Feeding for Activity and Performance

The Canine Athlete

Dogs are involved in a diverse range of work, sports, and activities, each requiring specific adaptations to support their athletic abilities. Their impressive physical, physiological, and metabolic adaptations allow them to excel in their respective fields. For instance, dogs have a contractile spleen that enables them to move large volumes of red blood cells before and during exercise, improving their oxygen-carrying capacity and aiding in the removal of waste materials.

Selective breeding has resulted in breeds of dogs with specific adaptations to suit particular types of exercise and activity. To train and condition the canine athlete, it is crucial to expose them to exercise of a specific intensity, duration, and frequency to produce adaptive changes. This approach must be maintained over time to support their performance ability. Rest and recovery are also crucial elements of any canine conditioning program.

Nutrition plays a vital role in supporting and enhancing performance and recovery in active dogs. Dogs require fuel, which can come from stored energy in the form of glycogen and dietary energy. However, stored glycogen only makes up about 1-2% of an adult dog's body weight and cannot sustain prolonged energetic demands. Instead, dogs use dietary fat as their primary energy source. While protein can be used as an energy source, it may impact protein availability for repair, regeneration, and growth of body tissues after exercise. Carbohydrates are essential to support sprinting and short-duration activity, as well as the replenishment of muscle glycogen during recovery. By altering what, when, and how we feed our dogs, we can make targeted nutritional changes in response to our dog's activity type and level.

Our dogs are involved in a wide range of work and sporting activities. Nutrition can help support performance and recovery.

Canine Activities

Many dogs fill full-time working or athletic roles, while others are active pets with intermittent participation. Various canine activities differ in their intensity and duration, ranging from short but intense events like agility or greyhound racing to long, low to moderate intensity activities like sled dog racing or herding and gun dog work. Active dogs have higher metabolic demands, requiring increased dietary energy, water, protein, and key micronutrients. By assessing the frequency, intensity, and duration of our dogs' activities, we can determine their individual nutritional and energy requirements. This information can help us tailor their nutrition to enhance their performance output, in conjunction with appropriate training, physical conditioning, and other management strategies. While nutrition and training can improve performance, genetic limitations cannot be overcome with nutritional interventions. Nonetheless, we can customize nutrition to meet the demands of activity and performance through food type, amount, and delivery to meet each dog's unique needs.

The Biology of the Canine Athlete

Understanding the fundamental biology of our athletic dogs is crucial to ensure that we are requesting appropriate performance from them, and that we can provide adequate training, conditioning, and nutrition. While an extensive review of canine exercise physiology is not the focus of this book, it is important to be aware of some key aspects. Canine muscles consist of various fiber types, which are classified based on their metabolic function and ability to contract. Slow-twitch fibers are primarily used for low-to-moderate intensity exercise, while fast-twitch fibers are used for high-intensity activity. Greyhounds and sighthounds have more fast-twitch muscle fibers than dogs bred for endurance work, such as fox hounds. Intermediate athletes have a more balanced muscle-fiber composition. Conditioning work can help support your dog’s biology to adapt to different forms of activity, but ultimately, muscle composition is primarily determined by genetics, which will determine the type of activity that an individual dog is best suited for.

Exercise and Activity Type

There are three types of exercise that dogs typically engage in, which are classified based on the intensity and duration of the activity. High-intensity exercise is characterized by an increased heart and respiration rate. During short-duration exercise, carbohydrates are predominantly used as a fuel source, but as the duration increases, the metabolism will switch to fat (and occasionally protein), usually beyond thirty minutes. Essentially, short, fast activities benefit from dietary carbohydrate and longer, moderate-intensity activities benefit from fat.

Sprinting is high intensity and short duration, while intermediate exercise includes activities that last for several minutes to a few hours and might be low to moderate intensity. Endurance activities, on the other hand, last several hours and are typically low to moderate intensity. In developing a nutritional strategy, it is important to consider each individual dog's exercise output and frequency of that exercise, as dogs that are frequently involved in their activity (daily or several times weekly) have increased nutritional requirements compared to those taking part more irregularly or seasonally.

Different breeds and types of dog have different muscle composition that influences what activities they might be best suited for. Spaniels and fox hounds are intermediate canine athletes.

Caregivers need to be critical in their estimation of activity frequency, and distance covered during activity should also be considered. Short, intense activities have minimal impact on energy requirements, whereas long-distance activity can increase daily energy needs by more than 100%. For example, most agility dogs training or competing once or twice a week will have a very modest increase in their dietary energy requirements, in contrast to a working gundog, hunting and retrieving several times a week or a sled dog covering large distances.

Fuelling for Function – Practical Nutrition for Active Dogs

Providing proper nutrition to support and enhance the performance and recovery of active dogs is crucial. Unlike most pet dogs, working dogs and those involved in energetic activities have higher nutritional needs. Additionally, working in extreme environments can further impact their requirements for water and key nutrients. To meet these needs, it is essential to ensure that the diet is highly digestible, with a digestibility of at least 80%. Adequate nutrient supply is also necessary. Water should be available at all times, except immediately before a sprinting activity, such as racing.

Nutrients for Active Dogs

The nutritional needs of active dogs are influenced by their physical and metabolic demands. It is important to ensure that the protein in their diet is of high quality, easily digestible, and increased above maintenance requirements by 5-15% to support muscle growth and repair. As their activity level increases, the amount of dietary protein should also increase. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that approximately 25% of their dietary energy comes from protein.

While dietary carbohydrates are not essential for dogs, they can be beneficial for active dogs, particularly those engaged in short-duration, high-intensity exercise. For instance, racing greyhounds can benefit from diets where 50% of the kilocalories come from soluble carbohydrates, and only about 25% from protein and fat, respectively. Although soluble carbohydrates are less important for intermediate and endurance exercise, where fat is key, they can support the replenishment of muscle glycogen when provided as a supportive snack during short exercise breaks or as a recovery aid within thirty to sixty minutes of activity cessation. This is particularly useful for dogs engaged in activities on successive days.

Examples of canine activities categorised by type of activity/performance based on intensity, frequency, and duration

Agility only increases a dog’s energy requirements by a modest amount in contrast to longer duration activities.

As physical activity increases in both intensity and duration, a higher proportion of dietary fat is utilized as a concentrated and easily accessible source of energy. Sled dogs participating in long-distance races, for example, can expend more than 10,000kcal/day and their diet may consist of up to 80% kilocalories from fat. Dietary fat plays a crucial role in enhancing energy intake by increasing the energy density and palatability of food, which is particularly important for high-performance dogs whose appetite and digestive capacity may be reduced.

The micronutrient requirements for active dogs are still being scrutinized, and there is no conclusive evidence to support excess supplementation of individual micronutrients or combinations. Excessive intake of micronutrients can be as harmful as micronutrient deficiency for active dogs. B vitamins are likely to be required in greater quantities due to increased energy expenditure and additional water turnover in the body. Vitamin C may also be lost in this manner and could play a beneficial antioxidant role for dogs undergoing heavy exercise. High-fat diets, particularly those rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), are known to increase oxidative risk. Therefore, the use of antioxidant vitamin supplementation (C and E) may be advantageous for active dogs. A balanced and varied diet for active dogs is likely to provide sufficient levels of key micronutrients, and any additional supplementation should be based on an individual and evidence-based approach.

Feeding Strategies for Active Dogs

The frequency of feeding and meal size for active dogs is a crucial factor that depends on their workload and timing. It is essential to limit the amount of digesta in the digestive tract to support performance output and ensure effective digestion and absorption of food. For sprint or intermediate canine athletes, it is recommended to reduce the volume consumed by approximately 25% in the 24 hours preceding activity. This approach can be highly beneficial. Additionally, minimizing large volumes of food intake within the eight hours before prolonged or intense activity is useful in reducing digestive disturbances, the additional weight of digestive bulk, and faecal output during activity. However, every individual situation requires assessment based on the volume to be fed, individual preferences, and the ability to provide the required nutrition.

When to feed is important for active dogs to minimise digestive disturbance and support performance. Sometimes meals are useful during a busy working day however, as for these working gundogs during their lunchtime break.

Water and the Active Dog

Water is an essential component for the proper functioning, structure, and temperature regulation of the body, particularly for active dogs. Dehydration poses a significant risk to many working and sporting dogs in extreme conditions, and their endurance capacity is determined by their hydration status. Even mild dehydration can significantly affect the performance of these dogs. The water turnover in active dogs is dependent on various factors such as the intensity, frequency, and duration of activity, as well as ambient temperatures. While the water requirement of dogs exercising in colder temperatures may be less than that of less active dogs in warmer climates, water should still be freely available. Studies have demonstrated that a "nutrient-enhanced" water source can promote increased water intake and support thermoregulation and recovery after exercise. The hydration status of scenting dogs is also crucial for their olfactory capability, and dehydration can significantly affect their scenting ability.

Many dog handlers often use meat juices, gravy, or similar substances to "bait" water and encourage high-performance output. It is essential to ensure that water is always freely available, but if that is not possible, it should be offered during breaks and rest periods. Some dogs may be hesitant to drink water from different sources. In such cases, carrying bottles of their usual water can be a sensible precaution to avoid voluntary reduced water intake.

Water should be freely available at all times for active dogs. Here water is even available during transit and while waiting to work.

Water and Temperature Regulation

Water is an effective tool for regulating the body temperature of dogs. While many animals sweat to cool down, dogs have a limited capacity to do so compared to other species. Instead, dogs rely heavily on panting to regulate their body temperature, which can cause them to lose significant amounts of water. Therefore, it is crucial to provide fresh, clean drinking water to dogs exposed to warm environments or those that have been exercising heavily. Dehydration can severely limit a dog's ability to cool down and can even be fatal in extreme cases. However, it is essential to avoid offering large amounts of water in a single serving to a dog that is panting rapidly, as this can lead to water intoxication. Instead, regular water intake through diet and drinking can help manage this issue. After hard exercise, it is advisable to allow breathing rates to steady before offering water. Many dogs will choose to immerse themselves in water after activity as a cooling mechanism, which can also help them drink while cooling down. However, there is a real risk of water intoxication, especially for dogs that repeatedly immerse themselves in water and retrieve items from it. Therefore, it is crucial to manage this carefully.

Should I Use Electrolytes?

The utilization of electrolytes to enhance performance and facilitate recovery in various species is a widespread practice. However, dogs that engage in physical activity tend to lose more water than electrolytes due to their limited capacity to sweat. Consequently, replenishing water is likely to be of greater significance for highly active dogs compared to the provision of electrolytes. Nonetheless, there exists some indication that electrolyte solutions are secure, well-received, and have the potential to enhance heat-tolerance in exercising dogs.

Dogs use panting as a major cooling mechanism and their ability to sweat for cooling is extremely limited.

(IMG) Dogs will often enjoy cooling themselves down by immersing in water.

Are ‘Snacks’ and ‘Energy Supplements’ Needed?

The use of snacks and energy supplements for active dogs has been a topic of debate among professionals. While some argue that a nutritionally adequate diet is sufficient for active dogs, others believe that supplements can enhance their performance and aid in recovery. A variety of commercial and homemade options are available to provide additional nutrition before, during, or after activity. It is important to note that if an active dog is experiencing a lack of energy or losing body condition, a vet check should be conducted to rule out any health concerns. Moreover, their diet should be audited to ensure that it is supplying enough energy to support their level of activity.

Energy snacks and supplements can be beneficial for dogs that require concentrated and targeted nutrition. They can provide extra kilocalories, protein, specific amino acids, antioxidants, and micronutrients such as taurine and carnitine that support performance and recovery. Many supplements are provided as fluids, which can also help with hydration.

Some supplements and snacks formulated for active dogs provide a balanced supply of protein and carbohydrate, which can help support tissue repair and recovery after activity. Carbohydrate, specifically soluble forms, can help replenish muscle stores of glycogen depleted after activity, which is especially useful for dogs undertaking strenuous activity on consecutive days. Such snacks are best fed within twenty minutes of exercise finishing or within an hour, as this is when the cells and metabolism are primed to use nutrients in this way. Post-activity snacks can also be used as a reward for 'work well done,' provided that they are nutritionally valuable to support recovery.

While dietary supplements and functional foods might have a role in the nutrition of active dogs, the evidence of their value, and even level of supplementation required, is limited. Joint health is a particular concern for active and working dogs, and to date, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has the most evidence of efficacy to support natural anti-inflammatory processes in the body.

Long-distance activity, such as canicross, bikejor or other sled dog sports, might mean that targeted use of functional snacks supports performance and recovery.

Summary

• Our dogs’ energy requirements will change based on activity level, intensity, frequency and duration.
• Highly active, and especially endurance, canine athletes benefit from diets with increased energy supply from dietary fat.
• Carbohydrate and protein are also important for active dogs but at levels suitable for activity type.
• Hydration status of active dogs is critical to support their health and performance output.
• Electrolytes, snacks and supplements might be useful for active dogs but should be used on an individual and evidence-based basis.