Walks Aren't Just Walks: How to Build Your Dog's Fitness This Fall

It’s fall and the perfect time to get your dog into shape. This is the time of year when it’s cooler and senior dogs can breathe better.

When the air and the smells are crisper. When your dog actually WANTS to go for a walk, making getting fitter easier.

So let’s talk about getting fit, what it means for your dog, how you can incorporate this into your daily routine, and what to expect.

Even though the temps are cooler and the desire to go for a walk is higher, it is also getting darker earlier and staying dark later. That’s the one thing I do not like about fall and winter. It means I have to adjust my schedule and my lifestyle. I do my own workout early in the morning while it is dark outside, but I have to wait until the sun is rising over the horizon before I take my dog outside.

If you are one of the brave souls who wears a headlamp and doesn’t mind going for a walk in the dark, I’m envious…and so is my dog.

So out we go, with or without a headlamp, bundled up and ready to head down the neighborhood streets, along the trails of a park, or skipping down a hiking trail. Only to find that our four-legged companion isn’t that eager to get going.

There’s a ton of sniffing going on. Lots of pee stops. More meandering than we wanted.

UGH! So frustrating!!

But wait…consider this first part of your walk: "the warm-up".

The warm-up for the brain (gotta smell the pee spots and “read the newspaper”), the warm-up for the joints (older dogs need the meandering), and the warm-up for the gut (poops and pees are necessary, and they give you a chance to make sure everything is functioning properly).

Allow about 10 minutes for warming up.

After those 10 minutes, it’s time to start the fitness portion of the “workout.”

Note: Your dog’s fitness starting point differs depending on age, current fitness level, etc. An older dog who has been relatively sedentary may start with only a few minutes of purposeful exercise between periods of easy walking. Fitness isn’t about exhausting your dog. It’s about asking the body to do a little more than it can comfortably do today—and gradually building from there.

In order to start the “workout,” walk faster. Allow your dog to find their rhythm. In general, the trot is what you are looking for.

The trot is a diagonal gait—the front right and left hind feet contact the ground at the same time, followed by the front left and right hind. It’s springy! And it should look effortless.

You don’t want pacing, where the front and hind feet on the same side move forward together. It looks more like a side-to-side sway. Some dogs will pace because they’re moving at an awkward speed, they’re tired or uncomfortable, or it has simply become their preferred gait. The pace might be comfortable for your dog, but in the long run it is not good for his topline because he is not using his core muscles.

To break up the pace, go a little faster or a little slower. You can also take your dog over uneven ground to change the footfall and encourage them to start trotting instead of pacing. This can take some time. Don’t get frustrated. Just realize that if your dog is pacing, your goal is to encourage a trot instead. Experiment and see what works for your dog.

In order for your dog to benefit from this walk from a fitness perspective, they will need to exert themselves a little. I generally judge the breathing. I want to see your dog breathing a little harder than they were during the easy walking portion. I want to see them working.

Then slow down or stop. Allow the breathing to normalize.

Depending on your dog’s fitness level, you can continue to ask for repeated exertions. But if you are just starting out, your dog is taking a long time to recover, or you are noticing physical challenges, go back to meandering and start heading toward home—or, as in my case, the car.

What you want to achieve during each walk:

• Picking up the pace

• Mild physical exertion

• Recovering quickly

• Happy smiles and tail wags

What you want to avoid:

• Never getting out of the warm-up phase, i.e., meandering throughout the whole walk. You definitely want to allow the meandering at the beginning and the end of the workout, but you need purposeful walking/trotting to increase your dog’s fitness level.

• Overexertion (not being able to down-regulate)

• Overheating (that’s why fall and winter are better seasons for starting a fitness journey)

• Pacing, tripping, scuffing paws, or bunny-hopping. If your dog consistently paces, trips, scuffs their feet, bunny-hops, or can’t maintain a comfortable rhythm, don’t just push harder. They may benefit from a chiropractic assessment.

• An unhappy or distressed look. If you see that, it’s time for a vet visit.

With consistent walks, you should start noticing changes within 3–4 weeks: more energy, more anticipation when you reach for the leash, and more exuberance as you continue to go for walks.

As much as I love the cooler temps in fall and winter, I also recognize that some days we just cannot get outside for a good, productive walk. On those days, you need a backup plan. Because you don’t want to NOT work out just because it’s pouring, snowing, or icing outside.

On the days you cannot take your dog for a walk or hike, you will need to improvise. Here are some ideas:

• Walk up and down the stairs more often. If you don’t have carpeted stairs, I recommend applying Loobani treads to your dog’s paws for traction. You can also use no-slip socks or grippy spray.

• Pick 2–3 exercises from my Guide to Strengthening Back Leg Exercises.

• Use puzzle feeders that your dog can roll around your house (a large basement would be ideal for this).

• Take your dog to a doggy class, like agility for senior dogs, swimming, or treadmill sessions. Underwater treadmill sessions are AMAZING for building muscle, strength, and endurance.

One thing I don’t want to forget to mention as you start your dog’s fitness journey is the importance of calories. If your dog is overweight, use my calorie calculator to figure out approximately how many calories they should be eating each day. You can exercise all you want, but if too many calories are still going into the bowl (and coming from the treat jar!), getting that extra weight off is going to be an uphill battle.

But remember, getting fit isn’t just about getting thinner.

A fit dog needs endurance, strength, and mobility. Walking helps build endurance. Purposeful exercises help build strength. And regular movement helps keep the joints and spine moving comfortably so your dog can maintain mobility as they age.

You don’t have to start with a three-mile hike. Start with the dog you have today.

Give them time to warm up and read the neighborhood newspaper. Then pick up the pace. Ask them to work a little. Let them recover. And repeat.

Over the next several weeks, pay attention. Is your dog trotting longer? Recovering faster? More excited when you reach for the leash? Getting up a little easier? Feeling stronger on your walks?

Those are the changes we’re looking for.

Because fitness isn’t about how many miles your dog can walk or how fast they can go. It’s about building enough strength, endurance, and mobility to keep doing the things they love.

So let them read the neighborhood newspaper for a few minutes. Then pick up the pace and get to work.

And don’t forget to enjoy the walk. You’re getting fitter, too! :))

by Heike Jung, DVM, cAVCA, cIACH

Veterinarian • Animal Chiropractor • Homeopath

If you would like to receive my monthly Newsletter and Articles, subscribe here: https://sendfox.com/lp/3epzqp