healthy weight for dogs

How Much Exercise Does a Dog Need?

Pet Health Articles

Humans need regular exercise to maintain optimal health. By moving our bodies, we strengthen bones and joints, manage weight and chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and improve immune system and cognitive function. Regular exercise also releases hormones that decrease stress.

Surprise! Our dogs are no different. And just like humans, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Because of age, breed and environmental variations, exercise requirements differ from dog to dog.

How Much Exercise Does My Dog Need Each Day?

A good baseline for most canines is one hour of activity per day.

For middle-aged, brachycephalic breeds such as Pugs and Bulldogs, several walks a day for 45-60 minutes cumulatively can be plenty. These dogs have restricted airflow due to their shortened snouts, and more vigorous activity can be harmful to their health, leading to respiratory distress. It’s also best to exercise in cool temperatures as their body heat can rise quickly.

Breeds such as Border Collies are built to sustain high-intensity and a longer duration of activity. These breeds can be active for two or more hours per day, which may include chasing a frisbee, going for a run with their human, practicing flyball and similar activities.

Sighthounds like Whippets and Greyhounds need relatively little exercise to meet their physical and mental needs. Built for speed, they are content with three walks a day, and they thrive when provided with a few safe off-leash opportunities to reach their maximum velocity. They tire easily and aren’t endurance athletes. Many retired sighthounds become excellent apartment-dwelling companions.

How Much Exercise Does a Puppy Need?

Not surprisingly, puppies need more physical activity than most adult or senior pets.

If you have a puppy, you’ve likely experienced the “Zoomies” – that quick sprint around a room or throughout your home. This is evidence of pent-up energy that needs to be expended.

Because of their developing limbs, puppies over four months should be exercised multiple times a day for one to two hours cumulatively. At a very young age, a leashed walk is not needed and is unlikely to be very productive since puppies are so distractable. Although, practicing leash-walking skills and recall exercises, such as “come when called”, constitute physical activity.

Playing with a ball, hide and seek with a toy or treat or playtime with other healthy dogs can be productive. Hiking is also a safe activity you and your pup can enjoy together. New sights, smells and terrain provide lots of opportunities for stimulation. Various muscle groups are utilized which is optimal for injury prevention and building strength. In inclement weather, running the stairs, playing tug-of-war and leveraging puzzle games are activities to enjoy.

How Much Exercise Does My Senior Dog Need?

Older dogs need exercise to maintain muscle mass, control weight and provide enrichment. A good rule of thumb to follow for senior dogs is that they need roughly 30 minutes of exercise per day.

Shorter, slower walks that incorporate hills are very beneficial. Swimming is an ideal exercise for older pets, too. They aren’t as likely to overheat, and the non-weight-bearing exercise is easy on arthritic limbs. It’s important to monitor your pet in the water as exhaustion can occur rapidly; life vests can help maintain buoyancy while allowing your pet to reap the benefits of swimming.

If your senior dog slows down, starts limping or seems otherwise physically stressed, stop exercising and consult your veterinarian.

How Do I Know If My Dog Isn’t Getting Enough Exercise?

Dogs that aren’t receiving enough exercise are relatively easy to identify.

Weight gain, in a general sense, reflects too many calories being consumed and not enough expended. A pet’s ideal weight can be determined by assessing their muscle and body condition. A pet with an abdominal tuck, palpable ribs and an hourglass shape, when seen from above, is at their ideal weight.

AKC breed standards can also be a rough guide as to where your purebred pup should fall on the scale. If your pet is 10% above their ideal weight, they are considered overweight. It’s time to get moving!

Under-exercised dogs can also exhibit a multitude of behavioral problems. Dogs that excessively bark, chew household items or pace around the house may not be receiving enough exercise. Lesions attributed to chronic licking such as lick granulomas on the limbs may be caused by boredom and stress. These lesions can look like red, raised, hairless spots on any or all the legs, especially near the wrists.

Muscle atrophy, or muscle wasting, can be a sign that your pet is too sedentary. Since other metabolic, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases can lead to muscle loss, it’s best to consult your veterinarian if you notice any changes in body condition. It’s also best to check in with the doctor before starting any new exercise routine.

Best Exercises for Your Dog’s Breed

Activities for Small Breeds

As smaller breeds have a greater tendency towards obesity, regular physical activity is vital to managing weight and overall health. Smaller breeds can find the room they need to stretch just about anywhere. Indoor activities such as playing fetch with a toy, chasing, hide and seek, going up and down a flight of stairs for treats, or a DIY agility course made up of broomsticks and nylon tunnels can be fun to challenge your dog. Short bursts or intervals of higher-intensity exercise can be what your dog needs to stay engaged and fit.

Considerations for Small Breeds:

• Toy breeds also have a propensity for tracheal collapse, so stop any activity that causes an increase in coughing or respiratory distress.

• Pugs, bulldogs, Pekingese, and Frenchies have cute button noses, but their narrow nostrils can make for restricted airflow and be dangerous if they overheat. It’s best to stay in cool, temperature-controlled areas.

• Not racetrack material, our brachycephalic dogs and couch potatoes like the basset hound can be sufficiently exercised with a few laps around the block and time to sniff several times a day. Low-impact exercises and obedience work where they practice sitting, staying, and recalling. Scent work can provide lots of physical and mental enrichment without overexertion.

Activities for Large Breeds:

It’s best to choose activities that you will enjoy doing together. After all, an exercise program isn’t successful if it isn’t sustainable. Larger dogs generally enjoy more expansive spaces to roam. Choose activities that sound like fun to you.

Considerations for Large Breeds:

• Dog parks provide an excellent place to socialize your friendly pet and get in a few rounds of fetch.

• Short, high-speed runs are effective for sighthounds. A spacious park setting or fenced-in field can be a great opportunity to let them do what they were born to do!

• Energetic, enthusiastic dogs also thrive in canine sports such as flyball, lure coursing, or agility, and classes abound.

• In colder climates, winter activities like dog sledding, chasing snowballs, skijoring, or building a snow maze can be fun if your dog’s feet are protected and their body temperature is maintained.

• Hunting, herding, and working dogs such as the Australian shepherd, husky, or Belgian Malinois need mental stimulation and a “job” to avoid boredom; they can be active for as much or more than 2 hours a day and not be fatigued.

• Do you enjoy hiking? Your active dog may love to explore new trails and preserves.

• If you enjoy swimming and the weather is right, dock diving and backyard fetch in the pool are great ways to stay in shape.

• Jogging with your dog is another activity you can experience together. Ensure the pavement is cool and water stations are available for you and your dog. Building up the duration and intensity of your runs will keep exercising with your companion fun and safe.

• If you must stay indoors with your active pet, try puzzle games, have a doggie playdate, or look for an indoor doggie daycare to meet their daily exercise quota.

Ask an Expert

Before establishing a new exercise routine or shaking up some old activities, make an appointment with your dog’s veterinarian to assess their health and some parameters to help guide which activities might be best suited for your pet. Age, breed, and pre-existing conditions can affect their stamina, acceptable joint impact, ideal temperature and weather conditions for exercising, and the sport they might enjoy.

At Pet Butler, we want your pet to feel and be their healthiest and happiest. Free up your time spent doing chores so you can have more quality time with your furry companion. We’ll take care of your dog’s waste removal on a weekly, every other week or monthly basis.

How to Determine if Your Pet is Obese

Pet Health Articles

Obesity isn’t unique to humans. Did you know that 59% of dogs were classified as clinically overweight or obese? While we are very well versed in our own signs and symptoms of obesity, it can be much more of a challenge to understand our pets’ health regarding their weight.

So, how can you tell if your pet is overweight, and when is it time to call your vet?

Body Condition Score and Weight

Let’s start with one of the fundamental tools veterinarians use to evaluate the health of canines: a Body Condition Score (BCS). The BCS is a rating of your dog’s current weight compared to its ideal weight. This is determined through visual and manual assessment. You can think of a BCS as the dog equivalent of a Body Mass Index (BMI) or a similar health indicator.

BCS scales can range from 1-5 or 1-9 and typically follow the same structuring. An example is shown below, with the “ideal” range at approximately 4 to 5.

Image Source: Purina’s Body Condition System

However, just like any analytical index, a BCS isn’t without its flaws. For one, the system is subjective, outlining generalized terms of what to look for in your pet. Second, body condition scoring isn’t going to be applied the same for all dogs and can be dependent on breed, gender and age.

As a species that ranges vastly in shapes and sizes, there is no one “ideal” weight for a dog. While there are standardized ranges for each breed, a healthy size is going to be unique to your pet alone. For example, healthy greyhounds typically have visible ribs due to their conformation and haircoat, but this same statement is not true for a golden retriever.

Ask your veterinarian to help identify a healthy weight range for your pet, which is likely to correspond to a range of 4-5 on the body condition score chart. Your pet will be overweight if they are 10-20% above that number on the scale and clinically obese if that number reaches more than 20%.

Not to fear, though. Just because you can’t rely on a BCS alone doesn’t mean you can’t determine if your pet is overweight. Here are some other signs you can look out for.

Physical Appearance

As with the visual examination involved in body condition scoring, the easiest way of understanding where your dog’s weight is at is simply by looking at them. Does your dog’s waist sag? Are there fat pads at the base of its tail and top of its hips? Do its legs stick out awkwardly to the sides instead of being directly under them? These could be signs of a weight problem.

In general, your dog should have its abdomen tucked up in relation to its chest. From an overhead view, a healthy dog is one that is wider at the chest and slimmer toward the waist. If your pet has an ovular body shape from the side or over the top, you’ll know something’s up.

One of the biggest visual indicators is the ribcage. In a healthy dog, the ribs shouldn’t be very prominent, depending on the breed, but they should be very easy to feel upon touch. A telltale sign of an overweight dog is one whose ribs take excessive palpation to find.

Respiratory Issues

Another common presentation of obesity in dogs comes in the form of breathing. If you’ve noticed that your pet struggles with breathing, namely wheezing or heavy breathing, this could be a result of being overweight.

Respiratory problems can even manifest when your dog isn’t exerting effort. Checking if and how intensely your dog snores can also provide insight into its weight situation. When it comes to snoring, more is not merrier.

Difficulty with Movement

As with humans, extra weight is going to place additional pressure on joints, making movement more challenging. If your pet isn’t moving around as well as it used to, weight can be the culprit. Better indicators come in the form of more difficult movements, like running, jumping and climbing stairs.

General Behavior

As a less specific rule-of-thumb, your pet’s overall behaviors can be indicative of needing to shed some pounds. If you find that your dog has become particularly sedentary, opting for laying around as opposed to going on walks, something likely isn’t right. An absence of energy and general lethargy is never going to be reflective of positive health.

If you find your dog following any of these patterns or displaying symptoms of obesity, it’s time to schedule a visit with your vet. At the end of the day, your veterinarian will be able to give you the most thorough and definitive answer regarding your pet’s health.

To continue learning about obesity in pets, be on the lookout for our upcoming articles on diseases mimicking obesity, how to help your pet lose weight and obesity in senior pets.

Tips to Avoid Obesity in Dogs

1. Talk to your veterinarian

The best way to prevent your pet from becoming overweight is to start with gaining an awareness of their body condition. To do this, speak to your veterinary professional about your dog’s current health, find out about exercise and activity requirements and ask how many kilocalories (kcal) they should intake daily based on breed, age and lifestyle.

At the appointment, it helps to bring your pet’s food, treats, and measuring cup; taking it one step further, an accurate log of your pet’s food intake over a week or two is ideal. By having all family members write down what is fed, your vet gets an accurate picture of nutritional intake.

Record any activity your dog has engaged in during that same time period. We aren’t necessarily counting calories expended, but gauging a rough level of activity. A pug on a couch doesn’t use the same amount of energy (calories) as a border collie who chases a frisbee 2 hours a day.

2. Find the right food for your pet

When determining the best diet for your dog, keep in mind that not all breeds require the same type and amount of food. Be sure to consult your vet for various food suggestions for your dog.

The “right” foods to maintain a healthy weight also depend on your pet’s particular circumstances. Age, breed, pre-existing conditions, activity level and even environmental temperature can all affect your pet’s nutritional and caloric needs. Controlling portions is key for all pets, regardless of how “low-calorie” a food may be. In general, younger pets tend to be more active and require food higher in caloric density vs. older, more sedentary pets. A good quality protein source is important for all life stages.

Most veterinarian-approved foods meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards for testing, nutritional content, labeling, guaranteed analysis and ingredients. It’s no small or inexpensive undertaking to create a safe, effective, palatable and nutritionally complete pet food. Some mom-and-pop shops that use colorful logos, promise “real” or “fresh” food and sell terms that are merely descriptive that can mean any number of things should be avoided unless approved by your veterinary health care professional.

For pets with specific dietary needs such as a low-fat diet for pancreatitis-prone patients, your vet may advise a calorie-controlled, prescription food to prevent obesity and manage pre-existing disease.

3. Treat them wisely

Who doesn’t love giving their pet a tasty treat in between meals? They’re always excited for treats, and you’re always delighted to offer them. However, remember that treats are not nutritionally complete and balanced. As such, they should contribute no more than 10% of overall kcal intake.

If you’re unsure what store-bought treats your pet should have, consult your vet for recommendations. You can also serve your pet fun, human-friendly options too! Healthy snacks for your dog can be apple slices, frozen yogurt “pup cups”, bananas, carrot sticks or frozen blueberries. Some owners even reserve a small portion of their daily kibble ration to be dispensed as treats. Your pet won’t know the difference, and you can effectively control intake while offering more treats throughout the day.

4. Develop healthy habits

Just as humans can develop unhealthy habits, our pets can, too. It’s imperative for your pet’s health that you help them create beneficial daily habits, including regular exercise. Develop good routines such as a long morning walk, or for senior pets, several short daily walks.

Other dogs may enjoy playing fetch, a run at the dog part or a game of hide and seek, which involves hiding a toy in the yard or house to be sought after. To mix things up, you can even try hiding so your pet can find you! For elderly pets, swimming is a particularly healthy activity that aids sore joints.

So, why should we be evaluating our pet’s weight throughout their life and ensuring they maintain an ideal weight? We witness the same physiological changes in our heavy pets that we do in overweight humans. Obesity leads to an increase in joint pain, generalized inflammation, diabetes and other metabolic issues and respiratory disease, as well as heart and kidney functional changes. It reduces life expectancy and is a financial drain on pet owners to treat obesity-related conditions. And most obviously, it compromises our pets’ ability to participate in exercise or activities with their owners, which decreases their quality of life.

At Pet Butler, we want your pet to feel their best and be their healthiest. That’s why we specialize in caring for your pet by scooping up their waste. Find a local Pet Butler near you or call 1-800-PET-BUTLER to learn how we can make your pet’s life happier, healthier and cleaner

Diseases that Mimic Obesity in Pets

Pet Health Articles

You have upped your pup’s workout routine to include 30-minute walks, twice a day. You’ve added a few hills and varied pace, counted calories and changed up treats to include apple slices and baby carrots. A download from WSAVA provided you with intel on body condition scoring and the importance of monitoring body weight to get an accurate picture of your pet’s nutritional health and general wellness.

But what happens when your pet is still gaining weight despite your efforts, or their weight is stable, but they are losing muscle mass? Maybe their “waist” is still present when viewing their profile from above, indicating a body condition score of 5, but a side view shows a generous potbelly and leads you to believe they may be more like an unhealthy 9?

First of all, great job on monitoring these important health indices! Second, it’s time to call in the health care professionals, your veterinary team members, for an assessment. When there are inconsistencies, inexplicable changes in weight, or your pet experiences shifts in appetite, energy or hydration needs, call your vet.

There are several diseases that can mimic obesity in pets, so it’s best to assess your pet’s condition as soon as possible.

Common Diseases in Dogs

Hypothyroidism

One of the most common diseases among middle-aged to senior dogs is hypothyroidism. The thyroid glands control metabolism, and when hormone levels are low, your pet may experience lethargy, hair loss, weight gain or recurrent skin and ear infections.

Breeds predisposed to hypothyroidism include our retriever friends, doberman pinschers, Irish setters, boxers, poodles and cocker spaniels. A simple blood test followed by thyroid supplementation can set your pet on the road to wellness.

Cushing’s Disease (Hyperadrenocorticism)

Cushing’s disease, or hyperadrenocorticism, is another endocrine disorder that disproportionately affects boxers, terriers, poodles, dachshunds, and maltese breeds. The disease is caused by an over-production of steroid hormones, namely cortisol.

Overmedication of pets or chronic use of a steroid called “Prednisone” can also lead to Cushing’s disease. Cortisol in healthy pets regulates the body’s response to stress and helps modulate the immune system. In excessive amounts, too much cortisol can lead to weight gain, a decreased ability to fight infection, increased water consumption and appetite, a swollen appearance to the abdomen and deposition of fat stores in the shoulder and neck areas. It can also lead to hair loss, thinning or darkening of the skin and lack of energy.

While often manageable, Cushing’s disease is a serious problem in middle-aged to older pets that may require surgery or lifelong medication and blood testing.

Pancreatic Tumors

The pancreas is made up of cells responsible for producing and secreting insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Dogs that have tumors of the pancreas secrete excessive amounts of insulin, causing glucose levels to drop, weakness, dull mentation and weight gain.

Blood testing paired with a biopsy at the time of surgery to remove the tumor can be diagnostic and curative if the cancer has not spread.

Fluid in Belly and/or Chest

Free fluid, water or blood in the abdomen can lead to changes on the scale or a bloated belly despite consistent calorie intake and exercise. Diseases that lead to water retention or leakage of fluid out of the bloodstream and into the abdomen are many and can affect young and old animals alike. Liver disease, gastrointestinal diseases that cause low blood protein and heart disease can all lead to fluid build-up in the belly and/or chest.

Certain cancers or trauma can cause free abdominal fluid or blood loss into the abdomen, resulting in a pot-bellied appearance.

Intestinal Parasites

Puppies are adorable, no doubt; however many pups harbor intestinal parasites, giving them that rotund appearance. Most puppies are exposed to roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and whipworms in utero via the maternal milk supply or in the environment. Intestinal parasites rob the puppies of necessary nutrients, so deworming and regular fecal testing are necessary.

No matter the cause, a sudden change in your pet’s body shape or size should be considered an emergency and prompt a visit to the veterinarian immediately. At Pet Butler, we want your pup to be their happiest and healthiest, which is why we’re here to take care of their waste. Call 1-800-PET-BUTLER to learn more about our waste removal services and how we can keep your yard clean.