Cardiovascular Clinical Assessment in Greyster Dogs in Bikejöring Training.

Mila Benito,Laure Boutigny

doi:10.3390/ani10091635

Abstract

Bikejöring is a type of dryland mushing requiring high-intensity aerobic effort, with speed peaks close to 42 km/h. Greysters (crosses between the German Shorthaired Pointer and the Greyhound) often participate in such events and perform well. The objective of this comparative study was to evaluate the clinical use of non-invasive methods in assessing the cardiovascular health of 22 Greyster dogs in physical training, by determining the differences between different cardiovascular parameters before and after physical training. Blood pressure, heart rate and echocardiographic results were compared. The mean age of the dogs was 4.4 years ± 1.8% and 54.5% were female. All participating dogs regularly participated in bikejöring. Post-exercise increases were observed in systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean arterial pressure (MBP) and pulse pressure (SBPD), with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) remaining stable. Changes of clinical interest were observed in numerous echocardiographic variables such as left ventricle fractional shortening (LVFS), left ventricule ejection fraction (LVEF), E-point to septal separation (EPSS), cardiac output (CO), cardiac index (CI), posterior wall thickness at end-diastole (PWd) and major/minor axis ratio (MA/ma), including a decrease in the shortening fraction and an increase in EPSS after exercise. These clinical findings were observed in both males and females; they do not appear to be associated with dilated cardiomyopathy, but rather with a cardiovascular response to physical training. This study derives from the real interest of clinical veterinarians who care for highly trained canine athletes. It contributes to an increase in knowledge of the different cardiac adaptations of such dogs after intense exercise and serves to differentiate these from pathologic conditions.

Highlights

Regular intense exercise is known to be able to induce cardiac hypertrophy in dogs engaged in different physical activities, such as that of search and rescue [1,2] or sporting activities such as agility or mushing
The Greyster is a popular breed and yet this is not one of those typically studied in the literature, which has primarily focused on sled dogs running on snow
In the pre-competition examination, the veterinarians attending the races do not have enough time to individually evaluate each of the participating dogs, we propose the performance of a cardiovascular clinical study in the field, imitating the real conditions in order to study cardiovascular changes in physical training

Summary

Introduction

Regular intense exercise is known to be able to induce cardiac hypertrophy in dogs engaged in different physical activities, such as that of search and rescue [1,2] or sporting activities such as agility or mushing. One of these, bikejöring, has significantly increased in popularity in Central European countries, with optimal weather conditions being present there for this sport In this discipline, cyclists are assisted by one or two dogs which pull the bicycle along and there are organized races which may be sprints (up to eight kilometers) or ones of medium distance (approximately 30 km). Cyclists are assisted by one or two dogs which pull the bicycle along and there are organized races which may be sprints (up to eight kilometers) or ones of medium distance (approximately 30 km) In these competitions, the Greyster is a popular breed and yet this is not one of those typically studied in the literature, which has primarily focused on sled dogs running on snow. These dogs were originally bred in Norway in the 1980s, from a series of crossings between the German Shorthaired

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