corbinam
Moderator
This was shared on our club's list serve and thought I'd share:
Two articles were recently published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association regarding injuries among dogs training or competing in agility. The following is a summary of some of the interesting facts.
The articles were based on an international, internet based, retrospective, cross sectional survey survey by Cullen, Kimberely L. et al. The responders were 1,669 handlers representing 3,801 dogs of 162 breeds.
The first study was to determine if any risk factors could be identified for injury. The risk factors identified were 1. Previous injury. Injuries were reported in 31.8% of dogs with 28% reporting more than 1 injury. If a dog sustained one injury they were more likely to sustain another. 2. Age. Dogs less than or equal to 4 yrs were more likely to be injured. 3. Experience of the handler. Handlers with less than 5 years experience were more likely to have injured dogs. 4. Breed. Border Collies were more often injured than any other breed -even when the study was adjusted for the proportion of Border Collies in the group. There was no correlation with injury and warm up or cool down exercises. Dogs participating in Canada were more often injured than US or European dogs.
The second part was to try and determine the perceived causes of the injuries
The most common anatomical areas affected were the shoulder, back, neck and phalanges (toes). The injuries most commonly occurred during interaction with bar jumps (260 dogs), the A frame (235 dogs), and the dog walk (177 dogs).Soft tissue injuries such as muscle or tendon strain were common as were contusions.
Two articles were recently published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association regarding injuries among dogs training or competing in agility. The following is a summary of some of the interesting facts.
The articles were based on an international, internet based, retrospective, cross sectional survey survey by Cullen, Kimberely L. et al. The responders were 1,669 handlers representing 3,801 dogs of 162 breeds.
The first study was to determine if any risk factors could be identified for injury. The risk factors identified were 1. Previous injury. Injuries were reported in 31.8% of dogs with 28% reporting more than 1 injury. If a dog sustained one injury they were more likely to sustain another. 2. Age. Dogs less than or equal to 4 yrs were more likely to be injured. 3. Experience of the handler. Handlers with less than 5 years experience were more likely to have injured dogs. 4. Breed. Border Collies were more often injured than any other breed -even when the study was adjusted for the proportion of Border Collies in the group. There was no correlation with injury and warm up or cool down exercises. Dogs participating in Canada were more often injured than US or European dogs.
The second part was to try and determine the perceived causes of the injuries
The most common anatomical areas affected were the shoulder, back, neck and phalanges (toes). The injuries most commonly occurred during interaction with bar jumps (260 dogs), the A frame (235 dogs), and the dog walk (177 dogs).Soft tissue injuries such as muscle or tendon strain were common as were contusions.
