Better Dog Health

Dogs sometimes need a little help.

People and dogs have always leaned on one another. In return for food, shelter, and affection, dogs are helpmates in everything from retrieving downed ducks to guarding the house and guiding the blind. For most of us, though, the "services" we receive from our dogs are much less utilitarian but equally endearing: they adore us when we're up, when we're down, and even when we're having a bad hair day, wearing our rattiest old bathrobe, and feeling cranky. They sit on (not just at) our feet, wait for us at the door, and go to great lengths to wriggle into a spot right beside us whenever they can get away with it. They make us laugh by being silly and full of puppy charm, regardless of their age; and they have an uncanny ability to read our emotions and sync themselves up, ready and willing to be cheerful or mad just because we are.

Somehow all the small acts of affection, concern, loyalty, and furriness add up to more than just gestures and companionship. Research has proven that having a dog is good for your health in a number of measurable and not-so-measurable ways. Studies show that people who own pets tend to have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels than those who don't. Pet owners have better odds of surviving heart attacks than patients without pets. As a group, pet owners find their chronic pain diminished, make fewer trips to the doctor, are less medicated, less lonely, less depressed, and less stressed than their petless counterparts - and those are just the subtle, unintended benefits of time spent with our four-legged and furry companions. For those who deliberately harness the health benefits of pets, there are even greater rewards to be reaped. Dogs have been trained to provide services that assist people with a vast range of needs - including guiding the blind, serving as hearing companions for the deaf, helping the physically challenged to overcome obstacles, and serving to alert their owners of imminent seizures or blood-sugar imbalances. Dogs are used to tremendous effect in therapeutic and educational settings, doing everything from helping kids learn to read in classrooms to providing much-needed inspiration for residents of nursing homes to increase their levels of activity and social interaction.

In these kinds of win/win partnerships, dogs also reap some surprising benefits. You may have read that when you pet your dog, your blood pressure drops and the level of the feel-good hormones such as oxytocin, prolactin, and serotonin in your blood increases. But did you also know that during that interaction, your dog experiences the same benefits - his blood pressure drops and he receives a biochemical spa treatment, too? Your dog's longevity is directly tied to the care you provide; everything from a roof over his head at night and regular veterinary visits to optimum nutrition and the affection that makes him feel loved and needed contributes to better dog health. A dog who's been abandoned has a life expectancy of a year or less. Those who live in loving homes can expect to live to their breeds' expectancy - anywhere from seven years to eighteen or more.

Despite all the good that people and pets do one another, in recent years our healthful relationship has taken an unexpected turn. In our increasingly sedentary, stressed-out, and overfed culture, people are consuming more calories, exercising less, and collectively getting more overweight by the minute. Without intending to cause any harm, many of us have shared our generous portions and inactive routines with our beloved pets. We share our couches and beds, as well as our ice cream and cookies, with our dogs, and they're very happy to get on board with whatever lifestyle we're offering - especially one that's heavy on the treats. Centuries of species selfpreservation have left most dogs with a strong desire to consume any edible bite they can find - they've historically survived as scavengers, after all. Many will eat as much, and as often, as you'll let them.

When was the last time your dog got up off the couch, ambled into the kitchen, and helped himself to chips or chocolate-chip cookies? Has he skipped breakfast lately to save a couple hundred calories, then gotten so hungry he ate double his normal dinner? Have you ever known him to be wracked with guilt over a weekend of diet indulgences, swearing never to touch cake or cream sauce again? Not lately? We didn't think so.

For dogs, eating is a much simpler matter than it's become for the tens of millions of people in our society who struggle with weight issues. With few exceptions, dogs are happy to eat whatever you've got, whenever you give it to them, however you give it to them (in their bowl or out of your hand). If they can figure out a way to get more, most will. In addition, they're often content to exercise - or not exercise - as their owners dictate. And if the equation of calories eaten to calories burned adds up to extra pounds, your dog won't give a hoot. Whether you've got a long, lean greyhound or a short, stout bulldog, he's never going to stop in front of the mirror, look over his shoulder at his furry derriere, and frown or fret and decide it's time to change his life.

As charming as your dog's complete lack of vanity may be, it puts the responsibility for making sure he maintains a healthy weight squarely on you. You may ask yourself why you should bother. You certainly don't love your four-legged best friend any less when he's carrying extra pounds. In fact, in a recent study, the majority of owners of overweight dogs ranked their dogs' weight as "ideal"-the owners weren't even aware the extra pounds were there! It's not as though we weigh Fido after breakfast each morning, and we never have to grouse that he's gained a size and requires a new wardrobe. Unhealthy weight on a dog can be very easy to overlook. The thing is, though, that the health and longevity benefits for a dog that's kept fit and trim are immense:

• At a healthy weight, your dog will have reduced risk for a host of problems, including cardiac conditions, cancer, osteoarthritis, diabetes, and painful hip and joint ailments.
• At a healthy weight, he'll have more energy and fewer behavioral problems than he would with excess pounds on his frame.
• Most important, research tells us if your dog lives at a healthy weight, his life expectancy is approximately 15 percent longer than if he is overweight or obese. For the average dog, that works out to about two extra years of long walks, tummy rubs, ball chasing, and couch lounging with you.

Years ago, America's quintessential dog, Lassie, was out running around the countryside having adventures and trying to save Timmy from peril. But in many modern-day households, you're as likely to find Lassie resting at Timmy's feet while he plays video games as almost anywhere else. Not surprisingly, the state of many pet owners' own health is mirrored by the family dog. Researchers have found that overweight owners are more than three times as likely to own overweight pets as owners at a healthy weight.

The problems dogs experience when they live a low-exercise lifestyle are often compounded by the fact that Mother Nature has equipped them with ferocious, seemingly endless appetites. If you've ever watched your dog polish off a bowl of food in seconds, or worse yet, steal the food of another pet (or person) and all but inhale it, you're familiar with the kind of appetites we're talking about. "Wolfing it down," is the expression that comes to mind, and that's exactly the key to understanding why dogs eat in such a fast and furious way. In the long spectrum of history, they are, after all, not that far evolved from wolves, and even more closely related to generations of self-sufficient dogs who managed to survive on their skills as predators and scavengers. Your pooch may be well groomed and well fed, but his not-so-many-great-grandparents had to catch or find their food - and they had to eat it quickly, or another dog, or some other creature, would.

The instinct to eat as much as possible as fast as possible is still strong in many individual dogs, and also prevalent in many breeds. Labrador retrievers, for example, are notorious in the pet-food and veterinary industries for their willingness to eat anything-and to eat it at record speed. In fact, most pet-food research programs have banned Labs as taste testers because they simply do not discriminate any subtle difference between foods. Beagles, basset hounds, cockers, collies, pugs, and dachshunds are also in this category of anything goes, swallow-it-whole eaters.

The minimal number of taste buds your dog has further contributes to his strong drive to fill up on any available food. While the average person has about 10,000 taste buds, the average dog has just 1,500. That may help explain why so many pups are enamored with the contents of the garbage can. While some dogs will quite literally eat anything (we've known dogs to ingest objects ranging from toys to carpets to wood and even lightbulbs), most seek and consume protein-rich foods wherever they can find them. That means that given a choice of foods, most dogs would take the protein-rich option first (then, of course, they'll eat whatever you've got ... ), and also that they're likely to be extra-enthusiastic and savvy in their efforts to beg for (or steal) meats, cheeses, and similar favorites by any means they have at their disposal.

Odds are your dog was bred to do a physically demanding job. The American Kennel Club recognizes more than 150 breeds, and well over two-thirds of those were "designed" through selective breeding to perform labors for farmers and hunters. Almost every dog with the word springer, setter, spaniel, retriever, hound, collie, or terrier in its name falls into one of these categories, as do many, many others. Today, the common denominator among them isn't a role in bringing home their owners' dinner, but a more generic need for exercise to maintain both their physical health and their peace of mind. Dogs who spend their lives sprawled out on (or next to) the couch are highly susceptible to becoming overweight and suffering health implications as a result. The Humane Society of the United States recommends an hour of exercise per day to keep most dogs happy and healthy, regardless of breed. And as is the case with spouses and children, you may have noticed that if your dog isn't happy and healthy, it's difficult for you to achieve that state.

Just like people, dogs can have all kinds of symptoms that show they're experiencing stresses. Some are pretty obvious about it; they race around the house, jumping around like they've had a triple espresso, or chew inappropriately on the furniture. Others are more subtle. We know dogs who have taken up incessantly grooming themselves, and dogs who act lethargic-depressed really-when they don't get enough exercise. The good news is that most experienced veterinarians and dog-behavior experts agree that there are very few canine behavior problems that cannot be helped-some a little, many a lot-by making sure the dog gets plenty of exercise. The fact is that many stress-related behavior issues can be cleared up completely with a good, long daily walk. As many behaviorists say, "A tired dog is a happy dog!"

Marty Becker, DVM, and Robert Kushner, MD. . Three Rivers Press. 2006.

top of page

back a page