Tip 1: There are a lot of dogs who perform or work.
Australia and New Zealand have a very large ratio of performing and working dogs enrolled in competitions or “employed” per capita.
Some of these sports include; Agility, Obedience, Tracking, Conformation, Rally, Freestyle, Flyball, Disc Dog, Dock Diving, Weight Pulling, Canine Nose Work, Lure Coursing, Greyhound Racing, Herding, Field Trials, Hunt Tests, Earth Dog Tests, Fox hunting, Pig Hunting, French Ring Sport, Mushing and Carting.
Working dog jobs include; Search and Rescue, Detection, Police, Patrol, Protection, Herding, Farm Dogs, Service Dogs, Canine Actors. They use health care providers who understand the specific nature of their work who are as motivated as they are in maintaining their health for competition and elite performance.
Tip 2: When you position any dog for accurate musculoskeletal and neuromuscular examination make sure you do the following.
-Control the head – the weight goes where the head goes
-Keep the collar behind the ears to control the head.
-To move a forelimb, hold the dog by the elbow, with index and middle fingers on the cranial/caudal aspect of the elbow, and move the head to the contralateral side.
-To lift a pelvic limb, hold the dog by the tarsus, with index and middle fingers on the cranial/caudal aspect of the tarsus, and move the head to the contralateral side
-Stand the dog so that the radius/ulna and the metatarsals are perpendicular to the ground
-Head should be up and looking ahead
-Don’t put your hand under the dog’s abdomen as that makes the dog straighten its rear legs – hand under ischiatic tuberosities
-If the dog doesn’t want to stand with both rear legs back, just position it with one rear leg in the correct position.
Tip 3: Strength Training Exercises
Strength Training Exercises which can be fun, relationship building for owners and animals and introduced to dogs recovering from injury or as a preventative for weakness include but are not limited to: Forelimb; Wave, Wheelbarrows, High Five, Handstand, Backing Upstairs, Tugging Low, Ball Pushing and Digging, Core Muscles; Beg, Beg/Wave, Crawls, Diagonal Leg Standing, Stand/down/stand, Backing Upstairs, Roll Over, Roll Up and Incline, Wobble Board, Ball Pushing; Pelvic Limb; Beg/Stand/Beg, Jumping Vertically, Pulling Forward Against a Stretch Leash, and Tugging High.
To learn more about Musculoskeletal and neuromuscular examination, diagnostics, health, and treatments join the VetPrac Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Workshop August 30th – 1st Septemeber in Brisbane. Where we will practice techniques on patients in an intensive three-day workshop. Register TODAY, places are filling quickly.