Why don't more lap dogs collapse from exhaustion during walks with bigger dogs?

[Duck Duck Goose]

This has puzzled me for some time, so I lay it open to the collective wisdom of GQ.

On my walks in the park, I frequently see people walking their dogs. And there's one woman in particular who regularly walks a "rescued" racing greyhound and a small terrier-type dog, both on regular (i.e. non-expanding) leashes.

And while the woman walks along at a normal human walking pace, the greyhound either walks, or occasionally breaks into a brief, slow jog for a couple of paces.

But the lap dog, my word! Its little trotting feet are just a blur under its body. And I often wonder why that dog doesn't just drop dead of exhaustion or cardiac arrest. If the greyhound's feet were moving that fast, it would be going, what, 15 mph? And it wouldn't be able to keep up that pace for the duration of a walk down the Fairview bike path, which is what this woman does, she walks probably a mile-and-a-half, perhaps two miles, regularly.

So why don't we hear more about lap dogs dying of exhaustion during their walk in the park when asked to keep up with their Siberian Husky or Rottweiler housemate? Is there some kind of physiological reason for smaller animals to be able to move their little legs at eye-blurring speed without killing themselves?

[EmAnJ]

I guess they're just conditioned to it? I mean, how do humans run for 300 km's straight? Or even a marathon? You do it often enough, you're body gets used to it.

I'd imagine that for the first few weeks the dog did poop out, and probably refused to move unless the lady picked it up and carried it.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

I guess they're just conditioned to it? I mean, how do humans run for 300 km's straight? Or even a marathon? You do it often enough, you're body gets used to it.You meant "30 km", right?.... Right???

:: faints at the thought of trying to reach the 300 km benchmark ::

[Duck Duck Goose]

I guess they're just conditioned to it? I mean, how do humans run for 300 km's straight? Or even a marathon? You do it often enough, you're body gets used to it.

I'd imagine that for the first few weeks the dog did poop out, and probably refused to move unless the lady picked it up and carried it.

Well, yeah, I did think of that, but what I also mean is, why don't we hear more news reports, or even just anecdotal stories, of lap dogs who died during walks? I mean, what if the terrier had collapsed and died during that first day or so of conditioning? There must be lots of people every day who set forth from their home thinking merely to walk the Lab and the toy poodle; can all those poodles also be conditioned from Day One, and none of them ever die? It would seem that the statistics would be against it.


***


And to clarify: I know that animals like gerbils and shrews can run at eye-blurring speed. But a dog is a dog; I would think that the physiology of canis familiaris would be hard-wired the same, whether the dog is a chihuahua or a Great Dane, so that their physiology would be relatively speaking the same.

[LVBoPeep]

Hi,

I work for a vet and the only time I see any dog collapsing from heat exhaustion is in the summer when temps here are very high. They were all larger dogs, but also most were also brachycephlic (s.p?) dogs like bulldogs, mastiffs, etc. Since they can't breathe as well, they can't cool down as fast either. But most healthy dogs should be able to handle a two mile walk in reasonable temperatures unless they are kept in such a way that they have no muscle tone whatsoever. The little terrier is probably a busy dog at home too- they tend to be active- in the yard and such. Greyhounds are sprinters, where a terrier is designed to dig dig dig as long as it takes to get its prey- so not surprising they may have a little more endurance. When working my own dogs (border collies) on sheep, I noticed that lighter dogs do tend to work longer but also their attitude makes a big difference in endurance- a relaxed kind of worker who makes practical moves and doesn't act wired will have better endurance than a dog that is very intense- even if the relaxed dog is faster than the intense dog- if that makes any sense. I work my dogs often in 90+ temperatures during the summer and none have ever had heat exhaustion- but they are conditioned for that kind of work.

[cormac262]

First, by definition "walks" implies a human handler. AKA someone who might stop and lend aide if the dog was showing signs of exhaustion.

Second, most species who haven't adapted other means of dealing with exhaustion than keeling over on the spot would not be around to be walked (be they human or canine) ! That is, there are stages/degrees of exhaustion, and one can certainly collapse, shut down, faint without actually kicking the bucket. So combined with consideration #1 above, someone to notice this and perhaps stop the walk, killing little dogs by taking them for walks can be easily avoided.

Despite outward appearance, dogs are not that dumb to not take care of their own health. I hike up a local "mountain" that is pretty strenuous. And I often see people take their dogs up this. I also often see people carrying their dogs down. And I also see a familiar scene of the owner waiting for the dog to get its second (third, fourth...) wind as the dog has just stopped and is lying down panting.

[Duke of Rat]

I have a Rat Terrier, about a 20lb little dog. He can run (or could, he's 12 now and I don't run him like this anymore) 25 mph for about 1/2 mile then settle in at 20 mph for a long way. He's ran a couple of miles at that pace on several occasions, running along side the truck. And even at 12 he's still more active than most people would care for, he's a handful.

[Zsofia]

Those little terriers are always moving like that. I have a Westie who's 15 and his legs are either a blur, or flung out on a tile floor attached to a sleeping dog.

[Contrapuntal]

You meant "30 km", right?.... Right???

:: faints at the thought of trying to reach the 300 km benchmark ::Ultramarathons. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarathon)

Badwater Ultramarathon. (http://www.badwater.com/)

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Ultramarathons. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarathon)

Badwater Ultramarathon. (http://www.badwater.com/)
:eek: :: faints ::


(Actually, a multi-day even like that looks cool. At least the 100 km one looks cool, the rest make me want to die.)

[garygnu]

Little dogs have less mass to move around. They move their little legs faster, but it's less work to move them.

[DrCube]

It is something of a myth -- especially in the Army, it seems -- that tall people run faster, or at least have an easier time running, due to their longer legs. The fact is, running is all about energy consumption, not leg speed, and therefore the important characteristic is mass. Tall people, and dogs, tend to have more mass, and all things being equal, should run slower than smaller people and dogs. All things aren't equal though; massive people and dogs usually have larger muscles and consume more calories. Therefore, in the end, things kind of even out and determining relative speeds between two people or two dogs is simply a matter of relating their fitness, which is probably much closer between your terrier and greyhound than their relative sizes.


And I'm sorry -- you might have noticed I tend to be long-winded. I see garygnu said the same thing much more succintly.

[EmAnJ]

You meant "30 km", right?.... Right???

:: faints at the thought of trying to reach the 300 km benchmark ::


Nope, I actually meant 300 miles, even! Ever heard of Dean Karnazes?

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-362--10342-0,00.html

[Duck Duck Goose]

Ah. "Mass" makes sense. Thank you.

[t-bonham@scc.net]

Given the extent of obesity in America, it's quite likely that the owner would get exhausted sooner than her dogs!

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

Nope, I actually meant 300 miles, even! Ever heard of Dean Karnazes?Freak! He's a freak I tells ya!


ETA: How the heck does someone find time to train for running that much?

[fluiddruid]

I guess I'd have to agree with owner feedback. It's pretty easy to tell when a dog is horribly tired. We ended up carrying our little basset hound the last few blocks of a long walk a few weeks ago. They don't conceal what they feel and she just kept stopping and eventually lay down on the sidewalk when we stopped for her.

(Note that she still ran around like a puppy when we got home and inside.)

Plus, smaller dogs are used to walking at human pace (or faster). I would say my dog's usual pace is either immobile (which, being a basset hound, is a fair amount of the time) or at least as fast as me, except when negotiating stairs.

[David Simmons]

I have a Rat Terrier, about a 20lb little dog. He can run (or could, he's 12 now and I don't run him like this anymore) 25 mph for about 1/2 mile then settle in at 20 mph for a long way. He's ran a couple of miles at that pace on several occasions, running along side the truck. And even at 12 he's still more active than most people would care for, he's a handful.Record times for the half-mile have them running at about 18 mph. The marathon pace is about 13-14 mph.

[Duke of Rat]

Record times for the half-mile have them running at about 18 mph. The marathon pace is about 13-14 mph.

There are long-legged and short-legged varieties, mine is long-legged and he can (could) do the speeds quoted. I used to run him quite a bit beside the truck, I can take him out right now and I'm confident he can still do 20mph for 1/2 mile.

[Blake]

If the greyhound's feet were moving that fast, it would be going, what, 15 mph? And it wouldn't be able to keep up that pace for the duration of a walk down the Fairview bike path, which is what this woman does, she walks probably a mile-and-a-half, perhaps two miles, regularly.

Hmm, I'd have to seriously question this. Dogs are amazing distance runners and 24km/hr for less than 8 minutes would seem to be nothing more than brisk trot for greyhound. It's the type of thing most dogs would do before breakfast. Or do greyhound shave some sort of problem that prevents them from running long distances?

Of course the whole concept of simply scaling up is somewhat silly. If a human's feet were moving as fast as a rats' legs they would be travelling at the speed of light, but you can't just scale up like that.

The main piint here is thta dogs have evolved to be extraordinary distance runners, and this what this dog is being asked to do isn't even placing any strain on it. A wolf will trot in a similar gate literally for weeks on end. This dog is being asked to do so for less than an hour.

[Contrapuntal]

The main piint here is thta dogs have evolved to be extraordinary distance runners, and this what this dog is being asked to do isn't even placing any strain on it. A wolf will trot in a similar gate literally for weeks on end. This dog is being asked to do so for less than an hour.A friend of mine had a geriatric bulldog with extreme hip displasia. We were at a farm one day, and my friend drove to town, leaving the bulldog with me. She (the bulldog) took it in her head to go find her mistress. She set out at a trot that quickly left me in the dust, and I was in pretty good shape at the time.


Greyhounds can run fast for short distances, but some small dogs, like Jack Russells for instance, can run with the horses and the hounds all day long.

[Duke of Rat]

OK, in the interest of factual answers, I took him for a run.

He started out at 23mph but dropped down to 20 after about 1/10th of a mile. He never dropped below 20 for the rest of the half mile. He hasn't been run in a few years so I didn't want to kill him or blister his pads, but he's standing right here and isn't even breathing hard (and wasn't straining during the run).

I was pretty confident that I hadn't misremembered his running speed. Many of my friends have been along when I'd run him going to the lake to burn off some energy before we went fishing and have been surprised at how far he could run, we never really thought that his speed was noteworthy.

[David Simmons]

There are long-legged and short-legged varieties, mine is long-legged and he can (could) do the speeds quoted. I used to run him quite a bit beside the truck, I can take him out right now and I'm confident he can still do 20mph for 1/2 mile.Ah, my mistake. I don't know how didn't pick up on the "running beside the truck" part. Sorry.

[Duke of Rat]

No problem, I didn't know it made a difference. Sort of like a Greyhound after the "rabbit" at the track.

He's perked up, he must have enjoyed it.

He's a good little fellow.

Dog pic (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c317/Duke_of_Rat/?action=view&current=Dog2.jpg) Dog pic (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c317/Duke_of_Rat/?action=view&current=Dog1.jpg)

[whatami]

It's important to remember that greyhounds are sprinters, not marathon runners. Sure, my dog could run 35 mph for a half mile or so, but much more than that and she's done. In fact, most greyhounds are good with a couple of walks a day, they spend the rest of the day sleeping.

And just as an FYI...
The group I work with (www.gpa-nw.org) prefers to call our dogs "retired" as opposed to rescued, because while there are some breeders out there who don't treat their dogs well, a great majority of them do their absolute best to help the dogs before, during, and after their racing career.

So... anyway, if you are looking for a dog, greyhounds are fantastic!

[David Simmons]

No problem, I didn't know it made a difference. Sort of like a Greyhound after the "rabbit" at the track.The only difference is that if you took him for runs on foot it would make you soooome runner. :)

[LiveOnAPlane]

No problem, I didn't know it made a difference. Sort of like a Greyhound after the "rabbit" at the track.

He's perked up, he must have enjoyed it.

He's a good little fellow.

Dog pic (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c317/Duke_of_Rat/?action=view&current=Dog2.jpg) Dog pic (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c317/Duke_of_Rat/?action=view&current=Dog1.jpg)
You've made me really happy that I didn't have to stop this car and remind you to do pictures! :)