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We know that fitness for people is key to preventing many types of injuries, especially in sports.
And you need only watch two minutes of those late-night infomercials or hire a trainer at your local gym to know that “core” exercises are a major component of modern fitness routines.
How about your dog? Does strengthening his or her core help stave off injury?
The answer may be yes. Researchers at Washington State University recently looked at more than 1,200 dogs that participate in agility events. Dogs that lacked the core strength from regular physical exercise may be more susceptible to a “cranial cruciate ligament rupture” – like an ACL tear in humans. It’s one of the most common types of dog knee injuries.
The research survey, published on ScienceDaily, is by no means definitive. A couple of tidbits caught our eye:
- Use of balance exercises, wobble boards and other core strengtheners seemed to lower the odds of a ligament tear. So did activities like dock diving, barn hunt and scent work.
- Regular activity such as swimming, fetch, walking or running did not increase the risk, but didn’t lower the odds either.
- Certain dog breeds seemed more likely to suffer a tear. Australian shepherds and Labrador retrievers were more than twice as likely, while Rottweilers and Australian cattle dogs were more than four times as likely. Researchers speculate this has something to do with a dog’s shape, size and tail.
- The riskiest activity for ligament tear examined in the survey was the dog sport flyball.
Again, more research needs to be done. But it does seem that core fitness in dogs is important.
So next time you do balance exercises, you may want to invite your pooch to join in!
Until next time,
Hugs and Pug Kisses,
Candy
You can read more details at the following link:
Core strength could help dogs avoid knee injuries — ScienceDaily
