Little is known about the risk of injury in dogs participating in agility competitions. The aim of this study was to identify factors that increase the risk of injury in dogs and to determine the anatomical sites that are most commonly injured. A retrospective study method was used by evaluating information from questionnaires.
A total of 1627 dogs were included in the study, 33 % (529 dogs) were injured, and of these, 58 % were injured while racing. Weight, height and age were not statistically correlated with the number of injuries. The majority of injuries occurred on dry surfaces. Border Collie was the most commonly injured breed followed by Australian Shepherd and Shetland Sheepdog. However, these breeds accounted for the largest number of competing dogs. Seventy-eight percent of the dogs had a diagnosis confirmed by a veterinarian. Seventy-one % injured dogs (most one to two weeks) required at least 4 weeks to resolve the problem.
Soft tissue injuries were the most common in all dogs and included sprains, strains and contusions. Shoulder (20 %) and back (18 %) were the most commonly injured sites. Other injured sites were knee (12 %), hip (6 %), carpus (6 %) and fingers (6 %).
Injured / breed | Border collie | Australian Shepherd | Sheltie |
|---|---|---|---|
| shoulder | 15 | 26 | 24 |
| back | 13 | 21 | 17 |
| Hip | 10 | 19 | |
| carpus | 9 | 7 | |
| fingers | 9 | ||
| thigh | 7 |
Table 1: Injury counts of the three most frequently injured breeds by location
Little is known about the risk of injury in dogs participating in agility competitions. The aim of this study was to identify factors that increase the risk of injury in dogs and to determine the anatomical sites that are most commonly injured. A retrospective study method was used by evaluating information from questionnaires.
A total of 1627 dogs were included in the study, 33 % (529 dogs) were injured, and of these, 58 % were injured while racing. Weight, height and age were not statistically correlated with the number of injuries. The majority of injuries occurred on dry surfaces. Border Collie was the most commonly injured breed followed by Australian Shepherd and Shetland Sheepdog. However, these breeds accounted for the largest number of competing dogs. Seventy-eight percent of the dogs had a diagnosis confirmed by a veterinarian. Seventy-one % injured dogs (most one to two weeks) required at least 4 weeks to resolve the problem.
Soft tissue injuries were the most common in all dogs and included sprains, strains and contusions. Shoulder (20 %) and back (18 %) were the most commonly injured sites. Other injured sites were knee (12 %), hip (6 %), carpus (6 %) and fingers (6 %).
Table 1: Injury counts of the three most frequently injured breeds by location
Dogs were most commonly injured by contact with an obstacle (35 %), whereas only 18 % were injured by contact with the ground, slipping and loss of support (181 %), or chronic and overuse injuries (17 %). Two-thirds of the injuries involved the "A" hurdles (29 %), balance beam (16 %), and pole vault (16 %). Injuries occurred on all hurdles. The number of injuries per obstacle can be ranked as follows: A-bar, balance beam, pole vault, slalom, swing, circle jump, open tunnel, closed tunnel, broad jump, table, long jump, full jump.
Levy M, Hall C, Trentacosta N, Percival M. A preliminary retrospective survey of injuries occurring in dogs participating in canine agility. Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol. 2009;22(4):321-4. doi: 10.3415/VCOT-08-09-0089. epub 2009 Jun 23. PMID: 19597633.
