Research into physical activity and human health has recently begun to attend to dog-walking. This study extends the literature on dog-walking as a health behaviour by conceptualizing dog-walking as a caring practice. It centers on qualitative interviews with 11 Canadian dog-owners. All participants resided in urban neighbourhoods identified through previous quantitative research as conducive to dog-walking. Canine characteristics, including breed and age, were found to influence people’s physical activity. The health of the dog and its position in the life-course influenced patterns of dog-walking. Frequency, duration and spatial patterns of dog-walking all depended on relationships and people’s capacity to tap into resources. In foregrounding networks of care, inclusive of pets and public spaces, a relational conceptualization of dog-walking as a practice of caring helps to make sense of heterogeneity in patterns of physical activity amongst dog-owners. Keywords Dog-walking; physical activity; dog care; human-animal relationship; relational approachesThis work was supported by a New Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and a Population Health Investigator award from Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (AI-HS, funded by the Alberta Heritage Medical Research Foundation Endowment) to Melanie Rock. Chris Degeling’s position at VELiM is part supported by an Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions Incentive Grant to Melanie Rock. Funding to carry out the research that led to our sampling strategy came from a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant (principal investigator, Alan Shiell)
