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Ripsnorterthe2nd
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28-01-2012, 10:46 PM

Does Agility Damage A Dogs Joints?

As the title says really. I'm interested in trying Oscar out in agility later in the year, but am concerned about the toll taken by the joints with repetitive jumping etc.

I'm interested in opinions from any body who does agility regularly or has done for a number of years. Have your dogs exhibited painful joints at a young age? Does anyone have an elderly dog that has done agility and been seemingly unaffected by doing agility regularly as a younger dog?

I realise it's impossible to say that agility actually is the cause for lameness/joint pain, but I would be interested in peoples opinions.
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smokeybear
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28-01-2012, 10:50 PM
Sports vets (like the one that goes with the GB team to the world championships), Christine Zink, etc

Plus osteopaths and chiropractics and physios who have given talks about this at the KC Canine Sports Seminars I have attended say that joint damage is a risk, just as it is in humans, horses and any animal that competes in sports regularly.
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labradork
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28-01-2012, 10:52 PM
Could you not argue on the other hand that if you have an athletic dog that is always jumping around anyway, that the risk is going to be there regardless?
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Ripsnorterthe2nd
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28-01-2012, 10:56 PM
Originally Posted by smokeybear View Post
Sports vets (like the one that goes with the GB team to the world championships), Christine Zink, etc

Plus osteopaths and chiropractics and physios who have given talks about this at the KC Canine Sports Seminars I have attended say that joint damage is a risk, just as it is in humans, horses and any animal that competes in sports regularly.
I wonder how much of a risk it is though because of course nothing in life is risk free. I stopped flyball with my Springer mainly because we didn't enjoy it, but slamming into the box several times in an hour did concern me as well.

Oscar's now nearly 3 years old so I'm hoping the older he is when he starts means less damage in old age as his joints have finished growing etc. That said, he is quite a big dog and I do wonder if a lot of jumping would be detrimental full stop.
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smokeybear
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28-01-2012, 11:09 PM
Well it has never deterred me from participating in agility or the hurdle and A frame in Schutzhund, or the hurdle, long jump and scale in WT.

My elder dog was still doing the scale easily at 10 years old.........
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Ripsnorterthe2nd
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29-01-2012, 12:02 AM
Originally Posted by smokeybear View Post
Well it has never deterred me from participating in agility or the hurdle and A frame in Schutzhund, or the hurdle, long jump and scale in WT.

My elder dog was still doing the scale easily at 10 years old.........
Did you participate in agility regularly?

I suppose I'm more paranoid than most after having watched our rescue Lab suffer terribly with his joints from the age of 7 to 12, when we finally gave him release from his pain. Watching a dog have mental fitness without having the physical fitness to live a good life at a relatively young age was horrid and not something I'd like to repeat.

What breed was your elder dog? I'm thinking perhaps the scale is only a small part of WT and so doesn't put a lot of strain on the joints continually on every training session?
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Tupacs2legs
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29-01-2012, 01:35 AM
i competed in agility with my collie Blue,trained 3-4 times a week when he was younger,with shows at the weekends... he was only 13 when i lost him,but he wasnt arthritic in the slightest and was so so fit still
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muttzrule
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29-01-2012, 01:37 AM
Its a risk, yes, as is any activity. But I've seen many agility dogs still going strong in the ring and sound after age 10. Then I've seen dogs who never did a days sport in their lives go lame with arthritic changes much younger than that. I think genetics plays a huge role.
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smokeybear
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29-01-2012, 07:29 AM
Originally Posted by Ripsnorterthe2nd View Post
Did you participate in agility regularly?

I suppose I'm more paranoid than most after having watched our rescue Lab suffer terribly with his joints from the age of 7 to 12, when we finally gave him release from his pain. Watching a dog have mental fitness without having the physical fitness to live a good life at a relatively young age was horrid and not something I'd like to repeat.

What breed was your elder dog? I'm thinking perhaps the scale is only a small part of WT and so doesn't put a lot of strain on the joints continually on every training session?
No, I only did it for a year, I just wanted to compete in it to see if I could, the noise did my head in and my elder dog is not super fast, but very accurate.

She is a Weimaraner and no I do not jump my dogs in WT, when trained, more than once a week at most.

It is the carpals (wrist) that take the most bashing but most agility competitions are held on grass which has more give than concrete etc.
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Fivedogpam
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29-01-2012, 07:36 AM
I've been doing agility for around twelve years and never had any problems with any of mine as a result. I've just lost my first agility dog at 14.5 and she was competing regularly up until the end of 2010 and no mobility problems right up until the end.

Keep him fit and don't overdo it, and be careful how you train certain obstacles, for example the A frame - try and get him to run up it rather than slam into it halfway up.

My Milo, who has recently lost a leg through osteosarcoma, was placed in a class three days before he went lame. He is a very tall, lurcher type of collie and was just off his 10th birthday. It was because he is so fit that we decided to go ahead with the op and not have him pts.

I wouldn't do flyball with mine - far too dangerous!
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