If you have a dog that is diagnosed with arthritis, you are probably wondering what your options are. While there is no magical cure to fix arthritis in dogs, there are many medications and methods in which you can control the pain and help your dog live a healthy and happy life. One of the most important ways to treat a dog with arthritis is by exercising. While your dog’s activity should definitely be managed and limited, it is essential to their health. Now you may be wondering, if arthritis causes pain in the bones and muscles, why in the world would you want to encourage your dog to exercise?

Why should an arthritic dog be encouraged to exercise?

An arthritic dog should be encouraged to exercise for the following reasons: prevent stiffness, maintain flexibility, control weight, and to prevent muscle atrophy. 

Prevent Stiffness

Preventing joint and muscle stiffness is the number one reason you should encourage your arthritic dog to exercise. If your dog stops exercising, it will cause their muscles and joints to become stiff and harder to move. Eventually, the joints will become so stiff that your dog will lose their ability to walk. 

Flexibility

Similarly, a dog should exercise to help maintain its flexibility. If they stop  exercising completely, they will not be able to get into certain positions. It is also important to maintain flexibility so that your dog doesn’t pull a muscle when they are active. 

Weight control

Exercising your arthritic dog is also essential for maintaining a healthy weight for your dog. On average, a dog needs to burn around 20 calories for every pound of buddy weight every day. For example, a dog that is 50 lbs should burn at least 1000 calories a day. If they burn less than this, they will begin to gain weight. An overweight dog will then encounter a wide range of issues, such as heart disease. 

Muscle Atrophy

You will also want to encourage your arthritic dog to exercise in order to avoid muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy occurs when you don’t use a certain muscle for an extended period of time, and then the muscle is no longer able to function. This is common in humans when they have a disease that prevents them from moving a limb. Eventually, the muscles in that limb will become useless. 

How to help an arthritic dog exercise?

Now that you know the importance of exercising, you are probably wondering the best way to go about it. Below are the best ways to help your dog with arthritis exercise:

Avoid the cold

Similar to humans, a dog’s muscles and joints will become more stiff in cold weather. This will result in less flexibility and more pain. Therefore, we recommend avoiding outside if the weather is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Swimming

Swimming is an excellent way to encourage your arthritis dog to exercise. Swimming uses just about all the muscles in their body, and it puts very low stress on the joints. This is because their joints are not coming into impact with the hard ground.

Avoid hills

As you can imagine, a dog must assert its body more when travelling uphill. Therefore, we recommend sticking to flat terrains if your dog has arthritis. We also recommend trying to find a place that has grass vs. cement, as grass has less impact on the joints. 

Avoid fast twitch exercises

You should avoid exercises and games where your dog has to use their fast twitch muscles. This also goes for games like fetch, where your dog has to quickly jump or changes their direction very quickly. These sort of exercises will cause a lot of pain for your arthritic dog. 

Multiple short walks

When taking your arthritic dog for a walk, is very beneficial to take multiple short walks vs one long walk. A dog with arthritis will not have a lot of stamina, and longer walks will be a lot more stressful on their joints. Therefore, you should take them for a short walk, and if they still have energy, take them for another short walk a couple hours later. 

Remember, it is extremely important for your arthritic dog to exercise not only for their physical health, but also for their mental health. If you stop encouraging your dog to exercise, they will likely fall into depression. A dog that is happy will certainly live longer than a dog that is clinically depressed. Make sure to continually give your dog love and attention to show them that your love them.