I have noticed a lot of you do agility with your dogs, does anyone have any problems with related injuries. I ask because my Lab cross had an injury a year ago that has left him with a permanent limp due to arthritis and now my other dog, a miscellaneous crossbreed -poss. boxer or staff, haven't a clue really- has hurt herself competing on Saturday, not sure what the problem is yet, poss her shoulder, we are resting her and will keep her away from training until we are sure she is okay. Any gems of info on how best to help her heal would also be great!!!

On my breed mailing list I know a lot of the Agility folk have a regular check with a canine Chiripractor! I suppose it is the dame as with sportsmen. It is very important to warm up slowly, and also do the cool off stuff! A sports phisio will give you an idea if you have a Rugby club near you, or sports center.

Working my dogs I am very careful with training. No jumping before absolutely necessary. which in effect means I don’t start my dogs jumping fences until around 18 months at the earliest and then after hip scoring to try to ensure the hips are up to the strain.

Regards, John

I have also been very careful with training, Honey was 3 before she started agility, we did obedience training before then, she keeps herself very fit, running around the country park, chasing balls and the odd squirrel or deer (thankfully not fast enough to be even close to catching them), since Dylan was injured I am even more careful about warming her up before agility sessions, loads of other handlers seem to think a couple of goes over the A Frame is enough - although their dogs never seem to be injured!

I do so agree with the warming up, in fact it is a bit of a pet subject of mine! One of the sites, think it is www.agilitynet.co.uk has a few interesting articles about how to warm up and suggests exercises.

I am preparing for working trials as well as agility, and I never see any of the competitors warming up their dogs - how they expect dogs to cold scale I don't know. They seem to feel a bit of heelwork and a sendaway is good enough, whereas others recommend warm ups should last about 20 minutes.

Wishing you luck with your dogs :)

LIndsay

Lindsay,
What do you think a good warm up should entail, I know I am certainly warmed up when we've finished but I'm not so sure about Honey! It was freezing cold on Saturday, I wonder if that would make too much difference? Glad to hear any suggestions (Agility.net is a great site for anyone interested in agility isn't it?!)
Hayley