Just because your pet is arthritic, doesn’t mean that he can’t exercise. Instead staying active and exercising in the right way under expert supervision can help ease arthritic pain. But at the same time, letting your arthritic dogs chase the balls you throw at them can do more harm than good. Dogs with arthritis need to do exercise under special supervision and should prevent activities that can put stress on their joints.
How to exercise a dog with arthritis?
Exercising an arthritic dog can be a bit tricky. While too much exercise can cause pain, too little can even make the condition worse. But the right motion and activeness can help make your dog’s muscles stronger and also improve blood circulation in their achy joints. Inactiveness can make the joints stiff thus worsening the condition.
But how will you identify which exercise works well for your pet? Here we will discuss a few ways to exercise your arthritic dog safely.
Start with a warm-up
Most of the arthritic dogs’ bodies are usually stiff when they wake up in the morning. Therefore, it is not recommended to immediately engage them in routine exercise. But instead, a startup with a very low impact walk can help get their joints moving. Once their body becomes relaxed, they can further engage in routine mild exercise. It is often noticed that dogs who start their day with a few minutes of the walk can move around much easier.
Try to maintain a healthy weight
Maintaining a healthy weight can help get easy relief from arthritic pain. As when your dog overweighs the extra pounds can cause extra stress on their joints. Thus, maintaining a right can help ease the symptoms of arthritis and make your dog more active. Weight loss can also help your dog perform various activities with ease like climbing, jumping, or getting up from a sitting position.
Slowly introduce a new exercise
Although in our daily life we try to add more and more new activities to our daily schedule, when it comes to your dog, a sudden burst of exercise and activity may result in added stress and injury. Instead, it’s better that you engage your dog in doing easy to mild exercise daily than an intense workout on the weekend.
Low intense workout for arthritic dogs
A bunch of low-impact exercises can be really useful and have a great impact on easing the symptoms of arthritic pain. Here we will discuss a few low-impact exercises that are great for dogs with arthritis.
Swimming
This is one of the most popular exercise choices among arthritic dog owners. This is because swimming has a very low impact on the joints and also helps build up their muscle mass.
Even if you don’t get a regular place for swimming, try to check for any canine-friendly pools or dog parks, or hydrotherapy centers in your area.
Indoor games and activities
Indoor games and activities can be really helpful to prevent your dog from getting dull. Especially when you can’t get out of your home due to bad weather conditions or other reasons. Play hide and seek, use interactive toys or a basic nose work activity to find the treat.
Short hikes
Try taking your dogs for short hikes on a trail that is not much inclined. Depending on the severity of your dog’s condition and his comfort, start with short hikes. Also, make sure that your arthritic dog is not developing any signs of discomfort afterward.
Find the right medication to relieve arthritis pain
Arthritis pain can be progressive. Hence even if you take the necessary measures and make your dog exercise daily to ease the symptoms of arthritis, medical help is necessary to get relief from the constant discomfort. Also, you may choose a more natural way like CBD to relieve arthritic pain. The use of CBD oil besides treating arthritic pain can also help control seizures, relieve anxiety, and cure other physical ailments.
The bottom line
Arthritis cannot limit the life quality of any dog if, as an owner, you follow all the measures to ease the symptoms. Besides, it is also necessary to get your pet checked by a vet before starting on the new exercise routine.