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Get Fit with your Pet

Getting fit with your pet

Broadcast date: January 11, 2007 - Today show on NineMSN
Interview: Dr Chris Brown, Today's animal editor

With pet obesity on the rise, owners are being encouraged to get their pets out and about more often, especially during summer.

Exercising with your pet has many benefits. Today's animal editor Dr Chris Brown tells us how it's done.

If recent studies are anything to go by, pets don't just make us happy. They could prove very handy at making us healthy as well.

With levels of obesity in Australians approaching 50 percent and more than 40 percent of Aussie pets on the porky side, we could be each other's perfect personal trainers.

A recent study showed that when people exercise with their pets, both the person and the animal were more successful at losing weight than when they exercised alone. They were also more successful at keeping the weight off.

• It's thought that the pets provide a stimulus to exercise more often and for longer, as well as providing companionship and support along the way.

There are other significant health benefits associated with owning a pet. Pet owners, on average:

• visit the doctor less often and use less medication
• have lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure
• recover from illness and surgery more quickly
• deal better with stress
• are less likely to report feeling lonely.

It's estimated that Australian cats and dogs save the Australian economy $3.86 billion in health expenditure.

In both people and animals, obesity has many health implications, including shortened life expectancy, arthritis, heart and respiratory problems, reduced resistance to infection and diabetes.

• A dog that is carrying excess kilos is also likely to be irritable, sleep most of the day and exercise less.

Now's the time!

• With the weather warm and the days long, there's no better time to fire up Fido or be revved up by Rover.
• Before work, after work, in your lunch-break — whatever the time, you'll always have a keen and committed running partner when you have a dog.
• A comment I often hear about animals is, "Where do they get the energy?" They seem to have an almost unending supply. Their zest for life and need for exercise is something that we can't help but take on board. When we walk, run, swim and play with our pets, we think we're doing them a good turn, but we are doing as much exercise as they are and also end up feeling great!
• Exercise is also good mental stimulation and allows your pet to unwind if it's been locked in a backyard all day.
• Pets are also a great way to get kids interested in exercise — a fun start to fitness when they want to walk their best mate.

Exercising the right way with your pet: things you can do together …

Walking

• Low impact
• At least 20 minutes a day for some effect, twice a day is ideal.
• Ideal for older, arthritic or obese pets and people as it limits impact on the already inflamed joints.
• A gentle introduction to exercise.
• Improves flexibility, stops muscle wasting and improves circulation to the joints

Jogging:

• High impact, especially on concrete or tar roads.
• Grass is a better option for both pets and people.
• Twenty minutes a day, although active dogs will crave much more.
• Morning and evenings preferred, to limit heat stress, especially on those pets with flat noses or those which are dark in colour. These tend to struggle with the heat. (Remember, dogs can't sweat.)
• Ideal for fit and active breeds. Working dog breeds (kelpies, border collies, blue heelers) will run more than 20km a day when on farms. They thrive on at least 30-60 minutes of exercise a day.

Swimming:

• Very low impact
• The best exercise for animals that like water.
• It takes the stress off common problem areas such as hips, knees and elbows and builds muscle mass. This muscle mass supports the body weight rather than the joints.
• An indoor aqua therapy centre recently opened in Melbourne to cater for swimming with pets.
• Suitable for most animals and people, especially those that find walking or running painful due to joint complaints.

"Doga" (dog yoga):

• A new trend that started in New York three years ago …
• Involves humans and hounds performing stretching, strengthening, meditation and breathing exercises together … on mats.
• Requires encouragement and sometimes a bit of gentle persuasion to manoeuvre them into yoga positions.
• Downward dog isn't a problem!
• Helps with flexibility and mobility.

(There is also pet pilates!)

What to be careful with:

• Stick and ball chasing …
• Pets love it but it can be bad news for joints. The stop-start and twisting nature of a chasing game strains and wears joints. If the dog is overweight, the strain is more substantial.
• More than five minutes a day can result in premature ageing and degeneration of joints, leading to early-onset arthritis.
• Can be bad for people as well

Weight-loss drug …
US health officials have approved the first prescription weight-loss drug for obese dogs. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc is behind the canine weight-loss drug Slentrol, which aims to treat that nation's growing number of overweight dogs by decreasing appetite and fat absorption.