One of the common questions from dog owners who are interested in keeping their dogs as healthy as possible is “how much exercise should a dog be given?” Another variation on this question is “what is a good exercise program for dogs” simply because most people think that walking their dog is enough exercise. While walking your dog is necessary in order to bond you with them and to allow for training and socialization, you will probably notice that when you get back home your dog is not tired. In fact, your dog is probably energized from the stimulation of the walk, and is actually more amped up than before. This is simply because the walking that we routinely do with our dogs does little to actually exercise their entire body. It will exercise their front legs and chest minimally, but it does very little for their heart and lungs. For that, you need cardiovascular exercise which raises and lowers their heart rate. Just like if your doctor told you that you needed to exercise more in order to get into a better health state, your dog needs the same. In almost every case, your doctor is talking about more than just walking around the block, and wants you to do things that will make you breathe hard as well as raising your heart rate. They are talking about running, swimming, hiking or going to the gym. Dogs need the same types of exercise in order to remain healthy, and unfortunately very few of them get that exercise.
In order for dogs to remain healthy, they need the types of exercise that burn calories and tire them out. This is usually far more than we are willing or able to provide, simply because we are not in good enough shape ourselves to provide it. Walking your dog gets them out and moving, but only running with your dog raises their heart rate and causes them to actually sweat and burn calories. We choose paths during walks that are comfortable for us, flat surfaces and paved roads that are not uncomfortable to walk on. A dog is built to hunt and seek food in the wild, and their bodies are evolved to to this efficiently. They need to go up and down hills, across rocks and sand, and need to run at high speeds to catch smaller animals. Just because we have put them into our homes and provided food to them does not mean their bodies are different, and the lack of exercise that we have called “caring for them” is actually harming them. Without continual movement that stimulates their brain and burns calories, their bodies atrophy and gain too much fat to be healthy. As a result, they die far sooner than they would if they were working all day for food, and have far more health issues. In a nutshell, we are the ones killing our dogs with kindness.
Most veterinarians will assess a dog’s physical makeup and health state in order to determine if exercise is a good idea. If they are older or unhealthy, their exercise routines are going to be far more limited and guarded than a typical dog. If your dog is young and has no underlying conditions, they are going to need a lot of exercise in order to remain in good health. This is going to entail far more than just walking around the block. You need to provide the types of exercise that a dog would get in the wild, running and jumping, hiking and swimming. Because not every owner has the ability to do these types of things regularly, the following is a good place to start your dog’s workout routine.
- Daily walks: You should be walking your dog several miles a day, generally in two walks. The best case is a morning and evening walk of about a mile or so each, but you can usually assess the amount of walking by the time spent doing it. Most veterinarians are going to suggest several hours of you and your dog walking together at a regular pace every day.
- 30 Minute High Intensity Exercise: Just like us, if you want to build muscle and lose weight you need to burn calories. This is accomplished through running or exercising in a way that causes your heart rate to go up. You want to sustain the high heart rate for about 30 minutes, bringing it up and down over that period. Every two or three days, a high intensity workout should be in your dog’s routine. This will be accomplished through running with their owner, swimming, hiking at a fast pace over hills, or treadmill running. This can be accomplished by allowing them to run at a dog park, but not every dog will perform well in that scenario.
- Play: Play with your dog every day for at least 30 minutes, allowing them to run, jump and chase things for that entire period of time. Play tug or fetch, frisbee or ball catching. Find the kinds of things that your dog enjoys doing and then provide this type of play for at least 30 minutes every single day.
- Hiking and swimming: Once a week, take your dog on a hike or swimming. This should be at least 30 minutes but can last several hours due to it’s slow expenditure of energy. Walking over uneven surfaces, climbing, running and scrambling should all be part of the routine. Jumping and diving into water as well as swimming for short periods are also ideal.
These are the types of various exercise that your dog should be performing every day in order to work out all of the muscles in their bodies. Relying on a single exercise like walking with you will only exercise a small amount of muscles, and doing this over an entire lifetime will allow muscles to atrophy because of a lack of use. Without high intensity exercise, your dog’s heart and lungs will never be worked out and gain strength, which will impact them later in life. Your dog will be healthier, less aggressive and destructive, less anxious and more easy to train with regular workouts.
Having a dog is a commitment. Being good to your dog takes a lot more than that.
Be good to your dog.
