Dog Handler Beliefs regarding Barriers and Facilitators to Canine Health Promotion and Injury Prevention in Swedish Working Dog Trials and Competitions

Essner, Ann; Kjellerstedt, Catarina; Hesbach, Amie Lamoreaux; Svensson, Kristina; Igelström, Helena

doi:10.3390/vetsci9050242

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The final version of the questionnaire contained mainly close-ended multiple choice questions in Swedish. The results from a qualitative content analysis of narrative data from open-ended questions in the survey have been published elsewhere ( 59 ). The survey was distributed by means of an internet survey site (Google Forms, Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA) to facilitate data collection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical activity and sport-specific training patterns in Swedish sporting and working trial dogs—A questionnaire survey

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveTo explore physical activity patterns, including conditioning exercise and sport-specific training, and management routines utilized by handlers of Swedish sporting and working dogs participating in agility, obedience, rally obedience and working trial disciplines.ProceduresDog handlers provided information on competition-level dogs through an internet-based cross-sectional and descriptive survey on physical activity, sport-specific training and management. Results are reported overall and stratified by participation in specific disciplines.ResultsWe received 1615 replies to the questionnaire. After data cleaning, 1582 dogs (98%) remained for the analysis. Of these, 430 participated in agility, 790 in obedience, 596 in rally obedience, and 847 dogs had competed in a working trial, i.e., messenger, protection, search or tracking. Number of disciplines performed by each dog varied between one and five. Most common was participation in one (n = 767, 48%) or two (n = 541, 34%) disciplines. Out of the dogs competing in one discipline, 38% (n = 294) were considered to be specialized as they actively trained only that discipline for ≥10 months per year. The vast majority of the dogs (n = 1129, 71%) received more than 1 h of daily physical activity, e.g., walks, and only n = 51 (3%) were never exercised off-leash. Preferred self-selected gait was trot (n = 907, 57%) and gallop (n = 499, 32%). A fifth (n = 319, 20%) never played with other dogs. The majority (n = 1328, 84%) received more than 1 h of vigorous physical conditioning exercise per week. Almost three quarters (n = 1119, 71%) participated in physical conditioning exercise. Two thirds (n = 953, 60%) participated in at least 3 h of sport-specific training per week and only a very small portion (n = 35, 2%) trained their specific discipline less than once per week. Median total work load, i.e., all daily physical activity, vigorous physical conditioning exercise and sport-specific training, was 16.5 h per week.Conclusion and clinical relevanceWe observe physical activity at moderate to high durations and moderate to vigorous intensities among Swedish sporting and working trial dogs. Most dogs received physical conditioning exercise, but not all dogs were warmed up before training and competition. Our study provides veterinary professionals and dog trainers with valuable insights on the physical exposures and management routines of sporting and working trial dogs.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical activity and sport-specific training patterns in Swedish sporting and working trial dogs—A questionnaire survey

et al. 2022

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“…This study was conducted with competitive sporting and utility trial dogs (n = 1582) using reported data from an online questionnaire survey completed by dog handlers [29,47]. The questionnaire examined the demographic variables of the dog, e.g., sex, age, body weight, breed, and sports-related variables, e.g., participation in various disciplines, health history, and return to competition.…”

Section: Dogs and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have previously reported on dog handlers' beliefs with regard to competitive tasks [29]. Tasks that were considered barriers to canine health by the dog handlers' and potentially harmful for the dogs were crawling, staying in a group with other dogs, protection work, high ladder, heavy retrieving, jumping obstacles, and gun shots.…”

Section: Onset Of Injurymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the last decade, the identification of associated factors concerning canine health and well-being has gained more attention among dog handlers and animal health care professionals [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. There is also a concern about these increased risks of injury in sporting and utility trial dogs and concerns surrounding possible welfare implications, which may result in ethical dilemmas for stakeholders, i.e., dog handlers, judges, breeders, and organizers of competitions [29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Injuries and Associated Factors in Swedish Sporting and Utility Trial Dogs—A Cross-Sectional Study

Essner,

Kjellerstedt,

Hesbach

et al. 2024

Animals

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Canine sporting competitions, e.g., agility, obedience, rally obedience, and utility trials, e.g., protection, tracking, search, and messenger, are physically and mentally demanding disciplines. This study aimed to describe the types and frequencies of injuries experienced amongst Swedish sporting and utility trial dogs and to explore associations between discipline, breed, sex, neuter status, age, and injury history. Dog handlers provided information on competition-level dogs (n = 1582) through a cross-sectional survey. The overall proportion of dogs sustaining any injury during their lifetime, whether it was during competition, training, or outside of sport, was 58.7% (n = 928). Muscular, joint, and dermatologic injuries were most commonly reported and the most common injury locations were the thoracic, lumbar and lumbosacral spine, paw, head, shoulder, and stifle. According to multivariate analysis, Border Collie (adjusted OR 1.93), Belgian Malinois (adjusted OR 2.51) and higher age at the time of report (adjusted OR 1.81–9.67) increased the odds of injury history. Our results provide more understanding of injuries in sporting and utility dogs and contribute to injury prevention strategies that potentially enhance canine welfare.

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“…A dog with good physical fitness has a better capability to perform its task, which also reduces the risk of injury; hence, the ability to measure the dog’s fitness level is imperative. With the increasing number of pets and working dogs, owners’ interest in the well-being of their dogs is also on the rise [ 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Providing fitness-related information to dog owners can affect their dog handling and exercising habits and thereby contribute to the well-being of dogs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposed Protocol for Field Testing of Endurance Fitness of Young Labrador Retrievers

Söderlund,

Kyröläinen,

Laitinen-Vapaavuori

et al. 2023

MPs

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The number of dogs and, with it, dog sports are growing in popularity, and the training of dogs begins at an early age. Although fitness testing is an imperative part of purposeful training and sports, to our knowledge, no objective field tests are available for measuring young dogs’ endurance fitness. The aim of this study is to describe a simple, easy-to-repeat, and inexpensive way to test training intervention effects on endurance fitness in young Labrador Retrievers. Healthy client-owned 16-week-old Labrador Retrievers will be recruited and divided into test and control groups. The test group will have an eight-week training program followed by a four-week detraining period, while the control group will live a normal puppy life. All dogs will be tested for endurance fitness four times at four-week intervals: at baseline, one month later, two months later at the end of the training period, and one month after ending the training program. Each of the four testing sessions will be identical and will consist of four measurements of heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (BL): at baseline, after trotting 1000 m, after sprinting 200 m, and at recovery 5–8 min after the sprint. The training-induced changes in endurance fitness are evaluated by changes in HR and heart rate recovery times (HRR), BL, and running times.

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Dog Handler Beliefs regarding Barriers and Facilitators to Canine Health Promotion and Injury Prevention in Swedish Working Dog Trials and Competitions

Cited by 3 publications

References 56 publications

Physical activity and sport-specific training patterns in Swedish sporting and working trial dogs—A questionnaire survey

Physical activity and sport-specific training patterns in Swedish sporting and working trial dogs—A questionnaire survey

Injuries and Associated Factors in Swedish Sporting and Utility Trial Dogs—A Cross-Sectional Study

Proposed Protocol for Field Testing of Endurance Fitness of Young Labrador Retrievers

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