For this reason, it is important that a dog be exercised regularly – failure to exercise can result in obesity, along with a host of other related conditions like diabetes and cancer, as well as those which affect the heart, liver, lungs and digestive system. 

The Kennel Club advises that a dog should be walked for thirty minutes each day. Of course, depending on the briskness of your pace, this may need to be adjusted. Likewise, if you're walking a puppy, then be sure to take things a little easier, since extended periods of exercises can wear a puppy out, and prevent its bones from properly developing, which can in turn can cause problems in later life.

If you’re considering giving a dog a home, then you’ll need to consider the items which you’ll need to take it for a walk. Let’s take a look at some of them right now.

A lead and a collar

Of course, it's important that when you take your dog for a walk, you have a means of restraining them.  While it's perfectly alright to let your dog off a lead every so often, you must be able to put it back on at will – do it too often and the dog might forget who's in charge! Moreover, there are certain areas of the countryside – such as those containing livestock – where a lead is mandatory.

Collars and leads are a way of controlling your dog which has barely been improved upon over the last few centuries. That said, new developments like the dog harness have made controlling a dog that much easier; they spread the dog’s weight over a larger area, thereby making it easier to control

This is especially helpful in the case of exuberant dogs who might run off at the slightest hint of something new and interesting. If that new and interesting thing should happen to be another dog, a car or a horse, then this may cause problems – and a harness can help.

Poo-disposal equipment

There are few things more likely to ruin a person's walk in the woods than the sight and smell of a pile of dog faeces. And even if we discount the unpleasantness of such an encounter, dog faeces carries with it its own health concerns – it aids the spread of nasty bacteria like e-coli. Some areas have strict no-fouling policies in place, so that if your dog makes a mess and you fail to clean it up, then you could be liable for a hefty fine of up to £1000. But even if there were no such law, cleaning up after your dog is part of your responsibility as an owner – there can be no excuse for failure!

In order to make cleaning your dog's mess up as painless as possible, there are a few special devices available – the most famous of which being the pooper-scooper. But all that's really required is a plastic bag: just put your hand inside the bag, pick up the faeces, turn the bag inside out and tie it up, then take it to the nearest dog-muck receptacle. What could be easier?

Boot liner

If you enjoy taking your dog for a walk in the countryside, then the chances are that they'll find all manner of things to sully themselves with – dirt, soil, muck, mud – whatever variety you find your dog wading through, the news is unlikely to be good for your car when you return.

Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of the boot liner. By simply inserting one of the many boot covers now available into the rear of your car, you can protect your valuable interior against the muddy paws of your dog.

Boot liners come in several different forms, ranging from those which are tailor-made to fit precisely into the boot of a specific car to those which consist merely of a loose-fitting sheet of fabric. Owners of more expensive vehicles would be wise to invest in the former, since having the interior of a car valeted is almost always a great deal more expensive than the cost of the liner.