Dog Sports And Physical Health

[kyliegirl]

I have heard a variety of views by people on other forums about dog sports and the physical health outcomes of doing certain sports.

I had always believed much like every other animal and person, if you train your body slowly to handle more and more stress the body can adapt more easily to a new situation, and those who strengthen and work their body up to a certain level do not usually end up with physical problems such as arthritis or ripped tendons when they age because they allowed their body the time to repair and evolve to the stresses they were exposed to.. However it seems some people on other forums avoid doing many things like playing Frisbee with their dogs because it will cause problems when they are older.. I just cannot get my mind around this.. I agree that if you try too much too fast it can cause some serious damage (like making a 1yo dog jump over a 1m high fence for the first time and not introduce it to smaller jumps first), but surely if the correct methods are done you wouldn't have these issues arise.

1- Can frisbee be that harmful to your dogs health that it will cause arthritis and other physical issues in the dogs life?

2- if the dog has been trained over a long period of time to handle more physical situations, wouldn't that prevent physical health issues later?

3- what are the ages where you would begin introducing more physical activities, for example, how old before you start letting the job jump over obstacles, or weave through poles, jump up for bite work, do more running.

4- do you think that it is harmful for a dog to play sports like frisbee, agility etc, do you think a dog who does these sports is healthier and fitter in their old age compared to a dog who had been prevented from participating in these sports in its life time?

5- have you ever experienced a dog who had serious health issues in its later age from doing these sports? was it because they were not properly physically introduced? was it because of genetics? or was it because doing sports does in fact affect the dogs overall health when they age?

I would love to know everyone elses views on this

[Monah]

I don't know anywhere near enough to comment with any expertise.

I do think dogs under 18 months need to be carefully introduced to jumping and sports in general, all dogs should do stretching exercises before any sports, and dogs carrying extra weight, ones prone to injuries (large dogs), etc. should be very carefully cared for. No dog should eat for at least a couple of hours before or after any exercise either.

I have done agility and flyball and know many many dogs of even 10 years who still compete, are very fit and LOVE the challenges and fun of sports. I believe it keeps them young, in shape, fit and happy (owners too )

[shoemonster]

Flyball, agility etc have age limits to ensure the dogs arent jumping at too young a age. I think that although there certainly could be dogs who have arthritus or joint problems in older age who used to compete, look how many over weight lazy couch dogs have the same problems and they have never competed in anything

[poodlefan]

Kyliegirl:

1- Can frisbee be that harmful to your dogs health that it will cause arthritis and other physical issues in the dogs life?

If done too young and too often, I would say it could. Catching a frisbee requires a fair bit of athletic effort and if you did it as your dog's primary means of exercise, I'd say you could expect problems down the track.

2- if the dog has been trained over a long period of time to handle more physical situations, wouldn't that prevent physical health issues later?

Not necessarily. It will depend on how good the dog's conformation is, and what kind and duration of stress the dog is subject to. Leaping around in the air repeatedly isn't the kind of natural behaviour a dog's body is built for. Same goes for a lot of jumping and fast turns if done too often.

3- what are the ages where you would begin introducing more physical activities, for example, how old before you start letting the job jump over obstacles, or weave through poles, jump up for bite work, do more running.

My vet's rule is no jumping above the dog's fetlocks and no weaving until at least 12 months old. I'd not jump any dog at full agility trial height before 14 months and slower growing breeds later than that.

4- do you think that it is harmful for a dog to play sports like frisbee, agility etc, do you think a dog who does these sports is healthier and fitter in their old age compared to a dog who had been prevented from participating in these sports in its life time?

The sports in and of themsevles aren't harmful as such IMO. How well a dog is put together, how young and often it does them and the kind of husbandry it receives while doing them are all going to make a difference.

5- have you ever experienced a dog who had serious health issues in its later age from doing these sports? was it because they were not properly physically introduced? was it because of genetics? or was it because doing sports does in fact affect the dogs overall health when they age?

Not personally but in the USA they are seeing dogs with pretty severe arthritis by age 5 from doing sports like flyball too young and too often.

Horse folk have been at these things a lot longer and take far more time and care of their sports animals than many dog folk do. Chiropractic, accupuncture and spelling are all very common for sports horses. Anyone trying to train a less than mature horse to show jump would be run out of town on a rail. The same cannot be said for dog sports.

[leopuppy04]

1- Can frisbee be that harmful to your dogs health that it will cause arthritis and other physical issues in the dogs life?

Yes IMO I think it can. Constant jumping and running causes a lot of impact on the joints, thus making the dog at a higher *risk* of arthritis and injury. HOWEVER, it wouldn't be the only cause of arthritis as dogs that usually love jumping for frisbee's and such would also jump for other toys too.

2- if the dog has been trained over a long period of time to handle more physical situations, wouldn't that prevent physical health issues later?

It will help but it won't prevent it as it's the constant impact and repitition that will eventually wear down the joints

3- what are the ages where you would begin introducing more physical activities, for example, how old before you start letting the job jump over obstacles, or weave through poles, jump up for bite work, do more running.

I would always (from now on) start training for agility from a baby age, but they wouldn't do heavy equipment until at least 12 - 18mths

4- do you think that it is harmful for a dog to play sports like frisbee, agility etc, do you think a dog who does these sports is healthier and fitter in their old age compared to a dog who had been prevented from participating in these sports in its life time?

I think that the sports keep the dogs healthier and fitter for sure... but I also think that these dogs will get more 'injuries' than your average pet dog. Think of it in terms of a football player vs an lazy couch potato. The footy player is healthier, but their joints do wear down a little and they will get sore now and again.

5- have you ever experienced a dog who had serious health issues in its later age from doing these sports? was it because they were not properly physically introduced? was it because of genetics? or was it because doing sports does in fact affect the dogs overall health when they age?

Can't answer this as my oldest trialling dog is 4yrs old . I think that we tend to notice as soon as we stop the sport the dogs seem to 'age' quickly. But many dogs seem to compete up until 12years or so. As long as they love it, I'll keep doing it - and that includes ball throwing, frisbee chasing and mad hooning in the park (oh and agility and obedience).

I also think breed and individual structure does play a part as some breeds are more agile and built for these sports than others

[kyliegirl]

thanks everyone so far for the information its helping alot, and thanks pf about the horse part, I did notice horses are given alot of time for sports and training.. Often horses don't begin more work until they are over 3, usually 4.. Though some breeds of dogs don't tend to go past the age of 8.. horses commonly live past 16..

[poodlefan]

thanks everyone so far for the information its helping alot, and thanks pf about the horse part, I did notice horses are given alot of time for sports and training.. Often horses don't begin more work until they are over 3, usually 4.. Though some breeds of dogs don't tend to go past the age of 8.. horses commonly live past 16..

Most top level show jumpers are over 10. You'd not really be starting to put the poles up for a horse until it's around 6.

Most of the more common dog sports breeds go well past 10. In the longer lived breeds, competing past 10 is quite common.

Dog sports are fairly new in the scheme of things. It will take a while for husbandry practices to develop. However, there is enough information around to establish what current best practice is.