When walking or exercising a diabetic dog, it’s safest to keep a small “hypo kit” with you. This way you’re prepared if their blood sugar drops unexpectedly. Pack in a small bag or pocket:
Keep a second kit in the car or by the front door so you never forget it.
Regular exercise is important for your dog’s physical and mental wellbeing — and it’s great for the person on the other end of the leash, too! Diabetic dogs can absolutely still exercise. We just need to be a little more mindful about how hard and how long we exercise them, particularly at certain times of day, to prevent their blood glucose levels from dropping too low (hypoglycaemia). This happens mainly because the amount of insulin we give them to keep their blood glucose levels in the right range when they’re resting can end up being too much for their system to handle once they start exercising.
At the moment, there are no clear research-based guidelines telling us what the best exercise routines are for individual dogs. However, experts generally recommend at least 30 minutes per day of light physical activity like walking with more energetic or active dogs potentially requiring up to 2 hours of exercise including moderate to high-intensity activities like running, swimming, playing fetch, or agility training. A lot really depends on your dog’s personality and underlying medical conditions as well as what your own schedule and lifestyle will allow.
As with most aspects of managing diabetes in dogs, our main goal is to work around your schedule and lifestyle to create an exercise routine that will suit you and your dog best. If you can only exercise your dog at certain times of day or if there are particular activities you enjoy doing with your dog, we can almost always find a safe way to make it work.
When your dog exercises, their muscles need more energy. In healthy dogs, the body balances this extra demand by adjusting insulin levels and asking the liver to release or make more glucose. In diabetic dogs, the story is different — because their insulin comes only from injections, the body can’t fine-tune how much is available. This makes them more prone to low blood sugar during or after activity.
Normally, during exercise, our muscles will first use the glucose they’ve stored internally as glycogen for their primary energy source. If we’re doing moderate exercise for more than about 20 to 30 minutes, these glycogen supplies will start to run low and our muscles will start taking up more glucose from the blood so they have the energy to keep working.
If we’re healthy, our body will respond to the falling blood glucose levels by (1) shutting down insulin production to stop fat cells in our body from trying to store glucose when we’re trying to burn it for energy and (2) activating pathways that cause the liver to produce glucose either from its own glycogen stores through a process called glycogenolysis or from non-carbohydrate sources, such as amino acids and fatty acids, through a process called gluconeogenesis. Our liver can usually maintain our blood glucose levels within a normal range for up to about 2 hours during exercise before it can no longer keep up with demand and we become at risk of hypoglycaemia.
While we’re exercising, our muscle cells also become more sensitive to insulin, which means that smaller amounts of insulin will cause them to take up more glucose from the blood than they would normally do at rest. This helps the muscle re-build its glycogen stores more efficiently once we have stopped exercising and the pancreas starts releasing insulin again. This insulin sensitivity can last for several hours after exercise is stopped.
The problem with diabetic dogs is that once we’ve given them an insulin injection, their body has no way to adjust the amount of insulin that’s circulating. All they can do is wait for the insulin to be naturally absorbed and broken down over the course of several hours. If the insulin levels in the blood end up being too high for their needs at that moment, their blood sugar can drop dangerously low.
Exercise makes the situation worse because:
The end result is that the body can use up glucose faster than the liver can make more to replace it and blood sugar levels can drop into the hypoglycaemia range. This exercise-induced hypoglycaemia is more likely to happen:
This is another reason why we tend to be more cautious with insulin therapy – aiming to keep your dog’s blood sugar a bit higher than the normal range so there is more buffer against periods with high energy demand, but still below the level where sugar starts spilling into the urine.
Not all exercise looks the same and different types place different demands on your dog’s body. Understanding these categories can help you plan safe and enjoyable routines for your dog with diabetes.
Examples: Puzzle feeders, scent games, training new tricks.
Energy demand: Low, but provides valuable mental stimulation.
When it’s useful: On days when physical activity needs to be limited (e.g., during hot weather or when your dog isn’t feeling their best).
Examples: Gentle leash walks, casual sniffing in the yard, slow play.
Energy demand: Low — unlikely to affect blood sugar.
When it’s useful: Everyday movement, safe at almost any time.
Examples: Brisk walking, longer hikes, steady swimming.
Energy demand: Moderate — muscles use more glucose after 20–30 minutes.
Considerations: Timing matters; best done when insulin levels are lower.
Examples: Running, fetch, agility training, chasing games.
Energy demand: High — glucose demands increase quickly.
Considerations: Short bursts are usually safe; longer sessions raise the risk of low blood sugar, especially if near insulin’s peak action.
Mixing types of exercise — for example, a gentle walk followed by 5–10 minutes of fetch — can keep your dog healthy, happy, and mentally stimulated without overdoing it. If they also have conditions like obesity, arthritis, heart disease, or past injuries, you may need to adjust the type, length, or intensity of exercise to keep things safe and comfortable.
There’s no single “ideal” exercise program for all dogs. The right amount depends on your dog’s current fitness level, health conditions, and what they’re already used to doing.
For healthy, active dogs: Aim for at least 30 minutes of walking or light activity each day, with some dogs benefiting from up to 1–2 hours if they enjoy it and can tolerate it.
For dogs not used to exercise, or with other health conditions like arthritis, obesity, or heart disease: Start slowly — for example, 5–10 minutes of walking two to three times a day. Gradually increase the time and intensity by about 5 minutes per week until you reach a goal of about 30–45 minutes per day.
Avoid the “weekend warrior” approach: Dogs that are inactive during the week but pushed into long or vigorous exercise sessions on weekends are more prone to injuries, sore muscles, and blood sugar swings if diabetic. Consistency and moderation are safer than sudden bursts of activity.
Watch for individual limits: Stop or slow down if your dog shows signs of tiredness, stiffness, or discomfort, especially if they have other health conditions.
Steady, regular exercise is much healthier and safer than sudden, high-intensity workouts.
If you’re just planning to do <30 minutes of light exercise at a time, like an easy walk where your dog never really gets out of breath, you probably don’t need to make any changes to your routine or worry about when to exercise your dog. This type of workout is unlikely to increase glucose demands beyond what their body can safely handle. Just use normal common sense and don’t walk your dog at times of day when it’s really hot or sunny. If possible, you might want to consider avoiding exercise when your dog’s insulin is at its peak activity, usually around 4 to 6 hours after the injection, as this is when their blood sugar levels are most likely to be at their lowest.
Dogs can’t cool themselves as easily as people, and exercising in hot or sunny conditions can quickly lead to heatstroke regardless of whether they have diabetes.
Keep your dog safe by:
Based on research in people with Type 1 diabetes, the best time to do moderate or vigourous exercises like brisk walking, running, or swimming seems to be in the morning before eating breakfast and before having their morning insulin dose. The main reasons why are (1) the amount of insulin in their body is likely to be the lowest levels, (2) blood glucose levels are likely to be at their highest levels, particularly with the natural rise in cortisol first thing in the morning, and (3) if they do get hypoglycaemia from exercise, they are more likely to notice and treat the clinical signs during the day while they are awake than during the night when they’re asleep. Because exercise can lower blood glucose levels, this may also decrease the amount of insulin they need to inject with their morning meal.
It is often recommended that people with Type 1 diabetes avoid moderate to heavy exercise for 30 to 60 minutes after eating. This is because (1) insulin is usually given at the same time as meals, meaning that the insulin levels in the body are likely to be high and (2) particularly for meals that are high in protein or fat, it may take some time for the body to digest the food and raise blood sugar levels to a safe range for exercise.
The most important thing when you are exercising your dog is to watch closely for signs of hypoglycaemia (weakness, shaking, and confusion) and stop if you have any concerns. Check out our Hypoglycaemia page for more information on recognising and treating this condition. Until you are more comfortable with knowing how your dog will respond to exercise, always take the following supplies with you:
The recommendations for people with Type 1 diabetes are to check blood glucose levels about 15 to 30 minutes before exercising.
During exercise, blood glucose levels should be checked at least every 30 minutes. If the blood glucose levels drop below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) at any time during exercise or if there are signs of hypoglycaemia (weakness, shaking, confusion), they should stop exercise immediately and treat for hypoglycaemia.
Blood glucose levels should be checked again immediately after exercise and then every 1 to 2 hours post-exercise for up to 8 hours to make sure there is not delayed hypoglycaemia, which is usually from the muscles trying to replace their glycogen stores.
Using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like the Freestyle Libre for a couple weeks can be very helpful to understand how your dog’s blood glucose levels respond to exercise and to make sure that your current exercise plan is not causing any problems. You just need to keep a diary logging the times you exercised your dog and the type of exercise you did so we can match it against the sensor data.
If you’re using the sensor data to look at your dog’s blood glucose levels in real time during exercise, just remember that the sensor measures glucose levels from the fluid under the skin, which changes slower than the glucose levels in blood. For example, if the sensor indicates 80 mg/dL (4.4 mmol/L) with a downward trend arrow, the blood sugar levels are probably already in the hypoglycaemic range.
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