Sarah-Jane White As a dog lover, you may be on the lookout for more ways to keep your dog stimulated and ensure they are getting enough exercise other than their regular walks. Swimming provides a variety of benefits for your dog and can even be something your dog really enjoys doing. Yes, you may have to deal with that wet dog smell, but here are five reasons you absolutely should consider taking your dog swimming.
Joint Stimulation
Swimming is an exercise many humans use for things like hydrotherapy to help deal with aching joints and muscles. Usually best if the pool is heated, swimming is a low-impact and non-weight-bearing exercise that allows your dog to enjoy some exercise without putting too much stress on any injuries or natural wear and tear of the joints through age.
For older dogs, this may even be a preferred method of exercise as your dog has the chance to exercise all its muscles without having to deal with pressure on its joints as its weight tends to be more evenly distributed. Given that some sources say one minute of swimming for a dog is about the equivalent of four minutes running (K9 Aquatic Centre) it even brings benefits for younger dogs as well who may have joint issues due to their breed, for example, Dachshunds are infamous for having back and leg issues.
Dogs with injuries can also gain great benefits from swimming, especially in warm water, and there are some fantastic dog rehabilitation and wellness centres that work to help your dog recover from injuries with dog-friendly hydrotherapy.
Aid Losing Weight
We’re all guilty of spoiling our dogs and perhaps giving them one to many treats now and then. Some breeds like the Labrador also will eat until they are ill as they don’t have the ability to tell when they are full and stop eating. Maybe you’ve not been able to walk them as much as you would like. As such, we’ve all likely had that vet visit where we’re told that our pampered pooch needs to lose a few pounds.
Swimming is a great way of providing exercise for your dog to help them lose weight for much of the same reasons it’s good for joint stimulation. Your dog gets some great exercise but is supported and doesn’t need to deal with the increased pressure on already-stressed out joints. It also can help improve the overall metabolic rate of your dog making it easier to maintain a consistent weight without risking injury.
Stimulation
them with toys and teaching them tricks. Whether it’s simply moving your game of fetch to the water or teaching your dog to jump off of the dock on command you are increasing the amount of activity in the brain as well as giving them a full body workout.
Staying cool
Every year the temperature is climbing and the summers are becoming difficult times for dog owners. With concerns over the pavement or pathways burning paw pads, risks of dehydration and overall potential for heat stroke it is difficult to get your dog out exercising while also keeping them safe. Taking your dog swimming provides them all the benefits of exercise while also keeping them cool on a hot day. Just make sure you have plenty of drinkable water and a bowl on hand for your dog as they will try to drink the pool water if they get thirsty.
Relaxing and Stress Relief
As mentioned previously, stimulation is important for your dog and actually can help relieve anxiety in your dog. The benefit of being an off-leash experience as well means swimming is a great way not only to help your dog’s physical health but also as a way of improving their overall mental wellbeing.
Your dog has a chance to release pent up energy in a healthy way and gets the chance to for a moment experience a bit of freedom. There are very few off-leash experiences available for dogs now outside of swimming. For dogs who are likely to become aggressive around other dogs or may have a tendency to misbehave, do some research into local centres that provide dog sessions in their pool and ask if they can do any private swims while you try and train your dog.
Most of all the benefit of all of this exercise is that your dog burns a lot of energy and despite the glorious life of naps dogs have a solid day of swimming will give your beloved animal a good night’s rest with all the restorative benefits that brings. It also means you are less likely to be woken up at 3am by your dog looking for some love and attention.
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Wrapping Up
No matter what age or shape your dog is in, swimming is likely to bring some fantastic benefits to them if you can find somewhere to take them. Whether it’s to the beach, in a dog wellness centre or even your own backyard pool your faithful friend will get some great exercise for their whole body and some great stimulation for their mind. It’s important to do your research well in advance before taking your dog somewhere to ensure that it is indeed dog friendly and you must work with your dog before you go anywhere to ensure that they obey commands before you go.
I would also recommend teaching your dog commands as well for safety to get them quickly to shore or to get them to stop drinking the water without a fuss. So, take your dog swimming and give them a chance to experience a little bit of freedom that betters their overall health. The wet dog smell may even become one that you and your pup associate with success and happiness.
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This is a guest post by Eula Skile, a lifestyle writer and editor, she works for Coursework writing service.
