Physical activity in older dogs
To begin with, we must make one aspect clear: “age is not a disease“… dogs of a certain age can and should do physical activity, yes, adapted to their possibilities.
The possibilities of each dog and its characteristics range from age, (of course a puppy is not the same as a 16-year-old dog), breed, sex … but also modifiable aspects such as physical condition, “dog humor”, traumatological, rheumatological or neurological pathologies, their general health condition (aspects related to internal medicine)…
Dogs must do physical activity all their lives, puppies must run, jump, play with other dogs, climb slopes, jump margins, adult dogs from 2 years old can practice canine sports or accompany their owner on bike rides, in the mountains or jogging with their owner …
In dogs of large breeds: German shepherds, golden, labrador … from the age of 9-10 we must begin to control their physical activity but in no case suppress it.
If we have a good veterinarian it is advisable to do some control x-ray if we observe slight lameness or premature tiredness. Sometimes dogs stop at their marches or runs due to joint problems and we can confuse it with fatigue mistakenly attributing the renunciation of the long walk to physical fatigue and not to joint pain.
There are numerous technical aids and orthoses on the market, elbow, knee, shoulder, carpus, tarsus… that we can use in older dogs to improve their joint state and allow them to continue with their physical activity in a comfortable way.
It is advisable, then, if we observe a “downturn” in the “sports performance” of the dog or in its physical activity to go to the veterinarian and not associate it directly with the age since many things can be done to improve this joint state and adapt the physical activity which will contribute to the improvement of its general health and its mood in particular.
Toni Ramon