# Malinois-Overuse injuries with age



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

I thought I would start my own thread since the other similar one is about police dog retirement ages.

I am curious at what point people start to see overuse injuries in their malinois. Neck, shoulders, hips and so on. Did you choose to let them run, chase balls, catch discs, jump palisades, slam into decoys to their hearts content, or did you work to "protect them from themselves" on an ongoing basis?

Also, considering the Mal's tendency play and work with gusto, do you find they have broken down before any of your other breeds? Or does the fact that they are generally smaller and lighter make up up for some of the pounding they apply to themselves?


----------



## Brian Batchelder (Mar 11, 2011)

The answer is a resounding yes. Congratulations!


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I had my dog evaluated a few days ago by the head rehab vet at the University of Tennessee. She said she can already tell he's uncomfortable in his lumbosacral area likely due to protection sport, dock diving, disc, herding, etc. And he'll be 4 years old in a week. :-( But she gave me some good exercises to work with him on before taking him out on the field. Like active range of motion stretches with the neck and spine, sitting pretty, bows, that sort of thing. She also recommended doing massage on him perhaps once a week or so. Hopefully we'll keep him working for a while with good management.


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

I think one of the biggest things with these dogs is actually properly warming them up before crazy exercise. Which is a tedious task at best as they just want to go go go go and then go some more. But if you can do short retrieve games any a safe area before asking the world goes a long way IMO for an athlete .. canine or otherwise. 

Which to me is a great argument for a sled harness and bike, slat mill or dog treadmill. Where the handler controls the pace and change of direction. 

The Sashinator is 5 this July and really the only thing that I noticed slow her down. Was when she took Kevin down last September during an entry on the flee attack and he fell on her. (total accident) It took her awhile to recover from that. A couple trips to the vet Chiropractor helped immensely though she still may be sore from it as she sometimes seems to be in discomfort the same way just after the original injuriy. It doesn't seem to phase her at all if she is sore, her entries are still as fast and hard. Though she seems to think a little bit more and might actually *egads* think a bit before the impact. So maybe she is starting to slow down in her old age.


----------



## Gerald Guay (Jun 15, 2010)

From a coaching (humans) perspective:

I agree with Geoff about the warm up. As with human athletes a proper warm up is a must before the dog goes into high intensity. Wolves and foxes have been trotting around for hours before they strike.

Our dogs should also be let to do some easy trotting after their hard workout. Maybe 10 minutes on a soft surface. Prevents the muscles from stiffening up. 

A workout with difficult jumps, as in Ringsports, should be followed by a couple of days without jumping. Gives a chance for those micro tears/trauma to heal.

Rest and recovery is also important. A dog should not be exercised hard every day (kind of difficult with those high drive dogs of ours). Human athletes practice the "hard, easy" method. Train hard one day, train easy the next. It help recovers.

I would not let too much time go by with out giving the dog fresh water and once he has settled down after a hard workout (between 35 and 45 minutes later) he should be given a very small high protein meal with some fat so that the recovery process starts right away. We want to avoid a catabolic state. anabolic 

Cheers,

Gerald


----------



## Chris Jones II (Mar 20, 2011)

Isn't there a thread about not playing fetch and frisbee with Mals? Seems like a working dog should be able to handle that sort of playing.


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Moreso that they can handle it, but the question is for what price they pay as they age, just like human athletes who peak in their teens/twenties, but don't take care of themselves as far as maintenance. I'm not retiring my dog just because he's uncomfortable (it's really subtle, I would never have noticed and I try to watch him like a hawk), but I'm just going to be more mindful of stretching and warming as I'd like him to be as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.


----------

