•    Vanya Chandel, Founder, Forfurs

The rising conversations surrounding health have now become a routine part of everyone’s lifestyle. Every day, we as humans come across multiple articles telling us the importance of maintaining a balanced lifestyle and including activity within our routine. However, we as individuals have become extremely sedentary in our daily life and this may unconsciously influence our pets leading to the same routine followed by them. Exercising your pets is not an activity anymore, it has become a necessity owing to the increasing number of health issues faced by pets due to the lack of routine exercise.

Whether you hit the gym yesterday or a year ago, one is are aware of the adrenaline rush, health benefits and mood amplification felt after an exercise session. How can one forget that this is equally important for our furry pets too in order to keep them healthy and happy? Investing time in exercising your pet is more worthwhile than investing in the worries that come if neglected.

Today, it is the need of the hour to maintain an active lifestyle not just for yourself but also for your furry pets. According to a survey conducted by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 60% of cats and 56% of dogs in the United States were found to be obese or overweight. With the constant rise in such figures, it has become an alarming need for pet parents to turn to physical activities for the purpose of their health. The most common answer to the reason behind their lack of exercise was that they were “too busy”. Today, a number of pet parents are actively involving their pets to be a part of their workout sessions which has led to the introduction of dog gyms and dog parks.

Due to the COVID -19 pandemic and the increasing need to confine pets to remain indoors, there has been an excessive rise in the awareness of mental and physical health of pets. This led to many pet parents to fall into the trap of being lazy and avoiding exercise and has created an ever-increasing need for pet parents to further focus on their pet’s physical activity post lockdown. This boosted the necessity to find alternative means to exercise pets indoors leading to the inception of innovative indoor exercises.

With exercise being the need of the hour for pets, there are a few simple routine practices that can be maintained and followed by every pet parent. To be at the top of the game make sure to include activities like Fetch, Fun with Food, Fun with Toys and Routine Training for your pets. Let your pet’s exercise routine be the motivation behind your daily exercise too as exercise is equally important for the both of you.