Agility Dog Health Network

01/09/2024

Here is our research team's most recent publication!

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify the type of veterinary care sought by handlers of injured agility dogs, the types of treatments the dogs recei...

21/08/2024

There is still an hour left to sign up for the FREE webinar on agility research where we will be talking about some of our Agility Dog Health Network collaborative projects!

There's still time to register for tomorrow's webinar on leveraging technology to study canine athletes! Dr. Markley's research on wearable tech will help optimize performance, evaluate the relationship between training and injury risk, and inform injury prevention strategies. Agility handlers and anyone who owns or trains a dog - register now at https://bit.ly/3LJrA21.

17/06/2024

We need about 10 more participants for our AGILE research agility trial event! We are specifically in need of more 12" dogs.

All participants will receive a $25 dollar gift card. Overall winners of the 4 combined runs will receive an $100 gift card!!

Comment below if you are interested in signing up!

22/05/2024

We did it together! Thank you for all your help with this project. We now have almost 12,000 daily logging entries to review and analyze. Results coming soon!

10/05/2024

24/04/2024

If you're in the Akron/Cleveland area - We still have a few available slots all 5 testing days (May 4, 5, 17, 18 and 19) if anyone else wants to participate in our weave biomechanics study!

16/04/2024

Come join us for a day of agility, great courses designed by Bill Pinder, and awesome prizes, all in the name of ground-breaking canine sports medicine research!

🐾 Want to run Bill Pinder courses for FREE?
🎉 Want to compete to win PRIZES?
🧐 Want to help contribute to RESEARCH?

Join us June 22 at IncrediPAWS Dog Training to run Master's and Premier courses for research data collection!

Thanks to AKC Canine Health Foundation for funding this research! Stay tuned for details on prizes...

11/04/2024

ANNOUNCEMENT #1 - We are now officially recruiting for our weave biomechanics study!

We are starting with Border Collies that measure into the 20" class for the 2 weekends in May. Comment below or message us for more details!

04/04/2024

LAST CALL! We need just a few more agility handlers to complete this project!

Are you an agility handler in the US who is 18 years or older?
Are you curious about "training load" in our agility dogs and how that might be measured?
Would you be willing to spend 2 minutes a day for 28 days to log your dog's activities?

Find out more by scanning the QR code below or clicking this link to enroll: https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/phase-1-enrollment-information/

AKC Canine Health Foundation

28/02/2024

We are 75% of the way to our goal enrollment! Thank you to everyone who is already participating! If you aren't in that group, please consider helping. You can access study information and a link to the enrollment survey here: https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/phase-1-enrollment-information/ . FAQs for individuals interested in participating are posted here: https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/agility-dog-rating-of-perceived-exertion-rpe/ . Please share!

21/02/2024

We are still recruiting participants for this study! Help "heat up" your state by encouraging agility colleagues to enroll! You can access study information and a link to the enrollment survey here: https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/phase-1-enrollment-information/ . FAQs for individuals interested in participating are posted here: https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/agility-dog-rating-of-perceived-exertion-rpe/ . Please share!

04/02/2024

Study updates and clarifications:

For those who have enrolled - thank you!

1. If you enrolled in the past week and have not received a welcome email, please let us know. We have received quite a few enrollment surveys with invalid email addresses or missing emails.

2. There is a question in the enrollment survey asking about prolonged travel. This only applies for the immediate study period, which will be 28 days from when you start the study (i.e. this week or next). If you have vacation plans for spring break or the summer, you are still eligible and can retake the enrollment survey to sign up.

3. We are only about half way to our participant goals, so please share with your agility friends, and your local clubs and training facilities. The FB algorithm can be a pain and it appears that it is not showing up in feeds even though people are sharing.

THANK YOU to the agility community for being so enthusiastic about research!

If you have any questions about the study or the eligibility requirements please reach out.

31/01/2024

🐾 Are you an agility handler 18+ years old in the United States?
🐾 Do you want to participate in a 28 day training log study?

For more information and to enroll => https://labs.wsu.edu/agility-dog-health/phase-1-enrollment-information/

📸 Adriana Nottestad

AKC Canine Health Foundation

This page is for individuals interested in evidence-based information related to the health and well-

30/01/2024

How much is too much? Is there a relationship between intensity and duration of activity and risk of injury in agility dogs? How do we even measure that?
Stay tuned - enrollment for our AKC Canine Health Foundation funded study starts this week!

📸 Adriana Nottestad

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.