Abstract
Simple SummaryWorking trials is a competitive canine discipline based on work originating from military and police dog work. Working trials competitions include dogs clearing a 9 ft long jump. Jumping over hurdle jumps or long jumps has the potential to cause injuries to the front limbs of dogs, and different jump heights can cause changes to landing forces and the angle of joints on landing. Little is known about the impact of the 9 ft long jump on landing force and joint angles in dogs. In this study, we aimed to determine whether altering the length of the long jump impacted dogs’ landing forces or joint angles. There was no relationship between the length of long jump and landing forces or joint angulation on landing, however, the greatest joint compression was observed on landing after traversing 9 ft. The dogs showed lots of individual variability. We recommend further research is undertaken to examine this individual variability and the effect of training and experience in working trials participants, to enable evidence-based recommendations for those training and competing dogs in working trials.Working trials is a competitive canine discipline based on work undertaken by military and police dogs. A 9 ft long jump is a key component of the discipline. Research into landing forces and joint angulation in other canine disciplines has highlighted the potential for the occurrence of soft tissue injuries, predominantly in the front limbs. There is a paucity of work into the impact of spread/long jumps on joint angulation and peak vertical force (PVF) on landing, and limited research on working trials dogs generally. This study aimed to determine whether altering the length of the long jump impacted PVF and apparent joint angulation upon landing. 21 dogs regularly competing in working trials cleared the long jump at three lengths: 9 ft (full length), 8 ft, and 7 ft. The impact of altered long jump length on the PVF, apparent shoulder and carpus angulation, and duration of landing, were analysed using general linear mixed models. There was no significant relationship between the length of the long jump and PVF or joint angulation on landing (p > 0.05). Greatest joint compression was observed on landing after clearing 9 ft. Individual variability in landing joint angulation, PVF and force distribution of the left and right front limbs on landing was observed across all three experimental lengths. We recommend further research is undertaken to examine individual variability and the effect of training and experience in working trials participants, to provide evidence-based recommendations for training people and competing dogs in this discipline.
Highlights
Working trials originated as a competitive canine discipline in the 1920s, based on tasks required by military and police dog work
There was no difference in peak vertical landing force for dogs of either
Investigation of individual differences in canine athletes is recommended, principally we suggest the following: determination of whether there is a difference between landing and trailing forelimb, determining whether dogs consistently exert more force on one particular limb than another on landing, identification of factors which affect that landing force distribution and investigation into whether there are specific aspects of each front foot that experiences highest pressure loads
Summary
Working trials originated as a competitive canine discipline in the 1920s, based on tasks required by military and police dog work. Working trials competitions require dogs to complete three components: scent work, agility (clearing a 6 ft scale (wall), 9 ft long jump and a 3 ft hurdle, all ‘under control’), and ‘control’ obedience tasks [1]. The long jump consists of five sections, no less than 3 ft (91 cm) wide, of increasing width and height, from inches (101.6 mm) high rising to 7 inches (177.8 mm) at the rear edge. Whilst rarely used in agility competition, the only other obstacle requiring the dog to jump over distance (i.e., a spread jump) rather than height, is the water jump, ranging from 40–50 cm for small dogs and up to 1.2 to 1.5 m for large dogs [2]
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