Part I of Finnish Agility Dog Survey: Training and Management of Competition-Level Agility Dogs
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Dogs and Respondents
2.2. Questionnaire
2.3. Competition Results Database
2.4. Data Curation
2.5. Data Analysis and Statistical Methods
3. Results
3.1. Dogs and Respondents
Dog’s and Main Handler’s Experience in Agility
3.2. Training, Competition, and Management Routines during 2019
3.2.1. Agility Training
3.2.2. Competition
3.2.3. Field Surface
3.2.4. Time off from Agility
3.2.5. Warm-Up and Cool-Down
3.2.6. Musculoskeletal Care and Conditioning
3.2.7. Daily Exercise
3.3. Health History
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Category | Variable |
---|---|
Signalment of the dog | Age 1 Breed Gender Weight Height Height category 2 Weight/height ratio 1 |
Agility experience of the dog | Highest competition level Competition years in agility 1 Age at which course-like training started Age at which jumps were set at competition height Age at first competition |
Main handler | Years of experience in agility Highest competition level (with any dog) |
Health history | Number of previous agility-related injuries 1 Non-agility-related musculoskeletal injuries (yes/no) Any of the following musculoskeletal diseases (yes/no): Hip dysplasia (grade C 3,4 or worse, or diagnosis by veterinarian) |
Patellar luxation (grade 1 3,5 or worse, or diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV; grade 1 3,6 or worse, or diagnosis by veterinarian) Elbow disease (grade 1 3,7 or worse elbow dysplasia, or diagnosis by veterinarian) Osteochondrosis/osteochondritis dissecans (OC[D]; diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Injury of the biceps tendon or muscle (diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Injury of supraspinatus muscle or tendon (diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Shoulder instability/medial shoulder syndrome (diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Fracture (diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Other muscle injury (diagnosis by veterinarian) 8 Carpal sprain (diagnosis by veterinarian) 1,8 Sprain of a toe (diagnosis by veterinarian) 1,8 |
Category | Variable |
---|---|
Training | Frequency of training sessions (average number of sessions per week) 1 Training session duration (average active training time per session in minutes) 1 Weekly total training time (active training time during active training weeks in minutes, excluding weeks off from agility) 2 Main field surface used in training and competitions 1 Relative fence height in training (typical fence height in relation to the dog’s height at withers) 2 Time off from agility 1 |
Competition 3 | Competition frequency (average number of competition runs per month) Mean competition speed of faultless runs (m/s) 4 Proportion of faultless runs 4 Maximum relative fence height in competitions (maximum fence height in relation to the dog’s height at withers) 2 |
Combined training and competition | Performance technique of A-frame and dogwalk 5 Weekly active agility time (minutes per week) 2 |
Warm-up and cool-down 6 | Warm-up (yes/no) Duration of warm-up (average in minutes) Content of typical warm-up Cool-down (yes/no) Duration of cool-down (average in minutes) Content of typical cool-down |
Musculoskeletal care | Frequency of visits to physiotherapist, massage therapist, osteopath and other professional Regular musculoskeletal care 2,7 |
Exercise and conditioning | Conditioning (exercises to improve strength, speed, endurance or body control) (yes/no, frequency) 3 Duration of daily exercise (average total duration in hours and minutes) Participation in other physically demanding sports (e.g., herding or canicross) |
Surface | Winter Season (n = 732) | Summer Season (n = 702) |
---|---|---|
Artificial turf with rubber filling | 47.8% | 27.2% |
Dirt or sand | 10.7% | 45.6% |
Artificial turf without filling | 21.3% | 12.4% |
Artificial turf with cork filling | 14.3% | 8.7% |
Artificial turf with sand filling | 1.6% | 1.6% |
Natural grass | 0.0% | 3.4% |
Horse riding surface | 1.8% | 0.9% |
Fibre-sand mix | 2.3% | 0.1% |
Rubber mat | 0.1% | 0.1% |
Other | 0.0% | 0.1% |
Reason | Winter Season (n = 384) | Summer Season (n = 332) |
---|---|---|
Planned break (e.g., periodisation of training) | 60.4% | 60.2% |
Reason unrelated to the dog | 28.9% | 34.3% |
Other dog-related reason | 15.4% | 14.8% |
Previous injury or illness of the dog | 9.6% | 9.3% |
Unknown | 0.8% | 0.3% |
Item | Warm-Up (n = 744) | Cool-Down (n = 744) |
---|---|---|
Exercising on leash | 92.9% | 93.4% |
Exercising off leash | 58.3% | 57.0% |
Walking | 67.5% | 70.8% |
Running | 72.8% | 51.1% |
Sprinting | 38.6% | 2.6% |
Tricks | 67.2% | 5.1% |
Active stretches | 28.2% | 7.0% |
Passive stretches | 10.2% | 5.2% |
Tug play | 34.3% | 3.5% |
Habituation to the field surface | 30.8% | Not applicable |
Obstacle performances as part of warm-up | 25.7% | Not applicable |
Other 1 | 2.6% | 1.9% |
Professional | At Least Oncea Month | Every Two to Three Months | Less Often | Not at all |
---|---|---|---|---|
Massage therapist | 11.4% | 26.6% | 29.0% | 33.0% |
Physiotherapist | 4.8% | 19.5% | 27.8% | 47.9% |
Osteopath | 0.9% | 10.1% | 16.5% | 72.5% |
Other | 4.0% | 6.6% | 5.6% | 83.8% |
Diagnosis | Number of Dogs | Proportion of Dogs |
---|---|---|
Lumbosacral transitional vertebra | 89/745 | 11.9% |
Hip dysplasia | 84/745 | 11.3% |
Disease of the elbow | 23/745 | 3.1% |
Fracture | 21/742 | 2.8% |
Other muscle injury | 20/717 | 2.8% |
Patellar luxation | 11/744 | 1.5% |
Osteochondrosis/osteochondritis dissecans | 8/745 | 1.1% |
Injury of biceps tendon or muscle | 5/743 | 0.7% |
Injury of the iliopsoas muscle | 4/745 | 0.5% |
Other tendon injury | 6/743 | 0.8% |
Cranial cruciate tear | 3/745 | 0.4% |
Luxation of the superficial digital flexor tendon | 3/745 | 0.4% |
Carpal sprain | 2/741 | 0.3% |
Sprain of digit | 2/740 | 0.3% |
Osteoarthritis | 2/743 | 0.3% |
Spondylosis | 2/745 | 0.3% |
Shoulder instability/medial shoulder syndrome | 1/745 | 0.1% |
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Inkilä, L.; Hyytiäinen, H.K.; Hielm-Björkman, A.; Junnila, J.; Bergh, A.; Boström, A. Part I of Finnish Agility Dog Survey: Training and Management of Competition-Level Agility Dogs. Animals 2022, 12, 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12020212
Inkilä L, Hyytiäinen HK, Hielm-Björkman A, Junnila J, Bergh A, Boström A. Part I of Finnish Agility Dog Survey: Training and Management of Competition-Level Agility Dogs. Animals. 2022; 12(2):212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12020212
Chicago/Turabian StyleInkilä, Leena, Heli K. Hyytiäinen, Anna Hielm-Björkman, Jouni Junnila, Anna Bergh, and Anna Boström. 2022. "Part I of Finnish Agility Dog Survey: Training and Management of Competition-Level Agility Dogs" Animals 12, no. 2: 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12020212
APA StyleInkilä, L., Hyytiäinen, H. K., Hielm-Björkman, A., Junnila, J., Bergh, A., & Boström, A. (2022). Part I of Finnish Agility Dog Survey: Training and Management of Competition-Level Agility Dogs. Animals, 12(2), 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12020212