07/02/2024
🎾 LET’S TALK BALLS…….AGAIN!
🐾 A new study reveals osteoarthritis as a young dog’s disease. The results of the research found osteoarthritis present in just under 40% of dogs between the ages of 8 months to 4 years old. In light of this, I thought I’d repeat my post on the negative impacts of ball chasing. A link to the study is in the comments.
SO… BALLS….
Or more specifically, ball chasing 🎾🎾🎾🎾 Good, right? Hmmmm… actually, no 😬😬. There are physical issues (bones, joints and muscles) and behavioural issues associated with it…….
🐶 When dogs spend a lot of their time repetitively chasing balls for hours a week, there is a negative impact on their physiology - adrenaline and cortisol are released every single time they get to run and chase balls. These are the hormones involved with the body’s natural Fight/Flight response. However, they’re not supposed to be present in the body all of the time - only in extreme situations.
🐶 But for the dog who gets to chase a ball every day, these hormones remain in circulation in the body and this causes problems.
🎾 Firstly, there is a health impact - these hormones increase the heart rate, elevate blood pressure, and increase cholesterol putting your dog at higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
🎾 Secondly, there is an impact on emotions as these hormones create unnecessary anxiety in the dog. We have a dog who is more alert and vigilant, more reactive to stimuli in the environment, less able to settle and relax and seemingly needing more and more exercise.
🎾 Thirdly, the increased anxiety can lead to chronic stress. Chronic stress can kill off parts of the hippocampus in the brain negatively impacting learning and memory.
🎾 Fourthly, we now have a dog who is less able to make good decisions/choices, they are less able to cope with things they find hard and they have reduced tolerance levels. This can manifest in other areas of their life/behaviour - more barky towards visitors, more irritable with grooming, more reactive to other dogs, easily frustrated, more needy.
🎾 The physical issues can be serious. Here is some info from Canine Arthritis Management -
“When we ask a dog to run repeatedly from virtually standing to a gallop, brake sharply, often skidding on the underlying surface, throwing their neck back initially, and then bringing all their weight forward as they reach for the ball, often twisting at the same time, we can see the forces on a dog’s skeleton and muscles are enormous. Increasing speeds can as much as double the forces generated.
It is thought that the most dangerous component of ball chasing occurs during braking, and thus is often responsible for shoulder injuries.
We also know that repeated micro-trauma to muscles and cartilage is the cause of long-term damage and that the older a dog gets, the more likely it is to be carrying small injuries. This will cause a dog to try and compensate, thus further altering the loading of its limbs.
In summary, chasing a ball combines sharp acceleration, high speeds, rapid and uncontrolled deceleration that includes rotatory forces on fundamentally unstable joints. In addition, this activity is usually repeated over and over again.”
The constant wear and tear on the joints can lead to painful arthritis, and knee and hip problems. For those breeds more prone to hip issues, there is a serious risk of increasing the likelihood of joint issues especially if a lot of chasing is done in early life before growth plates have closed.
🛑 Not sounding quite so good now, is it? So what can you do instead?
— Encourage slower, sniffier walks. Let your dog lead the way on a walk. If they stop to sniff, go with them and stop with them. Only move on when they do.
— Instead of letting them chase something, encourage them to sniff an object out. Take a toy with you, ask pup to sit and wait while you throw the toy into long grass and then release them to find it.
— Practise some training out on a walk so they get to use their brain AND interact with you. Play games with them on a walk, have them snuffle out treats/kibble/dinner in the grass.
— And, of course, if they have a run about voluntarily, this is fine! Use this time to observe them - do they run endlessly forward and back at full pelt (like they would if chasing a ball)? Nope. They run for a bit, stop for a bit, sniff a bit, wee a bit, run a bit. This is more normal activity for our dogs.
But, if they do run, ensure they have a “cool down” before coming home (your dog shouldn’t get home panting and restless) - so cool them down by scattering kibble and letting them sniff it out, pop them on a long lead and let them sniff/mooch their way home.
Do your dog a favour - DITCH THE BALLS! ❌
