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Not everything can be problems and solutions, here is an article about a new sport. Who doesn’t like to run with their dog?

Canicross is a sports modality with the participation of a dog and a person that derives from mushing (dog sled shooting). The difference is that in canicross the snow is not necessary, it is not practiced with a sled but simply the runner is tied to his dog by means of a belt and a rope that is tied in turn to the dog’s harness. One of the main advantages of canicross is that it can be practiced at all levels, it can be done at an amateur level, simply by sharing your time playing sports with your dog, signing up for low-level tests or entering the leagues and competing more “in I laughed”.

One of the main characteristics of canicross is that both the races and the training sessions can be practiced in very beautiful places, surrounded by nature and far from the madding crowd of cities. In any case, there are people who practice canicross in the city or in coastal cities by the sea.

canicross

In any case, canicross is a tremendously cheap sport, we need sports shoes, a harness and a rope. The waste of material is minimal and both the rope and the belt for the runner as well as the harness for the dog can last us several seasons.

The regulations are very simple, we can summarize them in that dogs that are not dangerous must participate, and we are referring to the specimen, not to the breed, since all without exception are admitted, which must be in good health, have passed the rigorous veterinary checks, up-to-date vaccination and implanted microchip.
If there is a conflicting dog, for example with other dogs, but not manifestly dangerous, it may take the start last or with a muzzle.

The runner must always go behind the dog, at the most to the side, if the runner overtakes the dog and pulls him, he can be disqualified, the dog can only be pulled when changes of direction or in cases of distraction of the animal. Physical or verbal aggression against one’s own or another’s dogs is also not allowed.

For more information on regulations you can consult the website of the Royal Spanish Federation of Winter Sports .

There are races throughout Spain. In Catalonia, one of the places with the most tradition, they are already in the fifth edition of the Catalan canicross league that takes place in its versions on land or snow (where runners compete on snow). This league is called by four federations:

The Catalan Federation of Winter Sports,

The Catalan Federation of Agility,

The Catalan Federation of Athletics,

The Federation of Excursionist Entities of Catalonia.

You must be a member of one of these federations to participate in the league.

In the 2010-2011 season the first Spanish Canicross League began http://liganacionalcanicross.viviti.com/

You can also find information in the Canicross Section of the Spanish Association of Mushers (AEM)

Canicross is an eminently winter sport, especially in our country since dogs at temperatures above 15 degrees already begin to suffer more than they should. In the Catalan league they are considering suspending a test or shortening it after 20º, they are not suspended, for example, in case of rain.

In short, it is about running with the dog doing a physical activity in good conditions for the dog in the middle of nature, all a joy.

Orthocanis team.

Probably one of the most common diseases in large dogs, here they explain what it is.

Hip Dysplasia is the most common osteoarticular disease in dogs. a typical disease of dogs of large and medium breeds, less frequent in small breeds.

It presents with a poor congruence of the acetabular cavity (hip) with the femoral heads that may appear dislocated or sub-dislocated, that is, out of their natural place. The head of the femur, not having a good coating, “dances” and this produces stress, inflames and weakens the joint and the periarticular tissues.

It is very common for degenerative changes of osteoarthritis to appear. Osteoarthrosis that appears due to dysplasia will cause problems of inflammation, pain, which in turn will cause the dog to carry more weight on the hands, less on the hindquarters and therefore use less hindquarters and a clear muscle atrophy appears in the posterior third that will aggravate the symptoms.

The symptoms vary a little depending on the breed and especially the age of the dog, we must think that for the diagnosis a distraction X-ray is performed, that is to say with the dog lying up and symmetrical traction on the hind limbs, normally with the dog anesthetized or heavily sedated, but the symptoms do not always correlate with the x-ray result.

Sometimes we see dogs with a lot of dysplasia and that have little or no pain and also the opposite case, a lot of pain with a result in the radiological examination that is not so bad. The pain depends more on the inflammation of the joint (synovitis) among other factors than on the dysplasia itself.

From 5 or 6 months, the warning signs begin, the dog stands badly (puts one leg out), has difficulty standing, does not bear weight on the hindquarters, may have signs of pain after exercise , slipping, falling, sudden mood changes, becoming more aggressive, avoiding the presence of the owner when petting him and presenting the typical gait of the dog with dysplasia, which is rocking the back and running like a rabbit. Sometimes at the end of growth the symptoms disappear or are greatly minimized, the only clear sign remaining is a rocking gait.

Hip dysplasia has clear indices of heritability, although dogs are often carriers but do not develop hip dysplasia, not all environmental factors such as rapid development and nutrition are clear, as well as genetics or their mechanisms of action and we can see offspring with hip dysplasia from normal parents and even vice versa, although it is not very ethical to raise sick parents.

Excess weight, a non-varied diet where dogs can choose are factors that have been shown to increase the chances of suffering from the disease. The most critical period for the development of this disease is between 3 and 8 months, reducing caloric intake and regular exercise without much impact could be an interesting decision to avoid hip dysplasia in this phase. colchon para perros, artrosis, displasia cadera perros, perro anciano

In older dogs, the problems are determined as a result of the osteoarthritis that they present, the most typical symptoms are difficulty getting up, swaying gait from the hips, we observe that it carries much more weight in front and that it walks with the help of the forelimbs (rowing more than propelling), they have a lot of difficulty getting on their hind legs, climbing stairs, getting into the car or getting on the sofa. In the image we can see the typical position that a dog with hip osteoarthritis adopts, with its legs open to increase the base of support and its head forward to load more weight on the front part, you can also see the muscular atrophy that exists in the later ones.

Sometimes they present a limp that disappears after walking for a short period of time, which is suffered more in the morning when getting up, especially if they have not rested correctly or on a suitable mattress, the limbs are usually flexed while they walk, their steps they are short since the extension of the hips hurts and they present a very important development of the muscular mass of the hindquarters (atrophy). The times of the walks are reduced a lot, the dog sits or lies down and does not want to go for a walk or for a long time during the walk.
Although there are various classifications, the International Canine Federation is based on this classification:

  • No sign of dysplasia.
  • Almost normal hip joints.
  • Mild dysplasia.
  • Moderate or medium.
  • Serious.

Although there are surgical methods: excision of the pectineus muscle, triple hip osteotomy, arthroplasty of the femoral head, forage, hip prosthesis… in the end, the treatment is purely palliative, it includes pharmacology: anti-inflammatories and cartilage protectors, weight reduction, exercise moderate and above all regular, physiotherapy can help a lot to better develop the muscles without pain to remove tensions and eliminate compensations that the dog has made, improvements in the environment: sleep on a good mattress for example the mattress for older dogs , not being cold or exposed to high humidity, and all the adjuvant treatments such as acupuncture, massages, reiki, bach flowers…

We can help our dog with hip dysplasia in many ways: regular physical exercisecolchón para perros, displasia, artrosis can help us a lot to improve muscle mass that can make us better withstand poor joint congruence, physiotherapy and massages allow the dog to always have a correct muscular state, cartilage protectors delay the onset of osteoarthritis, anti-inflammatories prevent or reduce pain, we can protect the dog from the cold with thermal blankets and if the dog has trouble getting up, help it with a rear harness , it is important that the dog feels comfortable and that we encourage it to move and exercise.

Orthocanis Team

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As our WordPress colleagues say, good morning world!

Here we start our Blog with enthusiasm, in which we are going to capture all the information we can collect on how to help our best friends. We hope that you can use this platform to support our initiative and that we can share comments and opinions after each post.

Thank you all so much and here we go!

Orthocanis team.

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