526 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
constraints. Within each element are factors
that the therapist must address to return a
patient to a healthy working career.
Element 1: The therapist
Working dog veterinarians and rehabilitation
therapists need to understand exactly what is
involved with a dog’s job. What, exactly, is that
dog doing when it is not sitting in the clinic
exam room? Obtaining a complete history from
the handler is not sufficient to understand the
unique needs and stressors of a dog’s particular
job. Injuries can be from catastrophic single
events or from repetitive stresses that ulti-
mately reach the threshold of tissue failure.
Knowing the biomechanical demands, harness
or clothing, activity frequencies, and other
environmental factors (terrain, temperatures,
length of time working) that are involved in the
dog’s training or work is the best way to evalu-
ate the biomechanical causes of any particular
injury.
There are many ways that therapists can
become familiar with the details of the work
done by client handlers and their dogs. It is
important to start with an attitude of openness
and desire to learn. Asking clients and handlers
to share videos and still pictures of a dog in
action not only provides insight into what a
dog does at training or work, but also creates a
bond between handler and therapist that can
help with future communication and improve
the chances of successful recovery of the dog.
Sometimes one video (especially in slow
motion) or photo captures that moment in
time when an injury could have started
(Figures 21.4). Watching animals train, and
asking experienced handlers and trainers
about their knowledge and techniques, can
often provide clues behind vague perfor-
mance problems that can be otherwise diffi-
cult to solve. Even better, attending training
sessions and, if possible, accompanying han-
dlers on the job are ideal ways to discover the
depths and intensity of a dog’s training and
physical activities while working.
Understanding total body movement and
mechanics is critical for injury diagnosis and
therapeutic program design. Focusing on single
causes of performance or lameness problems
neglects the fact that the body operates as a
unit. All animals compensate when there is a
part that functions at less than 100%. But the
heightened drive characteristics of successful
working dogs can mean that it is more difficult
to identify when the dog is not fully function-
ing, especially when subtle problems exist. Loss
of function in a muscle, joint, or ligament will
lead to compensatory posture and movement
alterations that can increase the work and
weight load on other structures, which in turn
can cause injury and loss of function of those(A) (B)Figure 21.4 (A, B) A video or photo can reveal actions that could result in injury. Source: Photos by Ro Bastacky.