What is functional wellness and why it deserves our attention

How your dog navigates their day-to-day is more important than you might realize

In my humble opinion, functional wellness is one of the most important subjects to understand when it comes to health and behavior of all beings, including dogs.

Functional wellness encompasses all the ways an individual functions in their daily life. We use the term activities of daily living (ADLs) to refer to specific things one needs to do as they move about their day-to-day environment.

Why is this important? Because it tells a story about how one copes with and navigates their environment and underscores what’s most relevant for each individual when it comes to mobility and wellness.

Dogs (and people) live in different environments and what they need will depend on those environments. How an individual dog moves through their daily activities is a major indicator of health and behavior.

Let’s take a look at a few areas we assess when it comes to functional wellness.

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Physical environment

This includes anything a dog might encounter in their day-to-day when moving through their environment, including stairs, flooring, thresholds, vehicles, furniture, surfaces, and sleeping areas.

How a dog navigates this tells us a lot about their health and mobility. Here are just some things we look at:

• Do they slip on flooring or trip over thresholds?

• How easily can they go up and down the stairs?

• Is there hesitation or avoidance of any areas in the home?

• What are rides in the car like, including getting in and out of the vehicle?

• What does the dog look like getting on and off furniture?

• Are there sleeping areas the dog prefers vs. avoids?

Not only can we tell a lot about mobility and potential signs of discomfort when looking at these areas of functional wellness, but we get a good sense of what it’s like for a dog to go about their life.

This matters because it speaks directly to areas that are most relevant to their daily environment. For example, avoiding walking on patches of ice in the winter is not the same as avoiding rooms with hardwood floors.

Even though both are slippery, ice on a sidewalk is not an every day issue for most dogs. A house with an abundance of hardwood flooring will pose a daily challenge in an environment a dog spends most of their life.

The same can be said for things like stairs, furniture, and thresholds. If an area a dog must contend with on a daily basis poses a challenge, then we must pay close attention and adjust accordingly. We don’t want to normalize dogs slipping, tripping, falling, or having difficulty moving through their home environment.

In addition, when we see changes in their ability to do these daily tasks, it clues us in to potential discomfort.

Sleeping and resting habits

Sleep is a big piece to and an indicator of health and wellness. Good quality and quantity of sleep are essential for learning, recovery, and behavioral wellbeing.

Lots of factors can impact sleep, including comfort. Something as seemingly benign as a bed with a high border can prevent a dog from seeking that particular sleeping spot, even if it’s a more comfortable one, which can in turn affect how well they sleep.

We always want to pay attention to a dog’s sleeping habits:

• Where are they choosing to sleep, both during the day and at night?

• Are there specific rooms, as well as specific resting spots they prefer or avoid?

• How frequently and for how long do they sleep?

• What sleeping positions do they prefer or opt for most often?

For example, a dog who spends a lot of time in their crate, but can’t fully stretch out, may not be getting as deep and restful sleep as they should. This isn’t a knock at crate training per se, but a reminder that crates are small, confined spaces.

Last summer I brought out Larkin’s crate to give him a safe space during thunderstorms per his preference. As a result, he began to snooze in there for 2-3 hours every night and emerged looking stiff and uncomfortable.

I compromised by sizing up the crate and putting his orthopedic bed in there. Now he has plenty of room to stretch out and has adequate joint support to boot.

Sleeping positions are also indicators of what is comfortable and accessible for a dog. If you’re noticing that your dog absolutely never stretches out or only sleeps in a particular position, it’s always worth noting.

Walks, play, and social contact

What your dog’s daily walks look like, as well as their interactions with other animals and people say a lot about health and behavior.

Walks include everything from harnessing, to duration and frequency, to which activities dogs engage in when walking. One data point in particular that I always look for during an assessment is how a dog walks at the beginning vs. end of walk.

This can point to changes in posture and gait that result from fatigue or discomfort that may not be visible on the gait analysis alone. Seeing how a dog walks on a daily basis, including how long and frequent the walks are, can give us a lot of information about their mobility.

Similarly, dogs who frequently stop, pause, want to turn around or don’t want to walk altogether may be experiencing discomfort. In fact, those very behaviors came up frequently in the Mills et al. (2020) study on pain and behavior in cats and dogs.

How dogs interacts with their humans, as well as other animals inside and outside the home tells us a lot about their overall wellness. Here are just some examples of questions we may ask:

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