Abstract
Exercise-related physiological changes were evaluated in hydrated, exercise-conditioned working dogs with free access to tap water (TW) with or without a nutrient-enriched water supplement (NW). Physiological samples and measures were collected before and after work-related field tasks in a warm and moderately humid ambient environment. In a cross-over design study, 12 dogs (age range 8–23 months) were evaluated on 3 separate occasions within each period with exercise bouts up to 30 min, on days −4, 3, and 11. Dogs were offered either ad libitum TW or portion-controlled NW daily plus ad libitum TW. Prior to and serially after exercise, pulse rate (PR), core (BTcore) and ear (BTear) temperature were recorded. Urine was collected first thing in the morning, whereas blood samples collected and body weight (BW) recorded pre- and immediately post exercise. Ambient temperature was above 21.7°C (71°F) and relative humidity ranged from 36 to 76%. Activity parameters, AM urine measures, post-exercise percent change of BW, resting PR and resting BTcore did not differ between treatment groups on any exercise day. At the completion of exercise, mean BTcore for all dogs ranged from 104.8 to 105.6°F. Immediate post-exercise BTear was always lower compared to BTcore and means ranged from 103.3 to 104.0°F. The effect of time was highly significant (P < 0.001) for both BT measures with both BTcore and BTear recovering to resting levels by 60 min post exercise. PR and several blood values showed a significant main effect of time. Over the recovery period, dogs in the NW group had lower mean BTear and PR by 0.6°F and 3.4 bpm, respectively. Daily ingestion of a NW in combination with free access to TW can reduce the post-exercise-related BTcore and BTear hyperthermia, and improve pulse rate recovery following exercise in this population of working dogs undergoing 30 min bout of exercise.
Highlights
Dogs are natural athletes and perform many work or servicerelated tasks that involve physical activity
No 2-way or 3-way interactions, nor the main effect of day or treatment were statistically significant for any variable. This data further elaborates on our initial report that exerciseconditioned working dogs that performed up to 30-min of field exercise consisting of rubble search, agility, and retrieving in warm ambient temperature experienced a significant elevation in body temperature (BT) and changes in serum chemistries and blood gases [12]
The primary set of unique findings reported in this study is that daily ingestion of a portioncontrolled volume of a nutrient-enriched water supplement (NW) in combination with free access to tap water can reduce the post-exercise-related core body temperature (BTcore) and ear temperature of tympanic membrane (BTear) hyperthermia, as well as improve pulse rate recovery following exercise in this population of working dogs undergoing 30 min bout of exercise
Summary
Dogs are natural athletes and perform many work or servicerelated tasks that involve physical activity. The multisystemic effects of exercise and factors that limit performance are of importance. Hyperthermia has been documented in dogs in response to exercise at various durations and intensities, and is an important physiological measure of thermoregulation and heat stress risk, but is a factor limiting performance during physical activity [6,7,8]. Exercise performance could be prolonged by peripheral cooling during exercise leading to a reduced level of hyperthermia, observed by lower rectal (BTrec), hypothalamic, and muscle temperatures [4, 5]. Recent canine exercise studies have used more sophisticated methods to monitor BT in exercising dogs with minimal interference during or after exercise by recording core body temperature (BTcore) with ingestible sensors [9,10,11,12] and ear temperature (BTear) with non-contact infrared thermography of the tympanic membrane [12, 13] that is representative of brain temperature in people [14, 15], but yet to be confirmed as brain temperature in dogs
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