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. 2021 Jul 2;11(7):1983.
doi: 10.3390/ani11071983.

The Immediate Effect of Parachute-Resisted Gallop on Heart Rate, Running Speed and Stride Frequency in Dogs

Sandra Hederstedt  1   2 , Catherine McGowan  2 , Ann Essner  3   4
Affiliations

The Immediate Effect of Parachute-Resisted Gallop on Heart Rate, Running Speed and Stride Frequency in Dogs

Sandra Hederstedt et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Physical fitness is required for canine athletes and working dogs to optimize performance in various disciplines. There is a lack of research on the effects of resistance exercise on cardiorespiratory variables in dogs. The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of parachute-resisted (PR) gallop on heart rate, running speed and stride frequency compared to unresisted (UR) gallop in dogs. Five N-of-1 trials RCTs with alternating interventions were implemented. Dogs ran on a 200 m course with and without resistive force applied by a parachute attached to their harness while cardiac inter-beat intervals (IBI), running speed and stride frequency were measured. The results were visually displayed and interpreted in graphs and percentage of non-overlapping data estimated effect size. Both interventions showed large effects on heart rate compared to resting values. Mean IBI increased (10-17%) during PR gallop compared to UR gallop although this change was small relative to decreased running speed (19-40%) and increased stride frequency (18-63%). Minimum IBI showed no difference between interventions indicating similar maximum heartbeat per minute. In conclusion, parachute-resistance resulted in dogs galloping at lower speeds at the same cardiorespiratory level of intensity, which may be useful in canine physical rehabilitation and fitness training.

Keywords: dogs; gallop; heart rate; physical fitness; resistance exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustrates a dog with nome-harness, heart rate sensor belt around the chest and heart rate monitor in a collar around the neck.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphs of the dogs’ series of inter-beat intervals during baselines A1, A2 and A3 and intervention phases B (i.e., gallop without parachute) and phase C (i.e., gallop with parachute). Y-axis shows inter-beat intervals in milliseconds and X-axis shows subsequent time during trial. Trendline (solid line) and mean inter-beat interval (dashed lines) are displayed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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