New Tools for Chronic Pain Management: Therapeutic Exercise as Analgesia

This session reframes movement as a dose-dependent analgesic intervention for dogs with chronic pain. We will cover how appropriately prescribed exercise can modulate pain, improve mobility, preserve muscle and joint health, and support quality of life in dogs with osteoarthritis, sarcopenia, geriatric decline, and reduced function. Attendees will gain a practical framework for selecting, dosing, progressing, and modifying therapeutic exercise safely.

• 1. Explain central, peripheral, immune, and musculoskeletal mechanisms of exercise-induced analgesia.
• 2. Recognize when exercise helps versus when it may worsen pain.
• 3. Create safe, individualized exercises to target strength, balance, proprioception, flexibility, endurance, and functional mobility.