Issue 7 | January/February 2018 | $9.95
Proper Bite Placement
Teaching K9s How and Where to Bite
2018
Mission K9 Rescue
Canine Vets Return to Civilian Life
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The Canine Athlete TREADMILL USE By Erica Boling, PhD
R
ecently there has been a surge of interest on the topic of using treadmills for canine fitness. I frequently get asked questions regarding what kind of treadmill to purchase and ways in which they can be used. To be completely honest, I was not a fan of canine treadmills when they first began to grow in popularity. I saw a role for treadmills in physical rehabilitation, but I always felt there were much better ways to exercise a healthy dog. In the hands of a trained professional, treadmills can be wonderful tools. Veterinarians and canine physical therapists have used them for rehabilitation and to assist patients with neurological problems. After doing a bit of research, I soon discovered an increasing number of canine professionals and handlers are also successfully integrating treadmills into their regular canine fitness programs. There are indeed a number of ways that we can use canine treadmills to keep our working dogs in peak condition. We can use them for cross-training, increasing cardio fitness, assisting in behavior modification and helping dogs maintain a healthy working weight. When describing his experiences working as a veterinarian for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Dr. Sean McPeck stated that the indoor electric treadmill was invaluable at executing a conditioning program when extreme weather conditions were counter productive to outdoor conditioning. He also described how he saw countless times where handlers were recovering from some type of physical ailment that didn’t allow them to execute endurance training for their dogs. He described how treadmill use could provide year-round exercise during extreme weather conditions and also allow injured handlers to oversee the exercises of their canines. Although treadmills can be used to rehabilitate injured dogs and assist healthy dogs in reaching peak physical condition, their improper use can also create rather than prevent injuries. When it comes to using treadmills, there are a number of things that we must keep in mind to ensure that we are using them safely and effectively.
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Considerations Before Buying or Using a Treadmill The following highlights some of the most important questions that a person should ask before purchasing or using a canine treadmill. Please note that this is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. 1. Has your dog received a physical evaluation by a veterinarian and received clearance to begin a conditioning program that incorporates treadmill use? Undiagnosed conditions such as patellar luxation or hip dysplasia could lead to muscular and/or skeletal problems with improper treadmill use. In addition, treadmill use by dogs with undiagnosed heart conditions could even result in death. Endurance work on treadmills should not begin until your dog has reached skeletal maturity. If you begin endurance work too soon, there is the potential for permanent damage and even leg deformity if injury occurs to the growth plates before they close. 2. Do you know what size treadmill to use? Belt length is a key component when making a decision about which treadmill you should use for your dog. For most medium to large size dogs, human treadmills that are 4-5 ft. long are too short. According to Zink (2013), treadmills should be at least 2.5 times the length of the dog’s body. For many sport and working dogs, a canine treadmill that has a belt length of at least 6 feet is much more appropriate than a human treadmill. Dogs that are forced to do a workout on a treadmill that’s too short to allow full expression of a normal trot or gallop forces them to use muscles in an unnatural way. Repeatedly working your dog in an unnatural gait can lead to repetitive use injuries and tight or sore muscles in areas such as the shoulder, neck, and back.
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Photo by Grant Hindsley Associated Press Photos
3. Is your treadmill constructed so that it minimizes the chance of injury? I always recommend that people purchase a treadmill that is specifically designed for dogs. For medium to large size dogs, a canine treadmill will provide a longer running area, supporting a more natural stride and pace. Canine treadmills are built to handle a different distribution of weight across its surface compared to a human treadmill. In addition, canine treadmills are specifically designed with your dog’s safety in mind. They frequently include sidewalls and contain smaller gaps between the belt and other mechanical parts in order to minimize the chance of injury.
Cautions and Considerations During Treadmill Use Although there are a number of reasons why people use treadmills with their dogs, treadmill use should not be the main core component of your dog’s exercise program. Don’t forget that dogs require both physical and mental stimulation that goes beyond treadmill use. Doing things such as training your dog with others, attending training events, and exercising outdoors will provide a level of mental and physical stimulation that cannot be replicated by treadmill use. If you do decide to incorporate a treadmill into your canine fitness program, however, be sure to consider the following: 1. How are you exercising your dog in ways that go beyond treadmill use? A dog’s gait differs when walking or trotting on the ground compared to walking or trotting on the treadmill. When exercising dogs in a trot, for example, dogs will engage more muscles on the ground compared to exercising at the same speed and pace on a treadmill. If you have ever run on a human treadmill and then compared it to running outdoors in a grassy field, you will easily understand this comparison. In order to create a well-balanced fitness routine, it’s best to engage your dog in a variety of cardio activities that use the dog’s muscles in various ways.
3. Are you allowing for a proper warm up and cool down? Some veterinarians recommend warm up and cool down periods of at least 2-5 minutes when incorporating any endurance work on the treadmill. I find that five minutes is not always sufficient, however, when recovering from an intense workout or when the dog it not well conditioned. Always pay close attention to your dog when exercising and don’t base the length of your warm up or cool down just on time. Climate, elevation, humidity and air temperature can all play in roll in how long you need to properly warm up and cool down your dog. To help regulate your dog’s body temperature and minimize the chance of overheating, you can also place a fan in front of the treadmill to increase air circulation and cooling. 4. Are you constantly monitoring your dog so that you know when you should or should not increase the intensity of the workout? Pay close attention to your dog’s breathing, expression, panting, and general demeanor so that you are on alert for signs of distress. Be alert for signs of overheating, soreness or pain. If your dog is easily handling the workload and shows no signs of distress or fatigue, then be sure that you only increase the workload at incremental levels, changing one variable at a time. Variables can consist of things such as time, distance, incline and intensity. By changing one variable at a time, you allow your dog’s body to safely adjust to the activity before making it more challenging. As a general rule of thumb, McPeck recommends only increasing variables such as weight, distance and time at a rate of no more than 10% per week when making workouts more challenging. When adjusting workouts, also be sure to avoid using extreme inclines for long periods of time. This can lead to overuse injury, especially for dogs who have a weak core or back.
Photo by DogTread dogtread.com
2. Is your dog working at the right pace, and are you giving your dog sufficient time to adapt to treadmill use? Dogs need time to acclimate and get used to working on a treadmill. For a recommended pace, Zink (2013) points out that it is always best for the dog to be in the trot gait for treadmill exercises as this is the only gait that works both sides of the dog’s body equally. In addition, dogs should always begin with short and slow workouts that gradually increase over time. To help avoid injury, dogs’ bodies need time to acclimate to exercise before increasing level of difficulty.
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Concluding Thoughts There are some individuals who argue that dogs have a more natural gait on a dog-powered slatmill compared to electric-powered treadmills. When asked about this, McPeck explained that once the electric-powered treadmill is “raised to 2.5% incline or higher, this argument becomes obsolete, as the canine begins working against gravity and alters the gait to the same ambulation observed over open terrain or on a slatmill.” When it comes to implementing and executing a long term, progressive, conditioning program, McPeck described how the electric-powered treadmill has numerous benefits over dog-powered treadmills. Upon further discussion, McPeck stated that a successful conditioning program must be progressive in nature. In order to implement progression, the activity needs to be controlled and dictated. An electric-powered treadmill allows for just that, controlling the exact distance, time, speed, and elevation. When designing a safe and effective fitness program that incorporates treadmills, it’s also important that we take into consideration some basic principles of exercise science, especially the principles of overload and progression. The principle of overload states that in order for the body to adapt to training it needs to undergo a greater than normal load of stress. The principle of progression states that as overload is achieved, a gradual and systematic increase of workload must occur over a structured period of time if we are going to see improvements in fitness without increasing the risk of injury. If you design a fitness program keeping these proven principles in mind, you need a way to accurately document and systematically manipulate variables such as speed, distance, duration and incline. Without being able to systematically control and document these variables, there is the possibility that you do too much too soon, thereby injuring your dog. When used properly and integrated into a larger fitness program, our dogs can indeed benefit from treadmill exercise. From using them indoors during extreme weather conditions to integrating them into a crosstraining program, treadmills can be used to enhance canine fitness. We must move forward wisely, however, to ensure that the treadmill we choose is the best fit for our dog. We must also be thoughtful and systematic in how we integrate treadmills into a more robust exercise program. This might require us to spend time learning how to properly design a balanced, canine fitness program, but I promise the end results will be worth it!
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Thank you to Dr. Sean McPeck for his contributions to this article. Dr. McPeck is a veterinarian and military veteran who has over 18 years of experience working with law enforcement and military working dogs. He has operated in every type of environment with canines, both in combat and training scenarios, and has developed numerous canine fitness training programs. All quotes from Dr. McPeck come from personal communications on November 12, 2017.
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References Zink, M. (2013). Chapter 10: Conditioning and retraining the canine athlete. In M. Zink, & J. Van Dyke (Eds.), Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation (first edition, pp. 176-200). Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell.
Erica C. Boling, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Education at Rutgers University and the owner and founder of Northeast K9 Conditioning, LLC and Northeast K9 Conditioning Academy. Erica helps sport and working dog handlers create peak performance, canine athletes by teaching them how to integrate canine fitness into their training programs. Erica is a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer (CCFT), Certified Canine Massage Provider, member of the United States Federation of Sleddog Sports (USFSS) and a member of their USA National Team. She is also one of the founding members of North Pocono Search, Rescue and Recovery. Currently, Erica teaches canine fitness to recruits at the Atlantic County “John Sonny Burke” K-9 Academy and also trains and competes in French Ring. Phone: (908) 227-2963 Email: info@northeastk9conditioning.com Website: northeastk9conditioning.com
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