Clean Run Magazine - July 2007 - 35

Becoming familiar with your dog’s behavior is one aspect of identifying injuries early. I highly recommend performing a systematic evaluation and observation of your dog once a month. And I also recommend taking a picture and a videotape of your dog every other month to compare the dog’s structure and movement. I am always amazed at how problems can be seen in conformation photographs or action videotapes. Perform your evaluation as follows: 4 Run your hands from the dog’s 1 Stack or stand your dog squarely in front of you while you are on the ﬂoor or place the dog on a grooming table. head down to the tail along the spine with a moderate amount of pressure. The dog should not object to this amount of pressure being placed on the back. There is a reﬂex that may be triggered that will cause the dog’s back to shudder; this is the same reﬂex a horse uses to twitch his back and shake a ﬂy oﬀ. If there is a painful area, the dog may “object” to your touch by pulling away or turning around. A painful area may also feel excessively hot. 8 Examine the dog’s head and tail carriage. The head should be in a relaxed position and the tail should be in neutral. If the dog is carrying the head low, he may be protecting the neck or compensating for a rear limb problem. If the dog is carrying the head up too high, he may be compensating for a forelimb problem. 6 Put each joint through its range of motion. A guide to the range of motion for each joint may be found in previous articles. 9 Watch the dog walk and trot. • Pay attention to the dog’s head and tail carriage. As stated above, a dog carrying the head low may be compensating for a hind-end injury. A dog carrying the head up high or bobbing the head when the forelimb strikes may be compensating for a forelimb problem. • Examine the quality of movement as the dog walks and trots; are there any compensations? • Is the pattern choppy or uneven? Does the dog lack a smooth transition as he moves from a walk to a trot and vice versa? 2 Determine if the dog is distributing his weight evenly on each leg. Pick up one limb and then place it down. There should be a slight amount of resistance when each leg is picked up. If one limb picks up “too easily,’ the dog may not be fully weightbearing on that limb. 7 Examine the dog’s topline. Is 5 Run your hands up and down each leg with a moderate amount of pressure. The dog should not object to this moderate amount of pressure. there a “roach” or a convex curve in the topline that was not there before? Dogs often roach their backs if there is pain in their back, pain in the forelimbs, or pain in their hind limbs. Identifying a roach is the ﬁrst step in determining if there is a problem. 3 Examine the nails, pads, and paws to determine if there is equal wear on the four paws. We can tell a great deal by abnormal wear on our own shoes and we can do the same with the dogs’ paws. If a dog is consistently wearing down the nails on the inside of his paw, he may be compensating for a problem at the elbow or shoulder. July 07 | Clean Run EXAM PHOTOS © PHOTOGRAPHY BY LESLEY Obvious problems, such as heat, pain, and limping, are certainly signs of an injury. Excess heat is easily felt with the back of your hand in an area that has a suspected problem. The back of your hand has less tissue and it is sometimes easier to sense heat with this part of the hand. Unless the dog has had problems in the past, he should be comfortable with every part of the body being handled. If the dog is objecting, or verbalizing (crying or whining) in any manner, you should suspect that he’s in pain. A sudden onset of limping should be addressed immediately. Initially always make sure that the dog has not injured a nail, the pads on the paws, or a dewclaw, or that there is not an object stuck in the bottom of the pad, such as a thorn. 35

Clean Run Magazine - July 2007

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