The Furry Fitness Wellness assessment is based on what is often referred to as a Quality of Life (QoL) assessment.

A quality of life assessment for a dog evaluates its overall well-being, considering physical and emotional comfort, pain levels, and overall ability to enjoy life. It's a tool used to assess whether a dog is experiencing pain or suffering and to help owners make informed decisions about their dog's care, including end-of-life decisions.

Dr. Alice Villalobos, a veterinary oncologist, developed a quality-of-life scale for dogs that provides guidelines to help owners and veterinarians collaborate in maintaining a healthy human-animal bond. She is credited with creating the first quality of life assessment for dogs.

Waltham Petcare Science Institute has also done research in the field of QoL for animals

As a dog owner, you spend a lot of time with your dog and are the one person to notice changes in behaviour in your dog. Some changes occur incrementally and can be challenging to see. Or perhaps you notice, but you forget. And when the same behaviour reoccurs, you might not be able to connect the dots between the recurrence.

So logging some key behaviours in your dog can help you understand your dog's current condition and changes over time. This can help you better understand whether your dog needs lifestyle changes or veterinary assistance.

Spending 5 minutes quarterly (or as often as you prefer) to conduct a Wellness assessment of your dog in the app is a small time investment that provides valuable insights and helps your dog achieve a better quality of life if needed.

And if your dog has an excellent quality of life, it´s reassuring to be aware of that as well.

When dogs get older, they can suffer in different ways (as with older humans). Being able to notice issues with your older dog and log them will also provide you with insights as to whether to consider an end-of-life evaluation. This is a very difficult subject for all of us dog owners, and doing the Wellness assessment in the app can help you make informed choices.

The app will ask you different topic-related questions, which you can agree with, disagree with, or be neutral to.

We ask questions intended to understand if your dog could be suffering from depression, is lonely, anxious, bored or afraid.

Studies in the UK have shown that about 74% of dogs show signs of poor mental health, and even 18% on a weekly basis.

Seeing signs of this in your dog can help you take action to address the issue. The referenced article above gives some good advice on stimulating your dog.

Pain can manifest in several ways, and does not necessarily manifest in the obvious way you would think you observe pain in someone. So we also ask about breathing. Being able to breathe normally is extremely important for your dog and is the most important

Also, pain can be managed through medicine for dogs (as with humans).

If you start observing untreated pain or breathing difficulties in your dog, you must seek veterinary assistance. If your dog is already under veterinary supervision and is receiving pain treatment at home (medicine), logging pain improvement or worsening can be helpful.

A lack of appetite can have multiple underlying causes.

Causes can be psychological or physical.

If you notice a change in appetite over an extended period, you should seek veterinary assistance.

It is not unusual for a dog to vomit. It could be a minor issue or a symptom of an illness that requires veterinary attention.

However, a healthy and happy dog will want to eat food that is offered. And should not be nauseous frequently.

Is your dog able to keep itself clean? If a dog smells like urine, it is a sign of bad hygiene. Cramped living quarters, a lack of a safe place to urinate, or an inability to withhold urine could be causes of the smell.

The dog's coat can also be dirty and cause a smell.

Your best friend might need help with their hygiene, and you could assist them with tasks like bathing and grooming.

If your dog is diagnosed with an illness and is under medication, helping with hygiene is even more critical.

If your dog is living outside, you must provide proper shelter for your dog and allow for drainage in your kennel.

A dog can become dehydrated due to insufficient fluid intake, excessive fluid loss, or a combination of both. Common causes include not drinking enough water, excessive panting in hot weather, vomiting, diarrhea, illness, fever, or heatstroke.

Senior dogs can lose their thirst drive and become dehydrated for that reason.

Excessive drinking of water could be a sign of diabetes.

If you notice a change in the drinking pattern of your dog, and this is not due to hot weather or exercising, you should consider consulting with a veterinarian.

A healthy dog should be able to move normally.

If a dog is obese, it may have difficulty moving around and exhibit less willingness to move.

If a dog starts to develop arthritis, it will cause joint pain and stiffness, and this condition often becomes worse as the dog gets older.

Improvements, dependent on the cause of the lack of mobility, can be made both with diet and medicine (NSAIDS).

If you notice changes in the physical functioning of your dog, you should consider consulting with a veterinarian.

If your dog is overweight or obese, this will likely affect its mental state and overall happiness. It may also cause the dog pain when moving around. Inactive dogs and/or understimulated dogs can also develop depression, just like humans. It is also essential to utilise the other assessments and tools in the Furry Fitness app to gain a deeper understanding of your dog's condition.

Overweight or obesity alone does not have to be a cause of reduced life quality for your dog, but it is very likely to be a contributing factor.

If your dog has a minor training injury causing stiffness in its muscles, it will likely be a temporary issue, and, of course, this will affect the dog's physical functioning.

Based on your answers, Furry Fitness will create an overall score for you, which you can see in the table below.

You can also look at a detailed perspective when clicking "details" after saving the report.

The scoring within the different topic areas is:

For your dog's well-being and safety, you must consult with a veterinarian if you believe your dog is injured, ill or suffering. Your dog needs medical attention then.

The assessments you do in the app are not intended to replace professional medical advice, but are meant as guidance for you and to create awareness about your dog's mental and physical state.