Physical response of dogs supplemented with fish oil during a treadmill training programme.

This research article explores the effects of fish oil supplementation on the physical performance of dogs during aerobic treadmill training. Despite known benefits of fish oil supplementation in humans and horses, its effects have not been widely studied in dogs. The study found that dogs supplemented with fish oil showed improved physiological response to exercise during treadmill training programme.

Study Design and Methodology

• The study adopted a cross-over design where eight male dogs were randomly assigned to two groups – a control group (CG, n = 7) that received a standard balanced commercial diet and a fish oil group (FOG, n = 8) that received the same diet supplemented with fish oil at a rate of 54 mg per kg of metabolic weight per day.
• The treadmill training involved 30-minute sessions at 8 km/hr and a 7.5% slope twice a week for 12 weeks. Heart rate (HR) and rectal temperature (RT) were assessed before and immediately after each session, and heart rate was also evaluated 5 minutes post-session. Thigh circumference (TC) was measured before each session as well.
• All dogs performed an incremental exercise test on the treadmill at the beginning, middle (6 weeks), and end of the training (12 weeks) to evaluate heart rate response and blood lactate (BL) concentration. These data were analysed using the mixed procedure in SAS 9.4.

Results and Conclusions

• The study found that for the dogs in the fish oil group, their pre-treadmill and post-treadmill heart rates and post-treadmill rectal temperatures were lower compared to the control group, indicating an improved physiological response to exercise due to fish oil supplementation. There was also an increase in thigh circumference for the fish oil group compared to the control group, which could signify better muscle growth or health in the fish oil group.
• Additionally, the study showed that the heart rate values in the fish oil-supplemented group were lower than those in the control group during the incremental exercise test at both 6 and 12 weeks.
• The study concluded that fish oil supplementation slightly improved the physiological response of dogs to exercise during training, which might have implications for training regimens and dietary supplementation of working or sporting dogs.