Front Matter

Chapter 10 Conditioning and Retraining the Canine Athlete 253

the major problem, but also a list of secondary
problems that might accompany the presenting
problem or follow as a result of the presenting
problem. Rehabilitation therapy might include
any or all of manual therapy, physical modali­
ties such as therapeutic ultrasound, transcuta­
neous electrical neuromuscular stimulation
(TENS), laser, neuromuscular electrical stimu­
lation (NMES), and/or magnetic field therapy
as well as underwater treadmill, swimming,
and therapeutic exercises. However, it should
be a unified process that accounts for the dog’s
structure, fitness level, and future perfor­
mance/working activities.
Once the dog has reached pet‐level fitness,
the canine athlete or working dog will need to
begin to retrain in the activities that it must per­
form during its sport(s) or job. Sports retraining
is the process of training the canine athlete to go
from functional to competitive or just to full
activity if the dog is not a competition sports or
working dog. A human athlete might have a
physical therapist to help in recovery after an
injury or surgery, but will need the help of a
sports medicine specialist to decide what exer­
cises as well as how much and in what order
they should be used to get back into condition
for competition. Likewise, an agility dog that,
for example, has had surgery for a fragmented
medial coronoid process, will engage in a period
of rehabilitation to strengthen the thoracic limb
muscles and regain full flexion and extension of
the elbow joint. At that point, a canine sports

medicine/rehabilitation professional can pro­

vide a detailed program of progressive at‐home

exercises and sport‐specific training to help the

dog regain its competitive physical condition

and train the appropriate exercises in the appro­

priate order to continue the strengthening pro­

cess and prevent re‐injury.

A comprehensive retraining program starts

with the four components that have already been

discussed: strength, endurance, and propriocep­

tive exercises and a discussion of appropriate

methods to warm up and cool down the dog.

These provide the foundation for an all‐around

conditioning program for the dog going forward.

The skills retraining program should begin

with the components of the dog’s sport or work

that are least stressful to the injured part of the

body and best protect the dog from re‐injury,

then gradually progress to more complex phys­

ical requirements of the sport/job. For example,

agility dogs that have had surgery for cranial

cruciate ligament (CCL) insufficiency should

start retraining in that sport using low jumps

and straight‐line sequences. Then they can

gradually progress to tighter turns and higher

jumps. Obstacles like the weave poles, which

apply significant torque to the stifle joint,

should be the last skills to retrain.

In addition, the client should be advised how

to monitor the dog to determine whether the

retraining program needs to be modified. This

can happen with dogs that are so driven to

work that they risk re‐injury, because the dog is

(A)(B)

Figure 10.37 (A, B) Lateral flexion of the spine to both sides is accomplished by having the dog follow food along the
lateral spine, pausing at the pelvis for 3 seconds, then moving the food down to the foot, pausing again for 3 seconds,
then repeating in reverse.