Reliability of an incremental exercise test to evaluate acute blood lactate, heart rate and body temperature responses in Labrador retrievers

J Comp Physiol B. 2009 Oct;179(7):839-45. doi: 10.1007/s00360-009-0367-z. Epub 2009 May 20.

Abstract

Thirteen healthy Labrador retrievers underwent a 5-stage incremental treadmill exercise test to assess its reliability. Blood lactate (BL), heart rate (HR), and body temperature (BT) were measured at rest, after each stage of exercise, and after a 20-min recovery. Reproducibility was assessed by repeating the test after 7 days. Two-way MANOVAs revealed significant differences between consecutive stages, and between values at rest and after recovery. There was also a significant reduction in physiological strain between the first and second trial (learning effect). Test reliability expressed as typical error (BL = 0.22 mmol/l, HR = 9.81 bpm, BT = 0.22 degrees C), coefficient of variation (BL = 19.3%, HR = 7.9% and BT = 0.6%) and test-retest correlation (BL = 0.89, HR = 0.96, BT = 0.95) was good. Results support test reproducibility although the learning effect needs to be controlled when investigating the exercise-related problems commonly observed in this breed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Body Temperature / physiology*
  • Dogs / blood
  • Dogs / physiology*
  • Exercise Test / methods
  • Exercise Test / veterinary*
  • Female
  • Heart Rate / physiology*
  • Lactic Acid / blood*
  • Male
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Stress, Physiological

Substances

  • Lactic Acid