Why Britons walk their dogs so much
英国人为啥这么爱遛狗？
Parading the pooch
是为了炫耀狗？
“When I think of England, I think of the queen taking her dogs for a walk in the countryside,” says Carsten Haferkamp, a dog-owning German architect working in London. There may be something in thestereotype. Data from Tractive, a firm that provides GPS tracking for pets, show that Britons walk their dogs more than their European neighbours do.
在伦敦工作的德国建筑师（同时也是一位养狗人士）卡斯滕·哈费坎普说：“提起英国，我就会想到女王在乡间遛狗的景象。”这种印象或许有些刻板。但据Tractive公司（一家为宠物提供GPS追踪服务）的数据显示，英国人遛狗的频率要高于其他欧洲邻国。
British dogs get 177 minutes of activity a day, compared with 160 minutes for slack German pooches and 170 minutes for the average French mutt. That could be why they are slimmer than their European cousins: the average British labrador weighs in at 28kg, compared with 29kg and 31kg for its German and French counterparts.
英国的狗平均每天被遛的时间为177分钟，而德国为160分钟，法国为170分钟。
这或许就是英国拉布拉多犬相比欧洲邻国同种犬类更瘦的原因：英国拉布拉多犬的平均体重为28公斤，而德国和法国分别为29公斤和31公斤。
And it’s not just Europeans that British dog-owners outpace. Research by Carri Westgarth of Liverpool University has established that they are beating the footpaths more than Americans or Australians as well.
据利物浦大学的卡里·韦斯特加斯的研究显示，英国的养狗人士不仅比欧洲其他国家的人更多，他们遛狗的距离也比美国人和澳大利亚人更远。
That continental European pooches are on the porky side has not gone unnoticed on the mainland. “Obesity among dogs is acknowledged as a problem,” says Fleur-Marie Missant of France’s Société Centrale Canine. James Serpell, professor of animal ethics and welfare at the University of Pennsylvania, suspects that excessivepampering, as well as under-walking, may contribute to the problem.
但欧洲人并没有注意到他们这里的狗长得很胖。法国犬科协会的弗勒-玛丽米桑特说：“狗的肥胖问题是一个社会公认的问题。”宾夕法尼亚大学动物伦理和福利教授詹姆斯·斯佩尔认为，饮食的过度放纵以及运动的缺乏可能是导致这一问题的原因。
“The French are super-indulgent with their dogs. They tolerate them in restaurants. I’ve been nudged by strange dogs under the table in France.” The German government is determined to get the country’s dogs—and dog-owners—off their sofas. Last month the agriculture minister announced plans to require
dog-owners to walk their dogs twice a day.
“法国人对狗过分宠爱，甚至允许它们进入餐馆。我在法国餐厅的桌子下遇到过各种各样的狗。”德国决心让该国的狗（以及狗主人）动起来。上月，德国农业宣布了一项计划，要求养狗人士每天必须遛狗两趟。
The British devotion to dog-walking may have more to do with the walking than the dogs. Britons are big walkers—they came fifth in the world in a study in 2017, the highest in Europe. Dogs provide walkers with company and a purpose, so it may be that walking encourages dog-ownership, rather than vice versa.
英国人则喜欢遛狗，但他们或许更多是为了散步，而非遛狗。英国人是步行健将，据2017年的一项研究显示，英国人的步行量排在世界第五、欧洲第一。狗为人们散步提供了陪伴和动力，所以可能是爱散步促使了人们去养狗，而非反之。
But Julien Dugnoille, an anthropologist at Exeter University, suspects dog-walking has a deeper significance. Dogs, he suggests, are a useful aid to a socially awkward nation. “British people…tend to see dog-walking as a rare opportunity to socialise with strangers, to have a chat and exchange a few jokes and comments about the weather without putting themselves in danger (ie, without being too committed in their interaction).” The French, a nation of flâneurs, have no need of canine props.
但埃克塞特大学的人类学家朱利安·杜诺斯里尔认为，遛狗还有着更深层次的含义。他认为，对于一个不善于社交的国家来说，狗或许能为人们提供帮助。“英国人倾向于将遛
狗看作是与陌生人进行社交的一个难得的机会，能够与陌生人聊聊天、讲个笑话或谈谈天气，而不至于将自己置于危险的境地（即在社交活动中不必太过投入）。”法国是一个爱好闲逛的民族，因此法国人不需要养狗。
A tradition among the British aristocracy of owning and training dogs also leads Dr Dugnoille to speculate that dog-walking retains some of its ancient kudos. When people in the park say “Max is very well-behaved,” says Dr Dugnoille, “that is a way to demonstrate mastery in the art of taming, an elevation above those dog owners who are ‘not in control of their own dog’, which is the ultimate faux-pas in public spaces.”
杜诺斯里尔推测，英国贵族有着养狗以及训狗的传统，而如今英国人在遛狗时仍保留着些许传统的荣耀感。杜诺斯里尔说道，当有人在公园里说“Max真乖呀”，其实是一种展示训狗艺术的方式，这也意味着你相比那些“管不住自己的狗”（这是在公共场所最失礼的一种行为）的狗主人要高出一筹。
But it’s not just about showing off, in his view. A Belgian who has lived in both Britain and France, he reckons the British are closer to their dogs than the French. Walking with one’s best friend “creates a time and space where dogs and humans meet as species and connect as individuals”.
但在他看来，这不仅仅是为了炫耀。作为一个曾在英国和法国都生活过的比利时人，他认为，英国人比法国人更喜欢狗。把狗当作最好的朋友，与之一起散步，此时此刻，人与狗是作为不同物种的个体而彼此联系的。(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
stereotype [ˈsteriətaɪp] n. 陈腔滥调；老套；成见
mutt [mʌt] n. 杂种狗；笨蛋
outpace [ˌaʊtˈpeɪs] vt. 赶过；超过…速度
pooch [puːtʃ] n. 狗
pamper [ˈpæmpər] vt. 纵容；使…过量
indulgent [ɪnˈdʌldʒənt] adj. 放纵的；宽容的；任性的
nudge [nʌdʒ] v. 轻撞；推开；接近 n. 轻推；触发
aristocracy [ˌærɪˈstɑːkrəsi] n. 贵族；上层社会
kudos [ˈkuːdɑːs] n. 荣誉；名望；称赞
tame [teɪm] adj. 驯服的；平淡的 vt. 驯养；制服
