# The Sports/Performance Dog Conditioning Thread



## MrsBoats

Keeping your performance dog in good working condition is so very important. This isn't just for dogs who do agility, any dog sport whether it is obedience, IPO, herding, mushing, etc should be considering a conditioning program for their dogs. This is the thread to discuss various conditioning exercises and routines, kicking around ideas on exercise and conditioning, and to show off our dogs doing all of the above!

Have at it dog sport enthusiasts!!


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## MrsBoats

I'll guess I'll post the first official post. What to do when it's too hot or humid (Ocean doesn't do humid well) to go for a walk or free play in the yard? We go swimming at the beach a couple of blocks away. These are from last week when it was stupid hot here. We were down there for about 45 mins and he got in a bunch of good cross training exercise between the digging and the swimming. 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152475497891928&set=vb.690476927&type=3&theater


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## ChaosIsAWeim

If I wanna build muscle in the back legs of my dogs, I run them uphill about 10 times twice or more a day, for a few weeks.

Never done swimming cause my Weims are wusses lol, but I do know it's great exercise for both dogs and humans.


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## MrsBoats

ChaosIsAWeim said:


> If I wanna build muscle in the back legs of my dogs, I run them uphill about 10 times twice or more a day, for a few weeks.


RI is oddly flat where I live and I have done the same thing with my agility a-frame. I will have my dog stand at the bottom of the upside and have them climb it from a stand still. I haven't done that in a long time and I think I will go back to doing that when I get the running contact for the a-frame better trained so I don't have them slamming their shoulder when they come down into a 2o2o that was first trained.


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## sassafras

I am very fortunate that Maisy and Squash like to play with each other - keepaway, chase, wrestling. So they get a LOT of just free play time in the backyard that I think has been really beneficial for their conditioning, strength, and flexibility. Typically I will alternate mushing days and free play days, I consider free play their cross-training.


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## elrohwen

I'm ordering a FitPaws Peanut today! Very excited. Watson is not confident with things that move, so I hope it will have the added benefit of making him more comfortable with instability.

His normal exercise is leashed walks, but he trots the whole way. My husband also does run/walks with him when it's not too hot. He usually does 3 miles total, maybe up to 1-2 miles of jogging and the rest walking.

Over the past couple months we've been doing grid work to improve his confidence with jumping. I think there is a conditioning aspect to grid work too which will be helpful when we return to agility.


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## kadylady

We get a decent amount of lake time in during the summer at my parent's lake house (headed there this weekend actually). Zoey is a water retrieving fool so she does a lot of dock jumping out there. I've been working lately on trying to get her to jump up more than out, she currently launches like a torpedo. And she swims hard and fast, definitely gets a great workout in doing that. Luke prefers to keep it casual and he always looks like he's heading down the lazy river. But I have been doing more water retrieve stuff with him to get some more low impact exercise in (and work on Zoey's down stay at the same time). One thing that I need to do better is stretching them while we are out there and giving them some type of cool down exercise, like a casual walk around the property in the evening. They play so hard and then they crash and Luke can get noticeably sore sometimes. He's also gotten "cold tail" twice in the last year (once this summer) and I read that not letting them crash out after hard play like that, keeping them moving a bit more, might help to prevent that a little.

We've done a little bit of peanut work but not consistently like I need to. Am borrowing one from a friend right now but plan to purchase my own soon. What I really need to do though is body awareness work, especially with Luke. We've been doing a lot of heeling work and he's starting to realize he has a hind end, but I know more awareness work would be so good for him.


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## elrohwen

kadylady said:


> What I really need to do though is body awareness work, especially with Luke. We've been doing a lot of heeling work and he's starting to realize he has a hind end, but I know more awareness work would be so good for him.


I love using a pivot disc (a plastic feeding tub from the feed store) for this. Watson loves that game so much that I have to throw a treat to get him off, then snatch it before he can run back on. lol I'm trying to fix his front now, since we worked so much on heeling that he wants to pivot right into heel position (on and off disc) instead of staying in front of me. He just likes using his hind end to spin around the disc. His left pivots in heeling are really nice now because he actually understands that he has rear feet.

I still struggle with teaching him to target with his back feet. He is hit or miss and will back into things, but doesn't seem to understand that rewards come from actually touching it with his feet, so then he gets frustrated.


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## sassafras

I have a peanut, but our first peanut exploded when Squash was standing on it and although FitPaws replaced it as defective, I admit I'm a little bit skittish of it now and haven't used it as much as I did when we very first got one. We do a lot of perch work and stretching, though, and I do have some of those fitness disc thingies although they are kinda small for Squash to use much. I have some PCV cavalettis I made, too.


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## petpeeve

ChaosIsAWeim said:


> If I wanna build muscle in the back legs of my dogs, I run them uphill about 10 times twice or more a day, for a few weeks.


Conversely - running them downhill (relatively slowly) should help to build muscle in the front legs and chest.

I like to practice long-bomb dumbbell retrieves on, say, a 30 degree incline. That way they get the best of both worlds .. going up, and then returning back down too.


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## ChaosIsAWeim

petpeeve said:


> Conversely - running them downhill (relatively slowly) should help to build muscle in the front legs and chest.
> 
> I like to practice long-bomb dumbbell retrieves on, say, a 30 degree incline. That way they get the best of both worlds .. going up, and then returning back down too.


Well to go back up hill, you gotta come down lol.


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## MrsBoats

Just saw a link to this FitPaws blog post float across my FB newsfeed:The SAID Principle of Exercise and Why it’s Important in Cross Training

http://blog.fitpawsusa.com/cross-training-said-principle-exercise/#more-2881



> An exercise program should be tailored to compliment the everyday actions that a dog does.
> 
> For an exercise to be effective, it should work the dog more than the handler, and it should be targeted to the actions seen in that animal’s daily life. If we are cross-training for a sport, then we should also consider exercise that mimics the actions seen in the sport, but lessen the intensity or speed, while still challenging the athlete so their body can adapt and build strength.


Things that make me go hmmmm....I'll be putting my thinking cap on and researching various exercises that mimic agility and obedience for the guys.... I have to run in a bit, that's why this is a short but sweet post.


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## elrohwen

For those who didn't see it on FB, I got Watson's peanut last week and we started using it over the weekend. I wasn't sure what he would think about it, and wouldn't have been surprised if it took some time to get him comfortable, but he took to it right away. He wants to sit or pull his back feet under him instead of standing normally, but he's fine with getting on and off and getting all four feet on for a few seconds which is a good start.

Some pictures!


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## MrsBoats

Looks like Watson likes his peanut!!!!  Yeah!!! 

I ended up getting a donut as recommended by the rehab vet's office for Lars so he can to push ups on it. Ocean seems to think the donut is really his: 










O thinks his idea of perch yourself on the FitPaws donut and then start standing on your back legs like a circus dog is the best idea ever. LOL Overachiever! Once O gets on, he won't get off! 

But the Lars injury report is he has not been lame since the first week of July...and that is huge. This is the longest he's been sound since the last week of April. Yesterday he did .75 miles and 23 minutes at a good pace on the underwater treadmill at the rehab place. They added him crawling under 20" bars to his PT. We have been walking him on pavement for about 1/4 - 1/3 a mile almost daily. With all of the home PT/core exercises, hydro-treadmill, and leash walking, I am starting to see the muscle slowly return to that injured shoulder. Yesterday was week 5 for rehab...and after next week (6), Lars will have another medical consult with the rehab vet and we'll see if he says that Lars is recovering well and where we go from here. 

But, I am so excited about this conditioning game changer I'm probably going to get. I was talking with a rottie agility friend of mine at a trial a couple of weeks ago where I brought Lars so he could crate rest under my watchful eye instead of MrBoats. I had mentioned I was going to see if I could grab a treadmill off of Craigslist for the guys so I could walk them in winter. She said that she knows a woman in CT who also has rotties who wants to get rid of her dog treadmill for F.R.E.E! So...it looks like we are going to go and pick it up this weekend. I can't even begin to tell you how psyched I am over this. This past winter was so insanely crappy here in New England that the guys couldn't go out in the backyard because of ice crusted snow. Their legs were getting all cut up when they were out there. The roads were iced and dangerous for us to walk on without yaktracks on our boots. That I believe was the root of Lars getting injured...he got out of shape and then back to business as usual when the snow melted and he was not back to his usual condition. 

I'll post photos of it when we get it. It sounds huge...it's 7' long and 24" wide. Thank god for MrBoats and his truck/enclosed landscaping trailer because getting it home with the rain coming this weekend would suck. Thank god we have a basement we can house it in! LOL


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## kadylady

A free dog treadmill?! Awesome find!! I have put Zoey on our human one a few times and she seems to like it well enough. I need to be more consistent about using it during the winter though, slacked off this past winter. Love Ocean on the donut!

Good to hear Lars is getting there as well. My instructor is going through similar rehab things with one of her border collies right now and it's eye opening all of the stuff that is out there for dog rehab these days.


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## PurplePointer

This thread is interesting and has given me some good ideas, but I was kinda curious about what temperature/humidity is considered too hot to exercise a dog in.


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## elrohwen

PurplePointer said:


> This thread is interesting and has given me some good ideas, but I was kinda curious about what temperature/humidity is considered too hot to exercise a dog in.


I think it depends on the dog. Obviously if they're laying down and panting a few minutes in, it's too hot for strenuous exercise. 

It also depends on how drivey the dog is and whether or not they will even let you know that they are overheated or dehydrated. For dogs like this, I think it's good to err on the side of not pushing them too hard if the temp is above 80-85deg and humidity is high (and even more so if they aren't used to these conditions).


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## MrsBoats

I hate heat and humidity...so I'm the limiting factor when the weather is like that. Since my guys are black and high drive...they would go until they dropped of heat stroke in that kind of weather. If it's over 85 degrees...I usually head to the beach and let them swim in the Bay where the water temps rarely go over 72. Now, with this dog treadmill that's coming, it never gets over 72 in the basement either and I can exercise them when the weather is sweltering. 

The part of my yard where I have all of the agility/obedience stuff is pretty shady so I work them when it's late afternoon or evening when it's cooler and the sun is off of that area. If it's humid...I keep it short and let them have soaking spells in their wading pool.


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## elrohwen

MrsBoats said:


> I hate heat and humidity...so I'm the limiting factor when the weather is like that.


This is very true. I would rather go out in the middle of winter than a hot and humid day.

My dog is also a sissy, so except for very specific activities (hunting/chasing wildlife) I trust that he will let me know when he's had enough.


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## MrsBoats

Absolutely...I have no problem going outside when it's 25 degrees out. If it's over 85 and humid...I pray for death or air conditioning. LOL


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## sassafras

It varies so much... this year, we've had an unusually very cool summer. I think it's been over 85F just a few days, when normally we get a lot of 90F+ weather. So this year my dogs have not acclimated at all to heat. Even on an 80-85F days they feel the heat, even cooler if it's humid. So this year I am much more careful to err on the side of not exercising than most years and make sure I am only going out really early in the morning before it hits 75F or so. Other, more normal years, I wouldn't be this cautious. 

(Plus like MrsBoats I hate heat and humidity so I crap out on them a lot )


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## Laurelin

This summer has been very mild here too. I think we've hit the 100s only a handful of days. Two years ago we had over 50 days of 100+.... 

I usually exercise her in the evenings. It's typically under 90 by then. I wet her down if we're doing serious agility or anything like that. 

I hate the heat too. Anything over about 65 is too hot for me.


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## CptJack

I don't love heat, but I do better with it than cold. Taking classes at the height of summer won't be something we do again - this summer over all hasn't been bad, and we've had quite a few cool days, but we also had agility practice when it was 95 out. BLEH. I did wet both Kylie and Bug down and there were kiddie pools out for the dogs. I also frozen water in their water bowls (couple of inches in the bottom) and bottles of water to help give them a little extra cold water and something to lie against. Still not doing it again. Fall, spring, winter, sure. Summer? No. I might very well trial and do show 'n goes then because those are outside, but no more indoor anything.

And I need to get more serious with conditioning. Most of what we do now is swimming and that's awesome but it's not going to cut it after the next couple of months.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

Okay, so I'm a little confused on what the things like FitPaws do. I want to make sure my dog is in good shape for agility. We do plenty of exercise and we work on back leg awareness. I don't even know where to start with these FitPaws things, if they are really useful (or if there are other alternatives), and which ones work best for agility training. Any resources, opinions etc on that?


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## sassafras

I primarily use my FitPaws peanut to work on balance, core strength, and stretching.

So for stretching, it can be as simple as having the front paws on or over the long side of the peanut to stretch the groin, hips and quads. 
For balance, practicing position changes (stand to sit to down to sit) and holding positions on top of the peanut is a good place to start.
Core strength - the balance exercises will help this somewhat, but practicing "sit pretty" on the peanut, some lifting opposite legs (lift LF and RH just off the peanut at the same time for just a few seconds at a time) are the types of exercises I do. These can also be done right on the floor or on a balance disc for less experienced or less confident dogs in fact, that is where I would recommend starting them. The equipment just ups the balance and strength a bit for experienced dogs compared to doing these types of exercises on the floor. 

All of these things also teach the dog to think about where their feet are, which is great for sports of all kinds. Cavalettis are great for teaching dogs to pay attention to where their feet are, too, and you can very cheaply and easily make a set using pvc pipe alone or with traffic cones (which you can buy at home depot).


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## MrsBoats

I look at fitpaws work as Pilates or yoga for dogs. It's overall strength and core strength building exercises that is really important for a performance dog. Core strength will help lessen the risk for injury. That is the nutshell version of why balance ball work is beneficial. http://www.fitpawsusa.com/ Check their website, youtube channel, and blog and that will give a good idea of why their products rock. I'll tell you what...10 minutes on a fitpaws egg or donut totally gets my boys panting. It's hard work for them...and regular ball work really defines muscle on a dog. Ocean's been doing all of the PT stuff that Lars has been just because he's there. His muscle definition has really improved...he looks like a little body builder now. 

But...here's the real reason for me posting:










OMG OMG OMG!!!! It's here! IT'S HERE!!! SCORE!!!!


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

Thanks! Looks like I should be getting a peanut then! Based on any experience, which one fits a 30-35lb dog?

Also, jealous of dog treadmill MrsBoats. Super cool.


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## elrohwen

ForTheLoveOfDogs said:


> Thanks! Looks like I should be getting a peanut then! Based on any experience, which one fits a 30-35lb dog?
> 
> Also, jealous of dog treadmill MrsBoats. Super cool.


I posted about this recently, either in this thread or another. Basically, bigger is better and don't trust the fitpaws website too much. I wouldn't go any smaller than the 70cm for my 45lb dog (who is also long bodied) now that I've seen him on it. You might be able to get away with the next size smaller but the 70cm would work for you too.


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## sassafras

ForTheLoveOfDogs said:


> Thanks! Looks like I should be getting a peanut then! Based on any experience, which one fits a 30-35lb dog?
> 
> Also, jealous of dog treadmill MrsBoats. Super cool.


I got the giant red one (the biggest one), because Squash always needs the biggest of everything. I think for Maisy (who is ~50#) one size down would be ok.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

I decided on the largest, since I plan on bigger dogs in the future. It says bigger is fine, but not smaller so I thought that would be alright. Should be arriving in a few days. I'm excited, and I know Kairi will enjoy it too. She loves weird objects.


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## elrohwen

ForTheLoveOfDogs said:


> I decided on the largest, since I plan on bigger dogs in the future. It says bigger is fine, but not smaller so I thought that would be alright. Should be arriving in a few days. I'm excited, and I know Kairi will enjoy it too. She loves weird objects.


Yeah, bigger is just fine. The only issue is the cost and storage space really. The 70cm is perfect for Watson (45lbs) and I think it would work with most dogs up to 60lbs or so, but definitely not the larger breeds.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

Loving our new peanut! I could barely get her off of it after our first intro session.


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## elrohwen

Cute!! She looks very happy up there. Watson is still very frantic with his - he wants the treats so badly that he doesn't stop and just balance there. Haha

What size did you end up getting?


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

elrohwen said:


> Cute!! She looks very happy up there. Watson is still very frantic with his - he wants the treats so badly that he doesn't stop and just balance there. Haha
> 
> What size did you end up getting?


The biggest size. It just looks small because of the angle in the picture I think (also could use more inflation probably). Kairi is also a pretty long dog.


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## elrohwen

Yeah, the angle makes it look small so I almost wondered if you got a smaller one, but I guess the small red one is very small.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

Yeah, I don't read directions very well. It was pretty under-inflated. I still don't have it at max inflation but this is closer: 


Yup. I'm an idiot.


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## elrohwen

I asked about inflation on FB and people said that you can't fully inflate it right away anyway - it stretches out over a couple days. 

It definitely looks bigger in that pic!


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## MrsBoats

I know some of you have been waiting for this video. LOL Ocean is a pro at the treadmill and he's only been on it like 4 times since we got it. It is a monsoon out there today and the Energizer Rottweiler is going to get some good exercise despite the weather. This is a glorious thing because a tired O won't harass you with that precious ball of his all night long.


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## Laurelin

I'm so doing a treadmill with Nextdog. 

What should I be doing with Summer? She is older and is starting to lose some endurance at least in the warmer weather. Overall she's fit but she's also lazy... I've been getting back to trying to get her out and exercising more even if Mia cannot. We've done 1-2 hours a day every day this week. After our 2 hour ring rental on Sunday she was pooped. 

Is walking vs her off leash sprinting good? I thought doing some sprints would help her with running in the ring full speed. At the park she has probably done around 40 mins full speed then settles down into walking at my heels. It's also hot though. At class last Wednesday she was on FIRE but it was after 2 weeks of almost no exercise. It was over 90 though.

I also want to keep in mind her age. Haven't noticed any signs of arthritis or anything. But she's definitely more apt to sleep all day than used to.


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## MrsBoats

GREAT NEWS!!! Lars gets the thumbs up from Dr. Corey at Healing Paws to move forward on Phase 2 of his rehab. So, we get to start upping the activities ante for him like controlled retrieves, doing tunnels, and weaving through cones, walking backwards, side stretches, and standing from a down on top of his usual PT regiment. Being in the Utility show ring by October/November is a reasonable goal for him now. I am so, so relieved!! Thank goodness!!!   

Here's Lars doing Donut PT! 










Here's his movement from Tuesday night...you can't even tell what shoulder was messed up (it was his right shoulder.)


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## elrohwen

Yay for Lars! Glad he's feeling better.

Laurelin, not sure on things to do with an older dog. I would think just keeping her active, and letting her go at her own pace, would be good. I don't think I'd ask an older dog to do something like a treadmill - it's repetitive and they are encouraged to go until you decide to stop. But free running on hikes, and regular walks sound good. Core building stuff is good for any dog, but I imagine especially for older dogs who might be getting arthritis or generally losing muscle mass with age.


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## MrsBoats

Thanks! I can't tell you how much of a relief it is that he's better. 

I am going to be singing the praises of rehab vets and their practices for a while now. I'm actually going to recommend that Laurelin visit a rehab vet or a canine rehab/physical therapy practice to get advice about what sort of exercises she can do to condition Summer and keep her there as she ages. I am so thrilled I have this sort of resource when I need it...if there's one near by, go pay them a visit because I'm sure they will give you a list of activities and exercises that you can do at home.


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## PurplePointer

you should make that dog treadmill do some laundry=)


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## MrsBoats

Lars continues to get stronger and he's staying sound. The chiro was finally able to adjust him in stride after a couple of months of weekly adjustments. Lars has also finally mastered the treadmill! He can get on and walks without help from us...he's such a nerd who totally over-thinks the easy stuff. Tonight was the first time since we've had the treadmill that he hasn't had to wear a collar and leash to keep him going on it. He did 10 minutes of walking at a good clip. 

I wish I had access to a pool like this during his recovery. We had gone down to a local rescue fundraiser called the Dawgie Pawdle to be a vendor. It's a little ski hill who has a little water park running during the summer. Right after they close down the water slides for the season, they let dogs have a Saturday where they can all come and swim. Lars got to play before and after the hordes of dogs came...he now thinks his kiddie pool on the deck is stupid. LOL






Lars hasn't been cleared from the rehab vet's office to go back to the beach because of the instability of the sand getting to the water. This week is his last underwater treadmill session and I'll see what they say about getting him to the bay for swimming. We go back for a recheck in the middle of October and our target goal is going back to showing in obedience the end of October - beginning of November.


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## sassafras

Hope to confirm tomorrow, but I'm about 95% sure Maisy has blown a cruciate ligament. I've been pre-emptively chatting with a surgeon and he seems optimistic that she can eventually get back to mushing with surgery and follow up PT. So I may be posting in this thread a lot more if we go down that road. *sigh*


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## MrsBoats

I saw that on FB....I am so sorry. It sucks when you know too much about this stuff than the regular dog owner. My agility friend Julie is a vet too....and she knows too much sometimes. Do you have any orthopedic surgeons around you?? It's too bad you're not in New England...there's a good one down on Cape Cod. 

Good luck with her...keep us posted on what's going on.


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## Laurelin

So they were having a conversation at the trial I was at this weekend about frisbee and fetch and how rough it can be on dogs. One of the corgis who is a frisbee nut twisted and tore something (can't recall). The judge was a border collie person and says she will not play frisbee because of how many issues she's seen it cause especially with the BCs because they don't tend to limit themselves and will do a weird twist in the air then land on their rear legs funny or they'll skid to a stop and mess up their shoulders.

I like the idea of disc dog but that's something I have heard a lot. I also wonder about Mia's knees and her ball playing when she was younger. She is very much a fling caution to the wind kind of dog when it comes to her tennis ball. Do you limit ball playing to rolls and more controlled fetches?


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## elrohwen

Watson is generally not too crazy with fetch - he doesn't catch in the air, so for the most part it's easy to limit any crazy twisting or weird landings. I do worry with the flirt pole though. I try to be very careful because he will fling himself on his back and do things that can't be good for his health. Disc dog type stuff makes me nervous.

And Sass, so so sorry about Maisy :-( I hope surgery is successful if you go down that road.


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## sassafras

Thanks, ladies. We do have some fantastic surgeons and physical therapists around here, so I'm very comfortable with her options for care. I just wish she didn't have to go through this. And the timing isn't stellar, but is it ever? 

My dogs don't generally go too ball crazy. I used to throw the ball up in the air, etc for Squash to jump for it, but he took a bad landing once and although he was fine it sort of scared me off of doing that, but I will throw it for him to chase normally. I do have an excessive, possibly irrational fear of stuff like disc. 

Also, you didn't cause luxating patellas playing ball. There's a structural/anatomical basis for LP that is unrelated to the growth plates.


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## kadylady

Sorry to hear about Maisy, Sass. Hoping you guys can get through this relatively quick and easily.

MrsBoats, glad to hear Lars is continuing to improve! 

I've been working as an assistant trainer for the trainers that I have done everything except for agility with and they just opened their own training facility in the last 2 months. They got a treadmill and a bunch of the fitpaws equipment for the building so I'm very excited to be able to utilize the equipment and hopefully get more of a conditioning routine going with both dogs, especially once winter rolls around.


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## CptJack

Yes and no.

I actively discourage and limit Molly's ability to jump after the ball by throwing the ball about a foot off the ground. We've only upgraded recently from rolling. I do also limit how many times I will throw the ball in a row for her. She's a baby.

The others, I just throw the ball. Jack's a little bit into jumping up to get the ball but Jack's almost 8 and has almost no toy drive so fetch with him lasts about 3 tosses and he's bored. Bug, Kylie and Thud have never shown any interest in jumping off the ground to catch the ball, but I've never really encouraged them to. They start next to me, I throw the ball and they run after it, grab it off the ground and get it back. There's some hard cornering and tumbling sometimes if the ball rebounds or they're moving really fast, but no high leaps or anything.

The only dog that plays Frisbee is Thud, and he's not a really gymnastically inclined dog. He catches it in the air, but if it's high enough that he'd have to do more than lift his front feet a couple of inches off the ground, he just backs up and waits for it to drop. I mostly throw low, anyway, though, and neither of us are interested in the wilder stuff. I'd probably stop the game if he started getting crazy with it - either every session to try and get him to understand or altogether if that didn't work.

I mean, there's wear and tear on bodies from all of it and, yeah, the flirt pole type thing (only Molly gives a crap about that one, really). I just try to be reasonable with it. It's all that balance of risk/reward and that's going to come out differently for everyone who looks at it. 

I'm sorry about Maisy too, Sass. Everything crossed.


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## DMiller

Dogs love all types of ball games. I like to throw the ball up an elevated place so my dog has to strain to retrieve the ball. 
This an awesome exercise and anytime your dog is running up hill, they are working their muscles twice as hard.


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## sassafras

Welp, definitely a cruciate tear, although partial. No arthritic changes in the knee, though, which is good. The surgeon and physical therapist are optimistic that she will regain normal or near-normal pre-injury conditioning and function since it's partial and I'm moving pretty fast on this. 

She will probably be out 10-12 weeks total for surgery and follow up PT, which means she will basically miss fall scooter training completely unless we don't get snow until really late. So that should be interesting with Squashies by himself. And by "interesting" I mean "likely to be somewhat aggravating" but I am trying to look at it as a "training opportunity" instead of as "omg what am I going to do with this nosy-a$$ goofy boy without my enforcer."


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## trainingjunkie

Wow guys.

Here's to hoping for very fast healing for all of you.

So sorry Sassafras. Yes, the timing sucks.

And Mrs.Boats!!! I can't wait for that 3rd leg! Get better fast!


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## SDRRanger

Glad to hear that Lars is getting better MrsBoats! And sorry to hear about Maisy, Sass  Do you know when she did it, or is it more of a long-term finally tore type of injury?

The only clinic around that has a certified animal chiro in the maritimes has received Ranger's referral and now we're just waiting for an appointment. It will be nice to see what we need to strengthen and what issues may come up in the future.


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## sassafras

SDRRanger said:


> And sorry to hear about Maisy, Sass  Do you know when she did it, or is it more of a long-term finally tore type of injury?


Nope, never been lame a day in her life. It was more of a "came home one day and my dog was on three legs" type of thing. It happens that way sometimes, it can be a degenerative type disease in dogs instead of an athletic injury. Which doesn't bode well for her other knee, unfortunately, but we'll deal with that if/when.


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## MrsBoats

Thank you Buddy Jesus!










Lars finally can see the chiropractor every other week...no more weekly hour long (one way) trips to central MA. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me...seriously. Couple of weeks at every other weeks to see how he holds, and then maybe....just maybe we can go back to our monthly visits. This is the light at the end of the rehabbing Lars mission. Tomorrow is his last hydro-treadmill session at Healing Paws too. Thank you Buddy Jesus for that too.


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## trainingjunkie

MrsBoats said:


> Thank you Buddy Jesus!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lars finally can see the chiropractor every other week...no more weekly hour long (one way) trips to central MA. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me...seriously. Couple of weeks at every other weeks to see how he holds, and then maybe....just maybe we can go back to our monthly visits. This is the light at the end of the rehabbing Lars mission. Tomorrow is his last hydro-treadmill session at Healing Paws too. Thank you Buddy Jesus for that too.


That's great! I am so sorry you have had to go through this. I live in terror...


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## sassafras

MrsBoats said:


> Lars finally can see the chiropractor every other week...no more weekly hour long (one way) trips to central MA. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me...seriously. Couple of weeks at every other weeks to see how he holds, and then maybe....just maybe we can go back to our monthly visits. This is the light at the end of the rehabbing Lars mission. Tomorrow is his last hydro-treadmill session at Healing Paws too. Thank you Buddy Jesus for that too.


Glad to hear this!


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## sassafras

Just a wee update: Maisy is scheduled for surgery on the 25th. Once her sutures are out (about 2 weeks later) she'll start seeing a physical therapist. She hasn't lost any significant amount of muscle mass and we're expecting a good recovery to function, although there is a 50-60% chance she'll tear the other one some day. We'll deal with that if/when it comes, I suppose.


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## trainingjunkie

Sending best wishes. I am so sorry that you have to go through this. I hope it goes as smoothly as possible. I am glad she is in such good and capable hands.


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## MrsBoats

I'll post something to this thread...a blog post I saw regarding injuries and agility dogs. Very, very interesting stuff. I know there are a bunch of newbie agility people on this board, read it because it has some stats in it that pertain particularly to novice agility teams and injuries. I'll probably post this in the agility thread too. 

http://pawsitivestridesrehab.com/2014/10/

But, here's some good news, Lars had his last check up with Dr. Corey and Healing Paws yesterday...he gets the green light to go forth and conquer! His shoulder muscling is back to normal and his gait shows nothing out of the ordinary. I am so happy and relieved. I entered him in Utility A at a 2 day show in 2 weeks. He's jumping 20" jumps for his directing jumping exercise. We just have 4" more to go to get him back up to that 24" jump he needs to do. I'll probably attempt 22" this weekend at run thrus and if he can handle that, I'll bring him up to 24" next week and jump him at full height a full week before the show. 

I don't ever want to deal with another soft tissue injury ever again if I can help it. This has been a 6 month ordeal from the time he first injured himself at the end of April to yesterday where the rehab vet gave him the okay to officially be Lars again. No thank you...this has really sucked. Thank god it's over.


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## kadylady

Yay Lars!! Glad to hear you guys got the green light!

Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing.


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## elrohwen

Bringing this thread back!

I'm considering a FitPaws Balance Disc but I'm unsure what size to get. Is it worth getting the 22" for a medium sized dog? Or would I be better off getting two of the smaller 14" discs?


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## sassafras

I personally like having two smaller discs. It gives you nice options for using one disc in the front and one disc in the back - for example, during Maisy's rehab we did an exercise where both front feet were on one disc and her "good" back leg was on a second disc with her "bad" leg on the ground, to improve strength and proprioception in that leg. Also a nice intermediate/advanced core exercise is to have diagonal front and rear feet on separate discs (eg front left and right hind). 

I got my balance discs on Amazon for pretty cheap. The peanut and donut I think were worth getting from FitPaws but the human discs are pretty durable and I've been happy with them.


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## elrohwen

sassafras said:


> I personally like having two smaller discs. It gives you nice options for using one disc in the front and one disc in the back - for example, during Maisy's rehab we did an exercise where both front feet were on one disc and her "good" back leg was on a second disc with her "bad" leg on the ground, to improve strength and proprioception in that leg. Also a nice intermediate/advanced core exercise is to have diagonal front and rear feet on separate discs (eg front left and right hind).
> 
> I got my balance discs on Amazon for pretty cheap. The peanut and donut I think were worth getting from FitPaws but the human discs are pretty durable and I've been happy with them.


Awesome! This is exactly what I needed to know. I also never thought about getting the human version but that's a great idea.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs

I got the human 14" balance disc on Amazon for like $12. So far it works good.


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## elrohwen

I ordered two of the 14" human balance discs from Amazon! Yay! Husband is starting to think I'm a crazy person ...


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## sassafras

Yea wait until you have cinder blocks in your living room and then get back to me.


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## elrohwen

sassafras said:


> Yea wait until you have cinder blocks in your living room and then get back to me.


Haha. At least I have a big basement where I can keep all of my weird dog stuff.


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