I agree with this.

If you like animals and are responsible enough to have what amounts to a light version of a child, then dogs are excellent for encouraging activity since they require daily walks.

"light version of a child" is funny :) It's like a child but without the stress ;)

I agree and disagree. A well-treated animal does require attention and some effort, but I agree it causes no stress, to the contrary. But they're like children who never grow up and will always need you or someone who loves them from the bottom of their heart when you're gone (maybe not so much with, say, lizards, but certainly with dogs and to a lesser degree cats). I don't mean this as a negative per se, I just needed to say that as soon as I saw "light version of a child". When my cats died, I thought what it might be like to have children, and I nearly swooned. But then I thought how much better it is for them to have lived a full life and die on me, than the other way around, and that's certainly not how it would feel with children.

Sometimes it winds me up to have to do it, but I can't not do it or the poor dog ends up miserable. It's the perfect way to force yourself to do at least a minimum every day.

Yes since I bought a dog 3 years ago I walk or run with her almost every day and I'm definitely fitter for it.