Clean Run - June 2011 - 33

horses and taught in large animal surgery/lameness and not in the small animal curriculum. There are few veterinary schools, if any, in this country that have a small animal lameness course. However, every veterinary school has a large animal lameness course that focuses on horse lameness and diagnosis. Due to this it can be very frustrating for the dog owner and small animal veterinarian in finding the cause of subtle, intermittent, and sometimes obvious lameness. This creates the dilemma of finding a “qualified” small animal veterinarian. A small animal veterinarian who has been trained or certified in rehabilitation or sports medicine still may not know how to perform a proper musculoskeletal examination or observe asymmetry/lameness of a dog’s movement. Most small animal veterinarians are trained to perform a thorough orthopedic examination but not a musculoskeletal examination. There is a significant difference in technique between a musculoskeletal examination and an orthopedic examination. As a young athlete develops (horse or dog) it is important to gradually build strength and maintain flexibility. Compensatory injuries occur when young athletes are pushed too quickly to do a job that their body structure is not ready to handle. Repetition is good when used correctly. But if used incorrectly or obsessively it can create many lameness problems down the road. In the horse world the good trainers and owners realize that there are only so many jumps in each horse. The same is true in the agility dog. There are only so many jumps that a dog can jump before the body starts to compensate, change, or gradually break down due to the repetitive motion of jumping. Because

the majority of agility dogs are so very passionate about jumping that even when lame, they will continue to jump and compete. Owners and trainers may notice subtle lameness signs and changes in the dog’s movement but mistake this for an off day when the dog may train normally the very next day. An up-anddown pattern of good, bad, and average days begins to occur. This is the very first sign of compensation, the first sign that something is wrong. I have observed in agility dogs that proper conditioning for jumping, and a warm-up or cool down before and after competition or training is often deficient or absent. In the horse world warm-up, flat work, and cool down are important aspects in training and maintaining a sound (non-lame) horse. “Flat work” is a term used to describe a form of conditioning that implements the building blocks of a solid foundation for the horse to gradually develop strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular conditioning. Jumping or jumping exercises are not part of flat work. These concepts are key to maintaining soundness and the prevention of lameness and they need to be better implemented in the dog agility world.

The Onset of Lameness
Whether horse or dog, the majority of lameness does not occur immediately unless an acute injury due to trauma (fall or impact injury) has occurred. Most injuries are due to musculoskeletal compensation that has been occurring unnoticed for a long time. In 2006, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) stated that in humans “...musculoskeletal symp-

June 11 | Clean Run

http://www.shor-line.com/wellness_cr http://www.shor-line.com http://www.shor-line.com

Clean Run - June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2011