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Social media is flooded with tips and information on exercise for dogs. Recommendations vary anywhere from 60 minutes to in some cases, all the way up to 180 minutes of exercise a day. That's 3 hours of high intensity activity!
The problem with these recommendations is that they not scientifically founded. They don't take into account the dog's anatomy and ethogram and are loosely based on 'breed traits' that may not be relevant to our companion dogs. As a result, so many of our dogs are over-exercised, leading to a range of physiological and behavioural challenges.
Impact of overexercise in dogs
Impact on muscles
Our dogs have shorter legs than humans. Which means that even at a human's slow pace, they walk faster to keep up with us. When muscles are used excessively or more than they are supposed to, they are likely to encounter early or exaggerated wear and tear. This could pave way for a dog being in extreme discomfort and pain. Stress fractures, joint pains, muscle strains - these are all outcomes when muscles are used much more or faster than they are supposed and our dogs are extremely susceptible to this when over-exercised. This is one of the reasons I actively discourage pet parents from engaging their dogs in fetch games - the repetitive movement isn't natural to how dogs move otherwise and causes an incredible amount of strain on joints & muscles. But more about fetch in a later blog!
Impact on the nervous system
Apart from the musculoskeletal impact, let's look at what happens within the body as well with over-exercise. When our dogs engage in high intensity activities, there are a number neurotransmitters and chemicals released into the bloodstream, specifically adrenaline and cortisol, also known as 'stress hormones'. The release of these neurotransmitters is marked with the activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is also known as the body's fight or flight mode. SNS activation also leads to other physiological changes including - increase in heart rate, dilation of bronchial tubules, decreased digestive activity, to name a few. If the SNS is activated, the body cannot rest (this is called parasympathetic nervous system or PSNS activation) because it feels like "survival mode".
But here's the catch - the more adrenaline and cortisol is pumped into the body, the longer they take to leave the body. Which means that even if the dog has stopped engaging in a high intensity exercise, depending on how long and how often they engage in this, cortisol still remains in the body - their body continues to be in a state of stress.
Impact on emotional & behavioural health
Now this also has a spill over effect with our dog's behaviour. With the presence of cortisol in the body, our dogs are likely to engage in frenzied behaviours - jumping, humping, chewing, biting, hyperactivity, zoomies - these are all indicators that the dog is wired up or dysregulated. Moreover, this kind of chronic stress has a lasting impact on the overall health, well being & welfare of the dog. Chronic gut issues, poor sleep, mood changes, suppressed immunity - these are some of the conditions one's likely to see with chronic stress in their dogs.
"But I have been told to increase my dog's exercise to tire them out and manage their hyperactivity"
This is very common advice that is given to pet parents. But this is completely counter productive. If your dog is struggling with hyperactivity, it's important to step back and evaluate their lifestyle and environment to identify and eliminate stressors. Responding to hyperactivity with more activity only increases stress within the body. What your hyperactive dog needs is a lifestyle that isn't constantly adrenalised, routines that support rest and access to ongoing calming activities so that they can regulate themselves when stressed/excited.
So how much exercise do our dogs need?
To answer this question, we first need to look at how much activity dogs naturally engage in. According to a time & activity budget done by Bhadra & Banerjee (2019), free ranging dogs spent close to 52% of their day being inactive. Based on these observations & data, it's fair to conclude that dogs essentially are lazy animals - when given a choice, they are more likely to laze around than engage in high intensity activity.
The study also highlighted that while free ranging dogs spent most of their active time walking, this included multiple micro-activities like food searching, foraging, following, urinating, defecating, chasing, playing with other dogs, running, jumping - the micro activities occurred in very less frequency. This is very different from how we understand and facilitate activities for our pet dogs.
CASE STUDY
When I consulted with Barfi's caregivers, they described her as an anxious and fearful dog who would lunge at strangers, struggle to focus and, excessively lick her paws. She would go out for 60 minutes, fast paced walks every day. As I worked with Barfi's guardians, one of the things I recommended was to cut down the walk time (along with changing the nature of the walk and a few other specific recommendations). Within a day or two of eliminating that walk, Barfi was less hyper at home, she was sleeping better and she showed lesser signs of being anxious.
Sometimes simply cutting out excessive exercise can make a huge difference to a dog's physical, emotional and behavioural health.
Instead of focusing on high intensity exercise routines for long durations ("brisk walking" or "jogging") for your dog, I recommend facilitating sniffaris for 15-20 minutes a day. This involves covering short distances where your dog has the freedom to explore and sniff as much as they want. According to pulse studies done on dogs, sniffing has shown to significantly reduce heart rate - a calming activity that can be hugely beneficial to our dogs.
Here's a glimpse of Luchi & Mutton out on a sniffari. Observe how much they sniff, how they move and the pace of their movement:
While it may look like they are just sniffing and moving really slowly, there's a lot of information that is being processed here, there are lots of thoughtful and deliberate movements being made - all of this gets completely missed when we are walking our dogs, instead of them walking themselves.
To take your dog out on a sniffari, identify places that your dog can explore freely - parking lots, car basements, empty parks, construction sites, playgrounds late at night/early morning, car parking around shops/markets - all of these are filled with exciting smells and sights.
Along with allowing dogs to use their natural abilities of smell, sniffaris can also provide ample opportunity for functional movement - movement that is based on real world situational biomechanics and isn't curated or forced in any way.
Here's Kitty, a friend's dog, on her sniffari. Observe how she's moving and engaging in functional movement as she explores her environment. This kind of movement also build proprioception for dogs - the 'sixth' sense of self movement, force and body position.
But what about breed specific exercise requirements?
When it comes to dog behaviour, there's a tendency to slap the breed label on every discussion, including exercise needs for the dog. There is growing research that suggests that there are significant individual differences within a single breed. So, using breed as a blanket lens doesn't allow us to see the dog for the individual they are and support them in their own unique needs. We continue to use the concept of breeds in very reductionist and simplistic terms - but it's much more complicated than that. Each dog is greatly influenced by both genetics and epigenetics and it's not as simple as a Golden Retriever in Singapore demonstrating trait expression exactly the way the original Golden Retriever did.
I think about Mutton, my pit bull type dog. There are so many recommendations out there on how pit bull type dogs need 2-3 hours of exercise per day to "channel their energies". I very strongly beg to differ. Her body structure, her individual needs, her physical health and most importantly, her own free will - all defy this recommendation.
Miss Mutton would rather sleep, eat and stay indoors than exercise for 1 hour, let alone 2-3 hours of it every day.
The level & intensity of physical activity your dog engages in has huge impact on their physical, emotional & behavioural health. Don't follow generic recommendations or blanket advice - instead, focus on your dog's individual needs and work with a professional.
If you are looking for 1:1 support for your dogs, schedule a FREE Discovery Call with me and let's chat. Use this conversation to talk about what you are struggling with, learn more about my approach and how I can help both your dog and you.
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