Canine Sport Medicine: The Vicious Cycle of Injuries and Conditioning in Dogs

A huuuuuuuge thanks to Beata Luchowska for the translation ❤️

Canine sports have become increasingly popular as more and more people choose to engage in sports activities with their dogs. At the same time, we continue to observe a division between “professional athletes” and “hobbyists” in some disciplines. Currently, we see national team competitors who dedicate their daily routines to specialized sports training, as well as many who still want to train professionally and safely but without aiming for gold. We believe this trend might be beneficial for dogs because not every canine is meant to compete in the big stages. However, this does not exclude them from a professional approach that considers both safety and high-quality training.

At the same time, veterinary diagnostic tools are constantly evolving, allowing for more precise findings that reveal the causes of subclinical symptoms observed during a dog's performance. Some of these issues are classified as injuries and/or overuse, even in the absence of obvious lameness.

For example, here is a list of symptoms we commonly encounter when assessing patients with chronic shoulder joint issues:

• Early take-off and lack of extension in the aerial phase
• Avoiding decelerations, lifting paws during transitions in obedience
• Lack of separation of the forelimbs during gallop and turns
• Lifting the head when galloping or landing
• Mistakes in weave poles and contact obstacles in agility
• Landing on the rear end during frisbee fetch (instead of engaging the front end)
• Deceleration issues in obedience (either too early or insufficient stopping)

It’s important to emphasize that not every dog exhibiting these symptoms has a shoulder joint problem. However, these signs might indicate an early-stage of an injury, even if no lameness is present. According to the latest research, nearly 30% of all reported injuries occur in the shoulder region!

Additionally, canine sports competition level is progressing significantly. We see improvements in precision, teaching techniques, and execution speed. Sport dogs’ acceleration abilities seem more powerful, along with a preference for dogs with specific high-drive temperaments. Training a high-level sports dog can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but it also takes a toll on the handler's mental health, as the risk of injury is always in the back of their mind.

Canine physiotherapists and trainers openly acknowledge that while we can reduce the risk of injury, we cannot eliminate it entirely.

Recent studies indicate potential risk factors for injuries, with high speed and temperament (the willingness to perform despite discomfort) being significant contributors at the international level. Some studies suggest that competing at a high level may increase injury risk, whereas a handler’s experience can lower it. Research also shows that approximately 67% of agility dogs return to competition post-injury.

If it were possible to prevent all injuries, it would have already been achieved in human sports, and someone would have become incredibly rich! For now, we know that optimal loading and proper recovery are the way to go. Additionally, we focus on refining rehab protocols that increase the chances of returning to sports after an injury and maintaining a high level of performance, because a history of injury is one of the highest risk factors for future injuries.

In human sports, rehab protocols for different stages of recovery are well-developed and include all necessary elements for returning to play. For example, in the case of an acute injury, the POLICE protocol (no longer PRICE) is recommended, as it includes a decisive factor - optimal loading for better general recovery. Studies show that early mobilization after an ankle sprain - not manual but patient-induced - leads to better function, reduced swelling, greater patient satisfaction and a faster return to sport. However, determining the optimal load can be challenging, especially for overuse injuries such as tendinopathies.

At the same time, there are cases where immobilization in the early stage is crucial for the healing process. So, who decides on the treatment protocol? The veterinarian, most often an orthopedist, preferably one with experience in veterinary sports medicine.

Let’s get to the point - how can we reduce the risk of injury and if an injury has occurred, how can we avoid setbacks?

In canine sports, proper training load management and maintaining excellent physical condition are crucial to minimize the effects of training stress on the dog. This is easier said than done and usually requires help from a canine physiotherapist experienced in sport specific canine conditioning.

When working with canine athletes, we often observe that dogs are overtrained in volume but undertrained in intensity. This means that in the conditioning or post-injury process, we must carefully control training volume (total amount and length of training) and gradually introduce specific workouts to reach the full intensity appropriate for the sport.

It’s the high-intensity explosiveness training, focused on generating the greatest force in the shortest amount of time, combined with progressive overload (difficult to adapt in dogs, that’s a fact) that builds sufficient strength and power. These stimuli prepare the musculoskeletal system to handle heavy loads in a given sport. This approach to canine conditioning can also significantly improve the dog's performance speed.

You’ve probably already figured out that in the case of an injury, the key to a successful return to sport is specific motor training, meaning... conditioning. And that’s the point of this article!

Canine conditioning is often associated with balancing on colorful inflatables, walking in an underwater treadmill at a slow pace and some cavaletti work. While incorporating such elements into the life of an average pet dog is fantastic and can bring many benefits, it is certainly not enough to comprehensively prepare a canine athlete for the physical demands of their sport.

Did you know that during a walk (a slow gait), a dog's limb joints reach only about one-third of their full range of motion (the carpus slightly more, around 50%)? Additionally, research suggests that during galloping and sprinting (the fastest movements for a dog), approximately 50% of stride length comes from spinal movement, whereas during walking and trotting, only 15%. These findings confirm that high-intensity movement is demanding, but they also show that walking, trotting, and static exercises in your living room are insufficient to prepare a canine athlete for the inevitable challenges in their sport.

Moreover, dog handlers who are overly cautious during walks (since most unpredictable situations happen there) or misinterpret the dog's recovery needs often limit opportunities for free running. This leads to an absurd situation where the dog only gallops a few times a week during sports training sessions. Furthermore, this type of gallop requires additional technical aspects, multiple repetitions, precision, high excitement… and high expectations.

Considering that during injury recovery, the dog was restricted for 4-6 weeks, and after receiving the green light to return to sports, training resumed as usual - this creates the perfect environment for recurring issues! The dog's musculoskeletal system was simply not ready to handle the demands of sport training, and if anything is going to fail, it’s usually the weakest structure - the previously injured area. The injured site is often left with scar tissue rather than healthy tissue, making it even less prepared to withstand the forces that originally caused the injury.

Rehabilitation protocols should include elements that focus on muscle strength development, strength endurance, as well as coordination and proprioception training. The injured area may exhibit an altered or delayed response from proprioceptors, which in turn increases the risk of re-injury. Therefore, it is crucial to implement a well-structured training plan that incorporates these elements in a balanced and systematic manner.

A well-balanced training plan may consist of 2 low-intensity coordination sessions to improve neuromuscular control, 2 strength training sessions with higher intensity but lower speed to build muscle endurance and 2 interval training sessions that incorporate resistance pulling exercises. Additionally, isometric exercises can be included either during coordination and strength sessions or performed separately as independent training units.

Training plan should be adjusted to the dog's individual needs.

However, within 12-16 weeks after a significant injury, it is usually possible to introduce high-intensity exercises. These exercises often include elements such as jumping or dynamic acceleration while maintaining a weekly training volume low.

As a matter of fact, experienced dogs are often ready for competitions sooner than they are for seminars.

For canine athlete owners, tracking their dog's workload is the foundation of effective training and injury prevention.

Keeping a simple journal to track daily and weekly activities provides valuable insights into their training routine and helps in making necessary adjustments.

Even though I have only been developing specific post-injury protocols for sports dogs for the past two years, back in 2018, I was already showing you charts I use to track the activity of our four dogs 🥸.