Canine Actif - Small Animal Physiotherapy and Canine Conditioning

28/08/2024

I have been invited to give a talk at the BVRSMA at their CPD day this year.

27/08/2024

With Ruby in the Ruff - Pet sitting and walking services
My dogs are looking forward to seeing you next week. Sophie.

19/08/2024

Introduction to canine fitness course starting in September in Kidwelly.
See below for details.

06/08/2024

Canine Actif new website is now live.

https://www.k9actif.co.uk/

31/07/2024

An article from BSAVA July 2024 Companion, on how education about regulating the animal musculoskeletal industry can benefit animal care.

27/07/2024

27/07/2024

Aero, looking a cool dude during his physio session at Gibson and Jones Llanelli Surgery this morning.

Saturday animal physiotherapy sessions.

30/04/2024

Before and after undertaking canine conditioning foundation course.

29/04/2024

Three dogs who have completed the Canine Conditioning foundation course.

Well done Dash, Nala and Chase. Well done to their owners too. All dogs are looking well muscles and more balanced than in their before photos.

05/04/2024

All set for a weekend of CPD. Congratulations to Hannah Capon and CAM for a brilliant three days of learning concentrating on all aspects of managing acute and chronic pain.

31/03/2024

Fatigue starts long before your dog is laying down panting heavily, squinting and with their tongue on the ground …
Understanding and recognizing early signs of fatigue is key to keeping our dogs successful in training, and their bodies safe.
The longer you train, the higher the chance that your dog will experience:
🏋️ physical fatigue (tired body)
🤯 mental fatigue (tired mind - too much information)
❤️‍🩹 emotional fatigue (tired mind - too much stress/excitement)
Or often a combination of these!
The subtle signs can be easy to miss. And if we don’t stop training when our dog first tells us they had enough, things usually go downhill fast …
Be observant and look out for the following:

1️⃣ Disengagement
If your dog has been happy and enthusiastic during your session and suddenly disengages, sniffs the ground or wanders off, chances are they had enough. Do not keep pushing them to train … it will likely not be successful.
2️⃣ Overarousal
Your dog was in a focused state of mind, but suddenly “spins out of control”? Even though over-excitement may look like excess energy to us, it can actually be a sign that the dog needs a break! Some dogs “stress up” (become MORE crazy as they get tired).
3️⃣ Fidgeting
Your dog was doing well (for example by staying in a Sit Stay), but suddenly starts adding “random” behaviors? Stepping in place, scratching, sniffing themselves etc. are all signs that your dog is getting tired.
4️⃣ Regression
Your dog was doing well at the beginning of the training session, but seems to actually get *worse* as time goes on? This is a very common and often overlooked sign of fatigue.
We see it especially in reactive dog training, where dogs are fine at the beginning of a session, but exposure near their threshold and trigger stacking makes them more and more stressed throughout.
Don’t ignore these first signs. If you try to push through it, your dog will not magically recover (mentally, physically or emotionally) … but is much more likely to keep making mistakes, rehearse unwanted behaviors or even get injured!
Which of the above signs of fatigue do you see most often in your dog?

08/03/2024

Lovely to see the handsome Dash today for his pre Crufts assessment. Good luck on Sunday Dash, Chloe Smith and Caroline Walker.

08/03/2024

Glad that you had a great day at Crufts yesterday Kate and Cassis 🐕🐾🐶🌟

28/02/2024

Cassis came for her pre Crufts sports dog check today after a little incident with a jump wing.
Good luck next week Cassis and Kate Thomson.

05/02/2024

Any pet owners who animals have arthritis please be aware that this week the animal may struggle a little more than usual due to the weather.
See below for AccuWeather arthritis graph for Carmarthenshire/Dyfed.

23/01/2024

Field studies designed to capture data while the dogs are performing their activities provide information to their owners, trainers and handlers. This information is also important for those professionals who provide rehabilitation services to the detection dogs, military/police dogs, hunting dogs and other canine athletes. This has been an important part of my studies over the past 30 years. Last year was busy with field studies looking at ways to analyze the dog’s metabolism and biomechanics during activity. I am excited that this year looks like it might be busier.

16/01/2024

Physiotherapy exercises !

31/12/2023

I hope that this will be a good year for you and your 4 leggeds. 🐕🐾🐈xx

25/12/2023

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

16/12/2023

A lovely joint card for Patrick and me from a very exceptional dog.
Bode is deaf and responds to hand signels only.
He is one of the bounciest friendly cockers around.

Thanks Bode and his humans.