Exercising Your Puppy by Julia Robertson

Exercising Your Puppy by Julia Robertson

Author:Julia Robertson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845845957
Publisher: Veloce Publishing Ltd
Published: 2014-06-17T00:00:00+00:00


.... than going down.

Of course, we recognise that some may consider it inappropriate to allow a dog onto a bed/seating in any case, but here we are solely concerned with the implications such actions may have on the physical development of your puppy.

In this respect the following table describes some possible scenarios, and their repercussions:

Whether or not your puppy needs a buoyancy aid to swim, doing this in a hydrotherapy pool is a good, low impact exercise.

Even though this puppy finds the descent within his capability, and he is displaying a relaxed movement, it can be seen in the picture how his body weight is over his elbow and shoulder joints. Also, his weight is transferred from the left- to the right-hand side, requiring him to adjust his balance accordingly, using his back legs as stabilisers, and also putting stress through his back and neck.

About the home

Scenario

I let my puppy lie/sleep on the sofa

Action

Jumping up onto the sofa

Jumping down from the sofa

Possible implication/s (depending on size ratio of puppy/sofa)

Jumping up:

• misjudge jump, resulting in head/neck strain

• overly extending through back legs

• overly stressing the front legs and shoulders if scrabblingto get up

Jumping down:

• possible jarring of wrist, shoulder and elbow joints

• possible stressing through shoulders

• possible stressing through neck

Scenario

I let my puppy sleep on the bed

Action/possible implication/s

See ‘I let my puppy lie/sleep on the sofa’

Scenario

I am going to allow my puppy to go up and down stairs/steps

or

my puppy needs to use the stairs/steps to leave the home/garden

(see pictures page 52)

Action (could be accentuated depending on size ratio of puppy/stairs)

All four limbs working at once, co-ordinating in an upward and downward trajectory

Possible implication/s (depending on size ratio of puppy/stairs)

Going upstairs:

• an easier action than going downstairs, but, because of the complex co-ordination necessary, there’s a possibility that a puppy could miss its footing and over-extend through its knee and hip joints

Going downstairs:

• jarring of shoulder and elbow joints which, in larger puppies, could damage the growth plates

• there is always the risk that your puppy could fall down the stairs

Scenario

My puppy has started to jump up at the kitchen worktop

Action

Jumping up:

Because kitchen worktops are usually relatively high, there’s a risk of over-extension or full stretch of both front and back legs, and excessive weight-bearing through the back legs as he balances on these alone with his front paws on the worktop. Whilst doing this, he may stretch and twist his head and neck to see what interesting things might be there, and is probably over-extending the vertebrae

Jumping down:

Will probably mean a jarring, twisting and rotational action involving the whole skeleton

Possible implication/s

Jumping up:

• if this is something your puppy does frequently, it could result in over-extension of the joints both front and back legs, plus twisting of the spine

• could place undue pressure on the neck and shoulders, resulting in unnatural hyperextension of the vertebrae

Jumping down:

• the subsequent impact on the shoulder and elbow joints could cause damage

• the rotational action through the hind legs could cause stress to the pelvis and



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