The Right Amount of Exercise for an Arthritic Dog
Regular exercise is extremely beneficial for your dog when they have arthritis or degenerative joint disease. The key is determining what type of exercise is right for your pet, and how much is enough … rather than too little or too much.
For instance, if you are going to give your dog a variety of nutritional supplements to help heal arthritic joints, a standard rule of nutritional practice is that you have to maintain good blood supply to the joints in order for these substances to reach their destination.
You can only maintain a good blood supply if the joints are exercised, so the problem comes down to striking a balance between enough exercise to help keep muscles, tendons and ligaments mobile, strong and maintain their range of motion, while not over-exercising so that your dog hurts its joints.
A good general rule of thumb is to provide your dog with a reasonable amount of controlled exercise. You want your dog to get enough exercise that he or she enjoys it without becoming stiff and aching afterwards. Shorter walks and play time, or swimming throughout the day, are better than marathon walks, marches and play sessions.
Arthritic dogs tend to “loosen up” with exercise. That is why dogs are in more discomfort earlier in the day than late in the afternoon – the opportunity to move around has eliminated some of the stiffness and discomfort following a period of inactivity. This can also be a potential problem however, as a dog may feel well enough to exercise too vigorously, further damaging the joints.
Here is what I advise most of my clients to do – let your dog walk or run or fetch within reason. It can chase Frisbees. It can also swim, which is a particularly good exercise. What it can’t do … and so what you want to avoid … is encouraging your dog to jump up to catch things because of the weight placed on the hips. You also don’t want to play tug-of-war, again because of the excessive strain placed on the joints.
In all these forms of exercise, even the “safer” ones, the key word is moderation. And remember, you can massage your dog, too.
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