Hydration monitoring is critical for maintaining performance and health in working dogs. This study evaluated two common field assessment tools—skin turgor and capillary refill time (CRT)—to determine their effectiveness in detecting mild dehydration following exercise.
Nine exercise-conditioned working dogs, aged between 8 and 108 months, completed a 15-minute exercise period on two separate days. Researchers measured skin tent time (SkTT), CRT, body weight, and core body temperature both before and after exercise, with SkTT and CRT assessed in the field and through video review.
Results showed an average body weight decrease of 0.83%, indicating mild dehydration. SkTT increased significantly after exercise in both field and video measurements, and there was a strong correlation (r = 0.68) between the two methods. In contrast, CRT decreased slightly after exercise but did not significantly predict hydration status changes.
The findings highlight that visual changes in skin turgor can reliably indicate even small shifts in hydration in active dogs, making SkTT a valuable non-invasive tool for field hydration monitoring. CRT, however, proved less sensitive for detecting such changes.
Source: Goucher, T. K., Hartzell, A. M., Seales, T. S., Anmuth, A. S., Zanghi, B., & Otto, C., American Journal of Veterinary Research, January 25, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.80.2.123
