But a new study suggests that no matter how many times you hear that pounding the pavement with your pup is good exercise, that’s ultimately not what gets you (and your four-legged friend) up and moving.
養狗並定期遛狗已被證明能帶來健康益處。但一項新的研究表明：不管你多少次聽說和狗一起壓馬路是健康鍛鍊的說法，讓你（和你四條腿的夥伴）站起來走動的真正原因並不在此。According to research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, dog owners are motivated to walk their pets because it makes them happy—not for health or social reasons. Also up there on the list of reasons? They think it makes their dogs happy, too.
發表在《國際環境研究和公共衛生雜誌》上的研究表明：狗主人願意遛狗是因爲遛狗能使他們快樂——而不是因爲能使他們健康或交到新朋友。還有什麼其它的原因呢？他們認爲遛狗的話狗也會快樂。
The study analyzed interviews and personal written reflections from 26 people about why, exactly, they walk their dogs. While many owners said they do it to benefit their pooch, the researchers say the importance of the owners’ happiness and well-being was also clear.
研究採訪了26個人，分析這些人的採訪以及個人的書面反思，分析他們究竟爲什麼要遛狗。雖然很多狗主人說遛狗是爲了狗好，但研究人員卻表示狗主人的幸福和健康也十分明顯。
But that happiness depends on the owner believing that the dog is enjoying the walk, the researchers noted in their paper. Motivation to walk was decreased when owners had reason to doubt this notion—like when they felt their dog was misbehaving, “lazy,” or “too old” to walk regularly.
但研究人員在文章中指出，這份快樂取決於狗主人是否認爲狗狗十分享受被溜的過程。當狗主人懷疑狗狗是否享受被溜時——比如狗狗行爲不端，“懶”或者“年紀太大”不能定期被溜，他們遛狗的動力就會下降。The study mainly suggests that dog owners keep doing what they’re doing, since they can still rack up the health benefits of dog-walking even if that's not the primary goal.
研究主要表明：狗主人會繼續做他們正在做的事情，因爲遛狗還能讓他們更健康（即使這不是他們的主要目標）。But it does make the case that health advocates might want to tweak their message when promoting dog-walking in order to appeal to more people. (Dog owners are generally more physically active than non-owners, the authors say, but some rarely walk their dogs at all.)
但當宣傳遛狗是爲了吸引更多的人時，健康倡導者可能會調整他們的信息，這確有其事。（作者說，一般而言，養狗的人比不養狗的人運動的更多，但也有些人幾乎不遛狗。）Lead author Carri Westgarth, PhD, a research fellow at the University of Liverpool, says she hopes these findings resonate with dog owners and animal lovers. “Dog walking can be really important for our mental health, and there is no joy like seeing your dog having a good time,” she says. “In this age of information and work overload, let’s thank our dogs for—in the main—being such a positive influence on our well-being.”
利物浦大學的研究員，本研究的首席作者卡里•韋斯特加斯博士說，她希望狗主人和動物愛好者能從這些研究結果中找到共鳴。“遛狗對我們的精神健康十分重要，沒有什麼比看到狗狗十分享受而更開心的事情了，”她說道。“在信息時代，人們超負荷地工作，我們應該感謝狗狗對我們的健康產生了積極的影響。”
