Effect of age and feeding schedule on diurnal rest/activity rhythms in dogs

Dogs exhibit biorhythms like diurnal sleep/wake and rest/activity behavior patterns with circadian rhythmicity and, similar to other mammalian species, show age-dependent changes in activity rhythms. This study sought to further characterize night/day locomotor activity patterns in adult dogs of various ages, and to examine the effect of feeding frequency (once vs. twice). Three groups (early adults [EA], 1.5-4.5 years; late adults [LA], 7-9 years; senior, 11-14 years) of beagles (N = 48) wore the Actiwatch activity monitoring system for 3 days while housed indoors with 12-hour light/dark schedule. Activity recording devices were used to collect actigraphy data when dogs were on a once- or twice-daily feeding regimen. All dogs demonstrated a circadian activity pattern with high levels of daytime activity and low levels of nighttime activity. The main effect of age differed for both daytime (P < 0.0001) and nighttime (P = 0.002) activity counts. Daytime activity in senior dogs was 17% and 42% lower compared with LA and EA dogs, respectively. With nighttime activity, both LA and seniors had significantly lower counts compared with the EA. Compared to once-daily feeding, twice-daily feeding significantly increased night activity, night/day activity ratio, and activity counts 60 minutes before the light phase across all 3 age-groups. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of age-related changes in locomotor behavior patterns in dogs and uniquely demonstrates that frequency of feeding can influence nighttime activity levels, which is partially associated with level of prelight onset of activity.