Different muscles play different roles in posture and movement, and effectively assessing their function can only be achieved with the help of professionals such as vets and therapists. Therefore, work with a professional to get effective therapeutic and performance enhancing aims for your dog…BUT understanding more about these muscles and their roles, will help you […]
Canine Muscles and Movement Read More »
Pain can be really hard to distinguish. Especially when it is mild, and when it is in an animal that uses totally different “language” to us! Additionally, different types of pain, such as visceral (internal organ) and musculoskeletal (muscles, bones and joints), and whether it is acute or chronic, can have different signs. However it
How can you tell your animal is in pain? Read More »
Patella luxation is a really common pathology, with certain breeds more prone than others, such as Pomeranian, Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, French Bulldog, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bichon Frise, Pug, West Highland Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier, Shit-tzu, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Di Dona et al. 2018; Boge et al. 2019). However it can also be caused
Luxating Patella – What’s in the Skip?! Read More »
As mentioned in a previous blog, sport dogs can get a variety of injuries, such as: Agility – shoulder muscular injuries such as biceps brachii tenosynovitis, medial shoulder instability, and carpal injuries (Baltzer, 2012), and iliopsoas muscle strain (Markley et al. 2021) Flyball – chronic ligament laxity and achilles/calcaneal tendon rupture (Baltzer, 2012) Racing Greyhounds – general
Sporting Dogs – How and Why to Warm Up Read More »
So you have had your dog for a while…they suddenly get a limp or start moving oddly…you go to the vet and find out they have ruptured their cruciate ligament, or they have intervertebral disc disease…and you find out this is “common” for your dogs breed…and you wonder why you didn’t know about this before….
Your Dog Breed – What Can Go Wrong? Read More »
Did you know a sit can tell us a story?! Does your dog sit squarely, with hind legs “tucked in”, equal weight through the forelimbs with elbows tucked in and nice and straight through the back? Or do they sit with the hind legs rotated out so you can see the hind paws? Can they
The Importance of a Sit Read More »
So previously I have spoken about the use of Physiotherapy, and a therapy “journey”…. and I just wanted to create a little update based on comments of other therapists and their experiences. Many go in to this job because they love animals, and really want to make a difference. And it can be disheartening when
The Physiotherapy Journey…. Read More »
Let’s talk obesity! It is a huge issue in horse and dog welfare in the UK. Being overweight puts huge strain on the body systems, particularly the joints and can predispose to conditions such as osteoarthritis. Body condition scoring can be a great way to monitor your animal’s weight. Weigh tapes are not accurate as
Let’s Talk Animal Obesity Read More »
So the walk is a 4 beat gait with no suspension phase. That means your horse and dog have to use concentric (shortening) and eccentric (lengthening) muscle contractions for every stride to produce movement, and isometric (contractions without a change in muscle length such as core muscles). Whereas in trot and canter where there is
Lets talk about walking Read More »
What is it? It is the cranial cruciate ligament that can be torn (shown with the arrow in the image). It is the same as the ACL in humans! But as dogs have an anatomically different knee (stifle) to us, if this ligament is torn, even just partially, their femur and tibia can slide away
Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease in dogs Read More »
