Dutch Shepherd Forum

Zodiac and I have been doing Rally-O for about a year and a half now and, after a couple of titles and a bunch first place ribbons, we are starting to get bored with it. Our favorite trainer has an Agility class starting up soon so I'm planing to start Zodiac in that but I was curious from people who have done Agility for a while just how common injuries are and if anyone here has experienced Agility-related injuries with their dog?

Zodiac is in great health and the radiographs of her spine and joints are all normal so she does not have any known existing conditions that would be aggravated by the sport, I'm just an over-protective mom

I did agility with Thalie and no injuries and didnt hear of any others in my group. Like any sport and athlete if they are in good shape and exercised regularly to keep the tendons and muscles in shape then over all you should be good to go. If you sit around all week then go run around, you are risking injury but having a DS you know that is usually not the case.

I think that it depends on how competitive you plan to be. Many people who compete at very high levels do experience stress related injuries, just like a marathon runner. Most of my hardcore friends have routine chiropractic appointments and make sure they stretch their dogs before working. It sorta funny, I don't know many people in the protection world who go through half of the precautions that the agility and flyball people do. And protection is a far more combative sport. Maybe we don't hear of as many minor issues in protection because people aren't looking for them.

Dutchringgirl wrote:If you sit around all week then go run around, you are risking injury but having a DS you know that is usually not the case.

I think Zodiac would go crazy if we didn't do some sort of activity each day

Christie M wrote: It sorta funny, I don't know many people in the protection world who go through half of the precautions that the agility and flyball people do.

I've noticed that too and thought it was odd. I hear a lot more about agility injuries than I do protection sport or MWD work-related injuries. I doubt we'll compete at very high levels so hopefully it won't be an issue for us.

Christie M wrote:I think that it depends on how competitive you plan to be. Many people who compete at very high levels do experience stress related injuries, just like a marathon runner. Most of my hardcore friends have routine chiropractic appointments and make sure they stretch their dogs before working. It sorta funny, I don't know many people in the protection world who go through half of the precautions that the agility and flyball people do. And protection is a far more combative sport. Maybe we don't hear of as many minor issues in protection because people aren't looking for them.

Correct!!!

The main injuries I see during class are from folks that constantly jump their dogs at their full jump heights. Elli jumps 20" in UKC and we'll do 1 or 2 courses per week at full height, and practice at 12" for all drills and the first few courses of the night. Doing handling drills and practicing crosses and various things can play a big toll on your dog, when most of it is just the handler needing to learn to move and direct properly. If the dog can get it at 12", it can get it at 20."

Christie is right though about the chiropractic care. Everyone at the facility I work/train at gets their dogs adjusted. I never have. You also might get some looks from having the wild child in the sport or a non-traditional breed (depending on where you train of course and the demographics). Elli turns into a bossy brat if she sees other dogs off course or hears long nails on the A-frame, so we do obedience to distract and tug off to the side and it keeps her calm and not bored. Tonight I was told I should give her holistic oils to help calm her drive haha.