Exercise and Your Dog: How Much is Enough
The modern rally of ‘a tired dog is a good dog’ has been taken up by nearly everyone who has or works with dogs. However, excessive or inappropriate exercise could harm your dog, physically and/or mentally. In recent years, area vets have begun experiencing a large increase in ACL/PCL injuries among their clients – an injury that isn’t a normal occurrence in most dogs. After surgery (always required in a full tear), recovery is slow and arduous, and many dogs develop painful arthritis in the affected knee. As these injuries are happening more frequently in pet dogs (rather than canine athletes), vets believe this increase may be due to inappropriate forms of exercise and improper conditioning of these dogs.
What kind of exercise is inappropriate for a dog? That depends on the breed of dog, its current level of physical conditioning, the weather/climate, and of course, the dog itself. For example, most Basset Hounds do NOT make great running partners, in ANY weather <VBG>! Yet, even a Nordic breed, developed for pulling a sled long distances, can be injured by running on concrete sidewalks (paw pad injuries), or even dirt/sand (joints injuries and heat exhaustion/dehydration) during our inconsistent New England weather if an owner doesn’t take the right precautions. Just like humans, dogs need careful conditioning when beginning a physical exercise program. However, a human can respond appropriately when they feel themselves ‘overdoing’ it – dogs depend on us to keep them safe and healthy during exercise, and we don’t always notice the subtle signals of physical stress in a dog.
Certain breeds need a good amount of physical exercise in order to be healthy – sporting breeds, such as Retrievers, benefit greatly from 2-3 hours daily of running and swimming. Hounds, while they may not need as intense physical activity, require ‘nose work’ as part of their exercise plan – an hour or two a day of physical walking plus nose work will go a long way in keeping a hound happy and behaviorally healthy. Among the toughest dogs to ‘tire’ are the working breeds – dogs that were bred to do a physically and mentally demanding job independently – these are the guarding breeds (Belgian Shepherds, Pyrenees, etc.), sled dogs (Siberians, Malamutes, Samoyed, etc.) and herding breeds (Australian Cattle Dogs and Shepherds, Border Collies, etc.). These groups demand mental exercise in amounts that equal or surpass their physical exercise needs – needless to say, unless an owner is prepared to give them enough stimulation, it can be tough to keep these dogs in a city situation.
How can you tell what kind of exercise is appropriate for your dog? Start by talking to the parent club for your specific breed to find out what kinds of activities are appropriate. Next, take your dog to the vet for a physical evaluation to make sure he’ll be able to take part in the exercise you’ve chosen. If your dog has hip dysplasia or other physical problem that limits his ability to exercise, swimming can be an excellent option for exercise. You can ask your vet to explain the signs of physical stress you need to look for in your dog, or you may want to take a Pet First Aid course. In the New England area, heat exhaustion is a common issue because dogs don’t really have an efficient body-cooling system. Puppies and older dogs have worse temperature regulating abilities than healthy adult dogs, and dogs with shorter faces have impaired heat tolerance, as do black dogs and long-haired breeds. Generally, the top temperature for exercising a dog is about 85° F. However, if the dog is young, old, black, long-haired, short-muzzled, or not in perfect health, 85° F could be too hot. This is especially true when the humidity is high, so plan your exercise carefully in order to ensure your dog’s safety. Once you’ve decided on the type of exercise and when you’ll be engaging in it, you’ll need to build your dog up gradually, just as if you were starting a new program yourself. Remember, though, that puppies who are still growing shouldn’t engage in any exercise or activity during which they have to keep moving for long periods of time – the best exercise for a growing pup is playing with other puppies or people, with frequent rest periods. Plus, this type of play has the added bonus of exercising the pup’s brain, too.
Danish researcher and trainer Mogens Eliasen recently stated in his book, BrainWork for Smart Dogs (note: the term ‘smart’ doesn’t mean a dog needs to be smart to do his ‘brainwork’, but that your dog will become smarter as a result of it) that while most people understand that a dog needs exercise, few comprehend that physical exercise by itself doesn’t always calm a dog down – in fact, it can cause what he terms a ‘build-up of mental energy’, resulting in just as many nuisance behaviors as a lack of physical exercise. People who train dogs to do complex behaviors such as those required by assistance tasks have noted how ‘tired’ the dogs seem after even a short training session.
So, does this mean you can get by with ‘mental exercise’ and forgo physical exercise entirely? NO – it means that a dog needs BOTH to be physically and emotionally healthy. When it comes to physical exercise, your dog will benefit greatly from at least two walks daily, of between 45 minutes-2 hours at a time, on or off leash (in a safe area). But the GOOD news for city-dwellers is that when the weather is bad and you can’t get out, you can STILL give your dog quality exercise that will help condition both his body and his brain.
How? Well, you can start with fetch and retrieve, if your dog enjoys this game (many retrievers will play for hours), but retrieve by itself is a physical-energy burner only. A better choice is ‘Find It!’ with a toy or other object – this will get your dog’s brain working, and kick in some of his natural prey instincts in the bargain. A great physical energy burner is ‘Tug of War’. No, it doesn’t make dogs more aggressive – just the opposite, in fact. Tug games, when played using easily-understandable, consistent rules, are a huge energy burner and also serve to increase the human-dog bond. What kind of rules? You should always use a designated ‘tug toy’, first of all, and your dog should know the ‘drop’ or ‘give’ cue, as well as a ‘take’ cue. ‘Take’ will be used as an invitation to play tug. If you see the dog becoming too aroused by tug, take an ‘obedience’ break – give a happy verbal announcement such as “Break-time!” and run your dog through a few of his known behaviors, such as sit, down, paw,etc. Then continue playing Tug (which becomes the ‘reward’ for performing his obedience tasks).
Another physical and mental game that dogs enjoy immensely is ‘Hide and Seek’ – this game is also a great way to work on recall skills. Place your dog in sit or down, give a ‘wait’ cue then leave the room and hide. Now, call your dog in a really excited way, so that he can come and find you. If you want, you can also give him a treat when he finds you, but most dogs are ecstatically happy to find you for praise and affection rewards, as well.
Trick training, using shaping methods really works to burn mental energy. Train your dog to ‘touch’ objects that you point to using his nose or his paw – begin by rewarding him for touching his nose to your hand, then adding the cue ‘nose’ or ‘touch’. Then, use that behavior as a stepping stone to other tricks such as closing doors, picking up toys or laundry, bringing you a magazine or newspaper, and ringing a bell. A great starter game that is used by new clicker trainers is ’101 Things to Do With a Box’: (http://www.clickertraining.com/training/clicker_basics/index.htm?loaditem=101_w_a_box&itemnumber=8 ). This game encourages your dog to try new things when previous behaviors aren’t working – a great way to get your dog thinking!
You don’t need to have an ‘organized’ activity in order to get appropriate exercise for your dog – there are plenty of ways to keep him mentally and physically healthy. But, no matter how you choose to exercise your dog, remember to do so safely and in a way that will be fun for BOTH of you.
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