18/02/2022
🚨🚨HUGE NEWS FOR THE AGILITY ENTHUSIAST! 🚨🚨
Exercises that focus on balance, strengthening, and the core CAN reduce your agility dog’s chance of suffering a CCL injury!
Researchers at Washington State and UC Davis have just released a study which examined the risk factors of Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture (CCLR) for dogs that engage in agility training and competition (Sellon and Marcelling-Little, 2022)
Data was collected through an internet survey and looked at 260 dogs with CCLR tears and 1006 dogs without an injury. Respondents were primarily from the United States.
Previous research has identified the age, s*x, neuter status, breed, and body weight as factors contributing for CCLR. You can find more about those factors here: (http://www.mcrehabilitation.com/blog/condition-breakdown-cranial-cruciate-ligament-injuries)
However, little research has been done on the influence of physical activity or athletic conditioning on the risk of CCLR. The study found that there were decreased odds of sustaining a CCLR injury when dogs participated in:
- Core strength, balance, stretching or body awareness exercises
- Daily short hikes/runs < 30 minutes on the flat
- Daily short hikes/runs < 30 minutes on hilly terrain
Other factors that were examined but did NOT show a significant reduction in CCLR injuries included: Fetch games, swimming, running or playing with other dogs, long hikes/runs (either on the flat or hilly terrain), and short or long walks.
The great news is that core strength, balance, stretching, and body awareness exercises (when completed either 1-2x a week or 3-4x a week) demonstrated a significant reduction in the odds of suffering a CCLR injury. Sporadic conditioning work did not reduce the dog’s risk of CCLR injury.
More work will need to be done by academics to address some of the limitations of this current study, namely, research will need to be done on the specific role canine conditioning has on the severity of CCLR injury and other injuries. However, the research in this study goes to show that consistent conditioning work is crucial for agility dogs!!
Want to learn more about canine conditioning and where you can start? Come join our Functional Fitness Challenge in the Canine Athlete Pack - McIntyre Canine Rehabilitation!!!
***Sellon, D.C., Marcellin-Little, D.J. Risk factors for cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs participating in canine agility. BMC Vet Res 18, 39 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-022-03146-2
