The Potential Injuries Associated with Dock Diving
We have all heard of the dog sport, dock diving. In its simplest terms it involves a handler throwing a chase object off a dock, from which the dog launches itself into the water after it and the distance jumped is then measured. There is also the vertical jump where a bumper is suspended above the water, along with other variations. It looks, and is, a fun sport for both dog and handler. And often, because it is a water sport, we think of it as being relatively safe for our dogs. But, is it really?
I am no expert on dock diving. Heck, three of my dogs won’t take their feet off the bottom of the lake and one of them won’t even get her feet wet! But I am aware that a lot of you participate in the sport with your dogs, & it is a topic that is discussed in many canine conditioning groups I am in, so I thought it would be beneficial to talk about some things you may not know.
Firstly, Carolyn McIntyre, the CEO and founder of McIntyre Rehabilitation has written a great post about all things dock diving; including how to introduce puppies to the sport, the physical challenges your dog faces, potential injuries and how to condition your dog to lessen the chance of injury occurring. You can read her article here.
From my point of view, as a Canine Physiotherapist and Canine Myofunctional Therapist, I have no issue with dogs participating in sports. In fact I encourage it as a great way to build a relationship with your dog, allow them a positive physical outlet and ensure they are biologically fulfilled. But I also feel it is important to take your dog’s physical health seriously, to ensure they don’t end up with unnecessary injuries, and to catch any little niggles ahead of time that could turn into chronic problems down the road.
As dog sports increase in popularity we are seeing more injuries associated with the phenomenon known as ‘Weekend Warriors’. That is those dogs (and humans) who do not do a lot of physical exercise during the week, and then spend the weekend giving 100% to a sport or activity. In all honesty, we are guilty of this with our dogs at times too. Two of them, in particular, need to release their energy through running. If we are busy it can sometimes be a few weeks before we get them up to the forest for a decent run. That was fine when they were younger, but I have noticed that as they age (they turn 10 in a couple of months), they are taking longer to recover between runs, and that is due to the de-conditioning that happens in between.
Dock-diving, like all sports and activities (be it hiking, tracking or IGP), has the potential to cause injury to your dog, especially if you aren’t aware of the risks involved and how to counter them. Dock diving, in particular, can feel a bit innocuous. How much harm can getting a dog to dive into water be? Hopefully, the article I referenced above gives you a little more insight into what risks are associated with this sport and how to prevent them.
The problems with dogs though, is that they are very good at hiding pain and discomfort. Dogs experience pain more than their owners are aware. Dogs rarely vocalise when they have pain, unless it is a severe injury or illness. Even after suffering a broken leg a dog will only vocalise pain for a short period of time. So why is this?
All animals have an innate instinct to hide pain. In the wild, if an animal shows any sign of weakness it becomes a target for predators. Wild dogs will also hide signs of illness or injury from their pack, in fear of the other pack members turning on them. Therefore it is a survival advantage to suppress obvious signs of pain and injury, and to ensure an animal’s social standing in the pack (even if that pack includes humans). This instinct continues to exist even with our more domesticated, pet dogs who will hide pain in order to be more in control of the situation; however this also makes it very difficult for owners of dogs to know when they are hurting.
Literature research shows that pain, especially if experienced over a long period of time, is hazardous to a dog’s health. So what can you do to to ensure early identification of whether your dog may be carrying an injury or potentially be in pain?
The easiest thing you can do is monitor and assess your dog on a regular basis. Simple things you can do are:
be aware of the basic anatomy of a dog.
take regular photos of them in stance from different angles.
video their gait, trot and run from the front, side and back.
have them perform simple activities to assess how they are moving, and if there is any asymmetry between sides.
palpate them from head to tail on a weekly basis to pick up any tightness, areas of discomfort or unusual lumps and bumps etc.
These small things can make a huge difference in terms of being able to pick up subtle problems. If you would like a reference to help guide you through the assessment process, I have an eBook called ‘How to Tell if Your Canine Companion is in Pain’ that you can read more about here.
At the end of the day I love seeing dogs and their owners out there dock diving. I wish we had access to it here, because maybe my dogs would surprise me! If you know them, you know they are always up for a challenge. But if you and your dog are involved in dock diving, I would really encourage you to read the referenced article to increase your awareness of how to keep your dog free from injury while participating.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out, either about how to assess for injuries as per my eBook, or where to access a Canine Physiotherapist or Canine Conditioning Therapist in your area.
And don’t forget to aim for great heights (or lengths) with your dogs!
My eBook, ‘How to Tell if Your Canine Companion is in Pain’ can be found here.
