Exercise provides your dog with a myriad of physical and mental benefits. It keeps joints limber and promotes good range of motion, maintains muscle mass, which can help prevent injury, and helps to maintain cardiovascular health, decrease obesity, or maintain appropriate weight.
If that’s not enough to coax your canine companion off the sofa, consider this. Daily exercise can strengthen your relationship and reinforce your dog’s need for routine. One of the reasons dogs and humans get along so well is that we both appreciate structure in our respective worlds. Regular exercise provides a day-to-day predictability that dogs truly appreciate, simply because it is “in their nature.”
However, this isn’t an invitation to overwork your dog. Should that happen, there is real risk for joint injury, back injury, respiratory distress, or cardiovascular problems. Heat stroke is a huge problem (and an often fatal one) for obese dogs who are exercised too rigorously.
Moderation is key. Much of the time it is not the length of time performing the task, it is the intensity and impact of the activity that matters.
If you’d like to start your dog on an exercise regimen or just want to make sure your current one is sensible, read on to learn about some signs of overexertion. Experts stress the importance of working with your dog’s vet to create an individualized exercise plan—especially if your dog has health conditions, is old or young, or is a breed that doesn’t tolerate intense exercise very well.
Pad injuries can be extremely painful like walking on a ruptured blister on the bottom of your foot. Dogs can’t get off their feet as easily as we can, which makes any and all walking torturous.
Look at the bottom of your dog’s paws. Overworked pads may have tears with visible flaps of skin present, may appear red, worn away, or thinner than normal. If infected, you may see swelling or pus. Sudden stops can also create paw pad injuries if the sliding stop is performed often enough to wear off the tough outer layer of the pad.
Muscular pain and stiffness are additional signs that your dog may be getting too much exercise. When the dog is ready to get up, the owner may notice a struggle. The dog may refuse to walk up or down stairs, may refuse the next meal because it hurts to reach down to the floor to the food dish. She may even cry out when first moving about.
So, what can owners do in the event of too much exercise?
You can help reduce soreness and stiffness (and other injuries) by unsubscribing to weekend warrior syndrome. Many owners work all week and try to fit in a week's worth of exercise into two days off. That’s fine for you, but that rhythm doesn’t jibe with most dogs. This approach of packing it all into the weekend is not good for the dog because, simply put, they are usually not properly conditioned but will push through warning muscle and joint pain and fatigue for play time and owner time.
The impact associated with extreme exercise can cause strain and sprain in various dog joints. Toe joints are particularly susceptible, but the wrist and elbow are also at-risk. In dogs with very straight rear legs, excessive exercise can lead to problems in the stifle (knee) joints, including strain, sprain, meniscal tears, and tears in the cranial cruciate ligament.
Now, remember, some dogs are genetically at greater risk of developing joint injuries. Breeds who are long and low to the ground—like Basset Hounds, Dachshunds, and Pekingese—have unusually shaped joints, which puts their limbs at risk for easy injury in the face of excessive exercise. Back problems are also common in these breeds, so one can imagine they are not good candidates for hard core exercise regiments.
If an older dog has osteoarthritis, over-exertion can cause immediate pain and actually accelerate the ongoing degeneration of joint tissues. Young puppies (especially large and giant breeds) need some exercise, but not too much as it can result in joint problems later in life.
A dog who has sustained a leg injury may limp or favor one leg over the other, dogs will sometimes put their head down when walking on the good leg and raise their head up when they’re walking on the bad leg.
Also, as I mentioned, be aware of behavioral changes. For example, if your dog normally likes to run with you, but plops herself down on the pavement and refuses to go further, this is something you might want to investigate with your family veterinarian.
Now, the basic guideline for a good conditioning plan for active pet parents and their dogs is to alternate days of cardio exercise (consistent exercise for 20 minutes or more) and strengthening with one full day of rest, which is a free day with no planned activities.
Dogs need exercise to maintain peak physical and mental well-being, but the type they should get depends on their condition, health history, breed, and age. The hunting and working dogs can exercise for a much longer period of time before showing signs of being tired.
It’s good to know the signs of over-working your dog, but it’s even better to prevent issues—and the best way to do this is by working with your vet to create a sensible exercise plan for your best pal. Enjoy an active lifestyle that comes with a dog in the family, but as with most things, extreme habits can have extreme outcomes. Slow down a bit. And enjoy that dog you love so much.
(Dr. Lamb is the Veterinarian at the Manchester Animal Hospital.)