Introduction

Leading on from my previous article on cruciate ligament damage in dogs (click here), presented in this article is an idea to help with joint damage-prevention and final recovery: dog strength training. This is just a brilliant idea, especially for breeds that are known to be more vulnerable to joint damage – sometimes quite early in life. We are looking at exercises and a dog diet that your dog will love, that will leave them healthier in ligament, cartilage, tendon and bone; this means that they will become less susceptible to injury because of it. A well-thought-out exercise routine will increase your dog’s metabolic rate; your dog’s weight will be more easily maintained at healthy levels, and overall health will improve. Please consult your vet before starting a new exercise with your dog!

Bodywork and avoiding injury

Injuries can be such a traumatic experience for a dog. They can lead to radically lowered activity levels, lower mental stimulation, less enjoyment and even weight-gain problems later on. Excessive weight is an injury’s worst enemy; it can prevent the trauma healing and even cause further (or could have facilitated the original) damage. Dog injuries can be almost as traumatic for their owners – not least because of the sometimes enormous costs involved!

A dog’s body is similar in many ways to our bodies; when a dog builds muscle, tendon and ligament strength around a joint, the joint becomes more stable and is less prone to damage. With correct dog strength training, the joint is held more strongly in its correct position and is more resistant to misalignment. A dog’s health becomes improved and even their life-expectancy is extended with strength-building and muscle-conditioning. The great news is that it can be really easy for owners, and really enjoyable for your dog to achieve!

Your dog strength training should ensure that your dog’s limbs use a full range of movement and that muscles are not developing in an unbalanced way. To take a human example – when doing only press-ups, the chest and rear of the upper arms are strengthened; the upper back and front of the upper arms are neglected. This is physiologically unbalanced training, and can lead to posture and strain injuries purely because of this imbalance. A body-builder who seems to stoop may have over-developed chest muscle compared to back muscle; the highly-strengthened chest muscle tends to pull his shoulders forwards even when relaxed.

Exercise: training basics

To build strength in muscles, they need to be used more intensively than normal – used with more effort. This is commonly achieved through resistance-training, with demands on your dog’s muscles being steadily increased over time. In effect the dog’s musculature is being repeatedly overloaded, but in a progressive and controlled way. When muscles rest after such exercise, the muscle filaments re-grow and increase in strength. Only by overloading muscles can they grow in strength, with the ligaments and tendons similarly strengthened at the same time. Your dog’s heart and lungs will of course also benefit from the new workouts.

Control of exercises

Control of the dog strength training is needed to prevent over-exertion which may lead to painful muscle-strain and serious injury. Correct technique is needed to ensure that the strength develops evenly around the limb and in the best alignment to support each joint. Rest is essential to allow the newly-growing muscles to recover and rebuild, and to minimise the risk of injury during training.

If you have more than one dog, there may be large variances in age between them. Be aware of the risks of an elderly dog or puppy over-exerting themselves, as described by Hartpury University: “Owners need to be aware that some dogs may push themselves beyond safe limits, particularly in multi-dog households where young dogs are exercised in a similar way to adult dogs.” and “Working and competition dogs should be given one day off a week to allow their muscles and tendons to recover.”  (Click here for the full article).

Training will involve an increasing load for your dog’s muscles or an increasing number of repetitions; a combination of these will commonly be used. Increasing their number of repetitions (distance run for example) tends to improve stamina. Increasing their muscle-load rather than the number of repetitions tends to increase strength; clearly a balance between the two extremes is needed!

The above ideas are as applicable to people as they are to dogs, but the exercises need some increased ingenuity to transfer successfully to dogs. The training needs to be enjoyable for your dog, or else they will lose the drive to improve which they need for improved strength. Fun is good for both a dog and owner, after all! To pick a suitable activity that your dog loves doing is the perfect solution, and one that you will both find almost effortless.

Exercise and training in practise:

Herding balls

A herding ball (egg-shaped or spherical) can be a wonderful and often addictive plaything for energetic dogs. Their stomach and shoulder muscles have a particularly good workout. It can be brilliant fun for ALL dogs, not just dogs with a tendency to herd things! Many dogs love padding it around with their front legs & paws, and it gives them a great mental and physical work-out.

Dogs with a predisposition to herding (German Shepherd Dogs, Collies, Shelties, Australian Cattle Dogs etc) seem to love ‘herding’ a ball with their noses as well as pulling and pushing it with their front legs. They’ll push the herding ball around and will try to guide it to where they want it. It looks terrific fun for them and is a great cardio exercise even when they are playing on their own. Behaviour problems for such intelligent and active dogs can also be reduced when they play with a herding ball. Not all herding dogs will want to play with a ball, in which case other exercises will need to be tried!

The ball can be a heavier purpose-made hard herding ball (some of which can be filled with sand or water if needed), or a larger gym-style exercise-ball (the inflatable soft ones). As long as it is large enough and is inflated or hard enough for your dog to NOT bite successfully, it will work for them. The size can vary according to the size of dog – as long as it is at least big enough to survive your dog, any size is fine! A herding ball is a great physical and mental outlet for your dog – click here for a great 25cm diameter hard ball example, or for a suitable-for-any-dog huge 85cm soft inflatable exercise ball (with air pump!) click here .

Towing things!

Larger and higher-energy dogs tend to love towing things. Although slightly involved, a harness (click here) with a weighted sled or something heavy attached to it with rope could be used. As your dog becomes stronger and fitter, the load towed can be increased. Walking or running your dog on a fairly even surface, towing their load until moderately tired each time could be a good system.

The dog training must still be fun for your dog even at the end of the exercise! Shorten the distance or decrease the load if your dog struggles; don’t let them become exhausted. The weight or distance can be increased a little when your dog finds the exercise easy. Dragging a tyre or two around a field may do the trick, but don’t tow anything that will run over your dog when they stop! There are even dog weight-pulling competitions for those who would like a competitive streak in their training.

Hill work

Training your dog to retrieve a ball by throwing the ball/Frisbee/rope up a slope will improve their leg-muscle and condition too. Hill-work like this can be progressively extended by increasing the steepness and distance run as your dog gains fitness. As long as the exercises tend to extend your dog’s muscles in a pretty linear fashion, the joints will be stable and strengthened by the exercises. Avoid erratic sudden sideways motions if possible.

The more mature dog

Keeping an older dog fit can be challenging, but one way we have found by experience to work seems to be to get a puppy as well! As long as your mature dog can rest enough, the extra exercise and stimulation of a youngster-at-large can be great for them both; remember that a mature dog needs more rest than a young dog! Playing with the young dog separately yourself or teaching the puppy commands to stop harassment of your older dog may be needed!

There is, unfortunately, one potential drawback of playing between dogs – sometimes injuries due to the frequent rapid changes in direction during chases can cause sprains. In some cases introducing a puppy won’t work for your older dog, but often it may be a win-win situation; the puppy can learn lots from your mature dog, and the mature dog keeps fit and stimulated because of activity with the puppy. A longer and healthier life for the mature dog is quite possible when stimulated by the new arrival!

Food & nutrition

A good dog diet is important for any canine. With dog training, food of high quality – not necessarily just more of the same – is essential for a healthy dog. It’s just like when people are in training; extra attention needs to be given to food intake to maintain good nutrition and build strength without losing health because of the increased energy use.

Click Here for my recent article concentrating on dog foods, their benefits and types.

Kibble

Nutrition is important for ALL dogs, so try to avoid really cheap dog-foods; keep your dog from scavenging in rubbish whenever possible in order to avoid tummy upsets.   There are reviews available for all sorts of dog foods; the website  allaboutdogfood.com (click here) is particularly usable and comprehensive (allow some time to digest it!); go for the foods that are 75%-rated or above if possible – 50 pence a day for dog food isn’t too much, surely? (NOT for instance the popular and super-cheap Tesco Complete Dry Dog Food, 2% quality-rated, which incredibly still qualifies for Certification as a ‘nutritionally complete’ food!).

Diet can have a great influence over joint conditions and minor ‘allergies’ in dogs; a change of food can produce surprising results because of the changing ingredients your dog absorbs. Commercial dog food (and treats) usually contains large amounts of additives, cereals, rubbish indigestible ‘meat’ and chemicals; these can create inflammation problems in joints, gut, skin and ears. Most (both cheap and expensive) dry dog-foods contain all the allowable ‘meat’ that you would never consider feeding to your dog; there will be restaurant fat, hooves, beaks, road-kill, feathers, blood, warts-and-all. It’s all called ‘meal’ or ‘animal by-products’; it’s cooked several times which kills any goodness dead and then coloured to make it look lovely.

There is an alternative, which is far far better for your dog than any tinned or dry dog food; it is raw feeding:

Raw feeding of dogs

Raw food comprises raw meat, tripe, fat and organs plus a small proportion of vegetables; the vegetables are either mashed up or lightly cooked to enable good digestion. Dogs don’t chew, so what goes in their mouths reaches their stomachs unchanged. Vegetables are great for roughage, in the absence of feathers/fur/claws etc that they may otherwise eat in the wild! Raw meat is more easily digested than cooked meat for dogs and is perfectly safe; their digestive system is designed to do this! Raw meat is packed full of dog goodness – the ultimate nutrition for canines; cooking meat changes the meat’s texture and nutritional value, so cooked meat is less nutritious and harder to digest for a dog.

RAW FOOD CAN BE DANGEROUS TO PEOPLE, because of the commonly-found pathogens which are on many raw meats purchased. Personal and work-space hygiene is essential when – and after – handling and storing raw meats in order to avoid illness, as when handling any raw meats. Dogs rarely become ill because of the pathogens on meat, as they are well-adapted to digesting this food.

How to raw-feed

Try switching to a raw/natural food dog diet; there are (at least) two schools of thought on how best to achieve this:

1. Some people reckon that you shouldn’t mix dry dog food with raw in the same meal; this is suggested because of possible speed-differences in the digestion of kibble and of meat. Alternate a raw food meal (morning) with a dry kibble meal (evening) to ease the transition to a raw diet.

2. Another school of thought from folks who also seem to know what they are talking about says that gradually introducing raw food mixed with kibble in the same meal is perfectly good. Try doing this for a few weeks with the raw food proportion gradually increasing with time; your dog’s stomach acidity needs time to adapt to the new food mixture. See https://paleoridgeraw.uk/switching-to-raw-food-diet for further help

Making raw food

Raw food for dogs can be mixed in a large batch and split into meal-sized portions; store these portions in bags or boxes in the freezer until the day before use. Thaw the day’s food out in the fridge ready for eating. Dogs are mostly carnivorous, and will handle an almost entirely meat diet perfectly; vegetables do provide a rich source of nutrients otherwise in short supply so they are well worth adding to the meals. DO NOT feed cooked bones – they are brittle and hard to digest; raw bones are far easier for your dog to digest – but do not feed bones with their meals at all until they are fully adapted to the raw diet, because their digestion may not cope well in the earlier stages.

Do not forget about ‘super-foods’ such as blueberries, turmeric and seaweed for dogs – do your research and fill your pet with these powerful anti-oxidants and health-boosters. They can be mixed in small quantities with each day’s food and may well reduce your dog’s chances of developing cancer, inflammations and sensitivities (itchy skin or ears). Click here to see my recent article ‘Your Aging Dog’ where I discuss these supplements in more detail.

What goes in must come out

Dog diet changes will create temporary dog-poo texture changes; however, a raw diet will eventually result in smaller and less voluminous output, since more food is actually being absorbed! Portion sizes may end up being smaller, since the nutritional density of the raw diet is higher – make sure your dog doesn’t get fat! Raw food should contain protein from raw (ideally white) meats, organs and fish (eg oily sardines); the food can contain up to 15% cooked vegetables BUT NO WHEAT. Wheat gluten is majorly suspected in provoking arthritis (and epilepsy); it’s not completely digested, plus it provokes an immune-response which leads to skin, ear and gut problems.

Feeding your dog with home-made dog food is popular for those with some time and passion; books like this one: (Raw And Natural Nutrition For Dogs) was written by dog owners for their own dog’s welfare, because they wanted to share these ideas with others. All great training systems include great nutrition to support it – don’t forget about food quality for your dog!

Dog healthy weights

As for your dog’s weight – you should easily be able feel their ribs with the flat of your hand; you may even see the ribs very slightly in short-haired dogs; otherwise they are overweight. Dogs do have a waist, and no dog should look like a barrel! Lots of lean muscle is one thing, but joints over-burdened with useless, heavy and unhealthy fat is quite another! Dogs are runners, not fatty couch-potatoes and the best diet for dogs is not quite what’s in the dry food sack.

Conclusion

Exercise is crucial for your dog’s health – it is not optional! Upping the basic dog-walking exercise further to improve strength will turn your dog into something of an athlete – with robust physical and mental health, stamina and physiology. A great dog diet must go hand-in-hand with dog strength training or else health will suffer because of nutritional deficiencies. Enjoyable new games and regimes for you and your dog can – and should – be fun and invigorating; it may make you both fitter and stronger!