Chapter 21 Conditions and Rehabilitation of the Working Dog 523location purposes) to forgotten land mines
(Critescu et al., 2015; Jezierski et al., 2015;
Hackner et al., 2016; Orkin et al., 2016; Prada &
Rodriguez, 2016). Dogs accompanying soldiers
and police officers for protection, detection, and
apprehension is commonly accepted both by
the public and by government agencies. Service
dogs assisting people with disabilities have
expanded beyond those helping the visually
impaired to alerting diabetic individuals when
their blood sugar is low, notifying those with
hearing loss to sounds in their environments, as
well as being a comforting presence to humans
suffering emotional trauma and shock (emo-
tional assistants, post-traumatic stress disorder
dogs); even police dogs have been shown to
provide comfort and support to their handlers
(Hart et al., 2000). The variety of activities in
which working dogs now participate globally
presents greater opportunity for musculoskele-
tal injury and unique challenges for the thera-
pist involved in their care and rehabilitation.
What is a working dog and why are
they different?
Working dogs come in all sizes, breeds, and
abilities. For the most part, a certain physical
type is more desirable for any particular job
than a specific breed. There are some instances,
however, such as MWDs, for which German
Shepherd Dogs, Belgian Malinois, and Dutch
Shepherds are the most consistently used
breeds for patrol, attack, and detection.
Dogs used for herding tend to be breeds
such as Border Collies, Australian Cattle Dogs,
and Australian Kelpies, both in working farms
or ranches and for competitions. However, one
of the authors (KH) has seen a working sheep-
dog in the Spanish countryside that, despite
appearing to be some kind of shaggy terrier,
moved the sheep down the road as efficiently
as any working Border Collie. Likewise, dogs of
clearly mixed heritage can be seen leading
sheep and goats on the Navajo and Hopi Indian
reservations in Arizona without a human shep-
herd in sight.
Detection work is based more on ability than
any particular selected breed trait. Most of the
US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP)/
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food
detection dogs are obtained from pounds and
shelters (Figure 21.3). This can create challenges
for a veterinary sports medicine or rehabilita-
tion therapist as many of these dogs enter a
working career without any physical or behav-
ioral history from their lives before recruitment.
Variations in any particular dog’s ownership
history (physical or emotional abuse), genetics,
training, and medical treatments can add
unique and sometimes unknown nuances that
might play a role in causes of injury as well as
in behavioral and physical responses to ther-
apy. Working dogs that originate from a shelter
might need to be physically evaluated with
particular attention to identify and/or rule
out past injuries that could have a significant
impact on current ones.
Sometimes there is significant overlap
between working dog tasks for which there is a
competitive as well as a working aspect, such as
sheep herding. In those situations, there might
be common injuries and stressors, although it
can be impossible for a veterinarian to deter-
mine whether work or competition is the cause
of any particular injury. Many competitive
herding dogs also work cattle and sheep on
working farms; many law-enforcement agency
dogs may also compete in police-specific con-
tests. While sled dogs in the American lower 48
states are generally used for competitive and
recreational functions only, near the Arctic
Circle some dogs still perform transportation
duties in rural communities. The Russian and
Danish military still actively use sled dogs for
transportation and patrol in harsh Arctic and
Antarctic environments. Dogs function much
better and more consistently than machines in
subzero cold; the Danish Joint Arctic Command
uses their teams for patrol and defense of
the Faroe Islands and Greenland. While an
American veterinarian is not likely to see a mili-
tary sled dog, non-racing sled dogs providing
winter tours are still popular in many northern
latitudes, even in the American lower 48 states.
Dry-land racing and tours are growing in pop-
ularity in Europe and may eventually find their
way to North America, which in turn will
expose more veterinarians to the needs of non-
competitive, pulling sled dogs.
Why do these dogs do what they do for us,
and why should a working dog veterinary ther-
apist care why they do it? The simple answer is