It’s no surprise that exercise is good for your dog. Exercise can help your dog maintain a healthy weight. Physical activity can also be an outlet for energy that might otherwise be allocated to unwanted behaviors like destructive chewing.
But exercise has many less-than-obvious benefits for your dog. In celebration of Canine Fitness Month, here are our five favorite unexpected reasons to get active with your dog.
5 Unexpected Benefits of Exercise for Dogs
- Improves digestion. Does your dog suffer from a sensitive stomach, constipation, or other digestive woes? More exercise can help. Aerobic exercise, also known as “cardio,” has been linked in both human and animal studies to improve the diversity of your dog’s microbiome, the microorganisms in your dog’s intestines that aid digestion. Exercise also stimulates gut motility, helping food and wastes move smoothly through the gastric tract.
For best results, take a walk at least thirty minutes before or after a meal. Intensive exercise should take place 1-2 hours before or after a meal.
- Supports joint health. If your senior dog suffers from joint pain and stiffness due to osteoarthritis, you may hesitate to encourage them to exercise. But keeping an arthritic dog up and moving helps stimulate the movement of fluids in and around the joints and can help relieve arthritis symptoms. High-impact, fast-paced exercises may not be appropriate or possible, but brief, moderately paced walks can be helpful.
Arthritic dogs can also benefit from hydrotherapy, in which a treadmill that works underwater reduces the impact on their joints.
- Helps relieve anxiety. A 2015 University of Helsinki questionnaire study found a correlation between dogs that suffer from noise or separation anxiety and a lack of exercise. Exercise helps moderate stress hormones and neurotransmitters that induce calmness. It’s also possible that the correlation is due to the way outdoor exercise can help your dog become accustomed to a variety of noises and potentially anxiety-inducing environments.
- Helps multi-dog homes get along. Taking your dogs for “pack walks” is a highly effective way to encourage bonding, whether you’ve recently adopted a new dog or you have multiple dogs that don’t always get along. Walking together is a calming activity during which the dogs are not pressured to interact directly, and they tend to bond over sharing interesting sights and smells.
- Helps support a healthier human. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of dog ownership for humans. Dog parents, on average, get more exercise and spend more time outdoors than those without a canine companion. From better digestion, improved mental health, and a strong bonding experience, exercising together is as beneficial for humans as it is for our dogs.
How To Help Your Dog Get More Exercise
Going for more walks is a great start, but for even more exercise (and more fun!), try at-home agility with indoor agility equipment or sign up for a beginner dog agility class near you.
Dog sports like barn hunt, treibball, lure coursing, flyball, and dock diving are more great activities that you can sign up for or try out at home.
Before starting an exercise program, talk to a veterinarian to ensure that a new activity is safe and appropriate for your dog’s current health and fitness level.
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