Agility Dog Health Network

13/12/2023

No matter how great our primary care veterinarians are, there are likely to be times when we want a second opinion from a veterinary specialist. Did you know that the term “veterinary specialist” has a very specific meaning in terms of training and qualifications? The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) established the American Board of Veterinary Specialists (ABVS) to oversee the approval and monitoring of specialty certification processes in the profession. Veterinarians without specialty certification from an organization recognized by the ABVS cannot advertise or promote themselves as specialists. There are currently 22 AVMA-recognized veterinary specialty organizations comprising 26 distinct veterinary specialties. A few of those specialties, those that are more likely to be needed by owners of agility dogs, are shown in this graphic. A full list of veterinary specialties is available on the AVMA web site at www.avma.org/education/veterinary-specialties. In future posts we will explain more about the training and certification processes for veterinary specialists and discuss how specialty veterinarians might help your agility dog stay healthy, sound, and active.

06/12/2023

This week we are highlighting a 2021 article from the United Kingdom in which researchers compared dogs that had been trained using two or more aversive techniques (see the list in our graphic) to dogs that had never been trained with these aversive techniques. Their hypothesis was that dogs with a history of being trained with aversive techniques would have a more "pessimistic" attitude than dogs with a history of being trained only with reward techniques. A link to the full text of the research is included in the comments below. This research is not specific to agility, but is certainly a topic in which agility handlers are interested!

27/11/2023

Do you have questions about how to best clean and disinfect animal care areas? There is a great deal of information available on this topic and it can take a while to really understand it. In the comments below is a link to a reliable document from Iowa State University with lots of great information. Clean the area first using a good detergent and allow the area or equipment to dry thoroughly after rinsing. Follow this cleaning with properly prepared disinfectant allowing adequate contact time before rinsing and drying completely.

22/11/2023

There continues to be a great deal of discussion about a serious contagious respiratory disease of dogs that has appeared in numerous states. This discussion has caught the attention of major media outlets including the New York Times (see link to article in comments below). Many affected dogs have a history of recently being in locations or at events where many dogs were present. A few years ago the AKC's Canine Health Foundation sponsored a group of canine infectious disease experts to prepare resources and recommendations to help prevent diseases at canine group settings (such as agility trials). Many of these recommendations could be adapted for use by individuals or trial committees. Here is a link to a summary of their findings. There are more links included in the comments.

16/11/2023

We are excited that this fantastic project, led by Dr. Arielle Pechette Markley of the Agility Dog Health Network and Melody Moore Jackson of Georgia Tech University, is being recognized by the USDAA!

Wellness Wednesday: Wearable Tech for Canine Athletes
Researchers are developing wearable sensors that can measure common dog movements in agility, along with an app to help optimize performance and minimize the risk of injury. Read more: https://www.usdaa.com/news/science-and-wellness-wearable-tech-for-canine-athletes.cfm

Photo: Dr. Arielle Markley, a canine sports medicine specialist at The Ohio State University, outfits an agility dog with the new sensor. (Courtesy of Dr. Markley)

18/10/2023

07/10/2023

There has been on-line discussion among agility participants related to reports of dogs with "atypical canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRDC)" in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Here is a link to a page from the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association with a fact-based description of what is known as of September 26. A link to a general fact sheet about CIRDC, also from the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, is included below in the comments. This is great information for anyone who travels to dog events of any type!

September 26, 2023 Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease in Oregon In August, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) received anecdotal reports of an atypical canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRDC) circulating in the Willamette Valley. Since then, ODA has received over 100 case reports fr...

24/05/2023

19/03/2023

Huge Congratulations to ADHN founder, Dr. Debra Sellon for making AKC agility nationals finals with her 20" border collie Callie Jane. Great job! (Deb, add a photo of the two of you please!)

16/03/2023

Agility competitors prioritize research in areas that advance understanding of injury prevention in their dogs. Research priorities are nearly uniform among competitors regardless of their preferred agility organization or level of experience, providing a strong rationale for agility organizations to collaborate in research initiatives that improve safety and well-being for dogs competing in the sport! Research publication now available for free download!

ObjectiveTo understand relative frequency of adverse health events, defined as injuries or infectious diseases, in dogs participating in agility and to determine health research priorities of agility dog owners.ProceduresAn internet-based questionnaire distributed to agility dog owners included item...

20/02/2023

Our first Agility Dog Health Network research paper has been accepted for publication! Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey!

08/01/2023

How we spend our Sundays.

AKC Canine Health Foundation
Agility Dog Health Network

30/12/2022

For those of you that have expressed interest in our collaborative AKC Canine Health Foundation funded study, we have created a page to provide research updates. We will also be crowd-sourcing videos and data, so if you want to be involved in our research please follow the page.

Welcome to our page for AGILE - AGility Innovations Leveraging Electronics, an AKC Canine Health Foundation funded study to develop wearable devices and machine learning technology for evaluation of factors associated with canine agility performance.

05/08/2022

Have you registered for the next Agility Dog Health Network webinar? There is still time to sign up!

When: August 10, 5pm PT/8pm ET

Where:
https://events.wsu.edu/event/agility-dog-health-network-webinar-series-2-of-6/

28/07/2022

Most of the surveys looking at injury in agility dogs have found that border collie breed is "associated with" injury in agility dogs. What does that really mean? Aren't Border Collies more common in agility anyway?

These are actually two separate issues! To determine if Border Collies are more likely to have experienced a particular injury than all other dogs (non-border collies), it doesn’t matter how many Border Collies are in the sample.*

What does matter is if the rate of injury among Border Collies is different than the rate of injury among other dogs. The rate of injury ( # with injury / total) accounts for potential differences in the total number of dogs in each group.

So it doesn’t matter if there are more Border Collies in the sample of agility dogs than there would be in a sample of “all pet dogs” – we are comparing injury rates between Border Collies and other agility dogs.

If you are a veterinarian or veterinary professional interested in learning more about injuries in agility dogs and factors associated with injury in agility dogs, see our upcoming webinar (link in first comment).

*Nerdy stats note: Technically the ratio of Border Collies to other dogs in the sample does affect the statistical precision of the estimated association. But it does not affect the estimate of this association.

13/07/2022

Don't forget this unique RACE-approved continuing education opportunity for veterinary professionals! The first session is tonight! Register for just this session or for the entire group of 6 CE sessions related to agility dog health. All sessions available live and on-demand after the initial session.

08/07/2022

Let your veterinarian and their staff know about this unique RACE-approved continuing education opportunity!

04/07/2022

Research reports consistently state that shoulders are one of the most common sites of injury in agility dogs, but there is very little evidence-based information regarding how to treat these injuries. It can often be very difficult to know when it is appropriate for a dog to return to athletic activities after a shoulder injury. This recent paper from Italy suggests that ultrasonographic evaluation is superior to clinical exam for monitoring progression of healing. This type of approach has been widely adopted and quite helpful in the monitoring of tendon and ligament injuries in athletic horses. Not all veterinarians are trained to perform accurate musculoskeletal ultrasound examinations. If your dog has a shoulder injury, consider asking your primary care veterinarian for a referral to a specialist for further evaluation!

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/1/78

09/06/2022

We need your input!

The Agility Dog Health Network research team is looking to apply for a grant to fund agility-specific research. The topic for the grant is "Neuromuscular regeneration, recovery and rehabilitation." The project must be completed within one year (so no long-term studies).

What research in these areas would you most like to see done?

What would make the biggest impact on your training or the care of your dogs?

What research would you most like to participate in? (because we will need dogs to study!)

We are so excited to be able to come together as a community in order to advance the health and well-being of our agility dogs! Thank you for all of your help!

01/06/2022

Anyone with a dog that has early take-off syndrome or difficulty jumping has likely wondered if their dog may have problems with vision. In this very interesting study, the authors performed assessments of both refractive index and binocular vision in dogs classified as good jumpers or poor jumpers. Problems with refractive index lead to an inability to focus. Problems with binocular vision can lead to difficulty with depth perception. The inclusion of a series of tests to evaluate binocular vision in this study was very novel.

The authors reported poor jumpers are more likely to have both refractive error and binocular problems. One potential limitation of the study is it does not state that the evaluators were unaware (blinded or masked) of the jumping classifications (good or poor) of the dogs they examined. This is a potential source of bias (conscious or unconscious) if true.

I will admit, even as a veterinarian, I had to look up a number of the ophthalmology terms on google! But it is an interesting read, none the less!

Day G, Powers MK, Gyes N, Plummer L. Vision and athletic performance: Data from agility dogs. Vision Devel Rehab. 2018;4:38-47.

http://pubs.covd.org/VDR/issue4-1/?page=38

26/05/2022

See the comments for more information including dates, topics, and links to registration information.

We would love your comments and suggestions about information to include in these continuing education sessions! What do you want your veterinary team to know about you, your dogs, and the sport of agility so that you can build a more productive partnership?

18/05/2022

Over time, dogs mirror the level of stress that their owners are experiencing. That probably doesn't surprise most agility handlers, but did you know that this is true regardless of whether dogs are engaging in agility? Pet dogs also reflect the level of stress that is being experienced by their owners. This study has some interesting information but raises a lot of new questions. How do you see your personal stress manifested in your dog's behavior?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43851-x

This study reveals, for the first time, an interspecific synchronization in long-term stress levels. Previously, acute stress, has been shown to be highly contagious both among humans and between individuals of other species. Here, long-term stress synchronization in dogs and their owners was invest...

18/04/2022

For those of you who would like to read the paper that will be discussed during our webinar tomorrow, here is the link:

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/259/9/javma.259.9.1001.xml

Abstract OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency and types of injuries experienced by dogs competing and training in agility and identify breed and geographic differences in frequency and types of injuries. SAMPLE Surveys completed by owners of 4,701 dogs. PROCEDURES The study involved an internet-based...

11/04/2022

Sorry for the last minute notice for those of you that planned to join us live tomorrow for the webinar - we are going to reschedule the webinar to April 19th, same time (7pm ET, 4pm PT).

The whole ADHN team is currently working on finalizing 2 grant proposals for prospective agility research studies that are due this week!! Fingers crossed that we will get funding for agility research!

Any faculty member at Washington State University can sign up for a site and use it to publish as an individual or as part of a larger research lab. Some sites have content created by a single faculty member. Others have several graduate students participating in the creation and organization of con...

30/03/2022

Good luck to all of the competitors at NAC this weekend, including our very own Dr. Deb Sellon who will be competing with her Border Collie, Callie Jane!

Dr. Molly McCue, Dr. Dianne McFarlane and myself (Dr. Arielle Pechette Markley) will also be in attendance cheering on our friends, classmates, and clients. If anybody wants to chat about agility research we will be around - just send us a message!

04/03/2022

🐾🐾 Help us to create the content that you want! 🐾🐾

We are planning on hosting regular webinar/journal club events on a variety of topics, but we need your help.

❓What days/times work best for you?

❓Do you like the format of approximately one hour, or would you prefer shorter?

❓Are there any specific topics or research that you want to see covered?