Description
Increasing the angulation of the flyball box to a more vertical plane is perceived as allowing dogs to turn faster, and as such box angles range from 43 to 88°. There are concerns that box angulation may have a role on injury risk, as flyball has one of the highest rates of injury at 39% of participants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different flyball box angles on the passive impact peak (PIP) and peak contact forces (PCF) in a cohort of flyball dogs during contact with the box. 32 dogs (whippets and whippet crosses) regularly competing in flyball have performed three standard flyball runs. Due to ethical concerns, dogs used their usual box angle: 45° (n=7); 50° (n=5); 60° (n=9); 70° (n=6) or 83° (n=5) and were allowed to turn to their usual turn side. The impact of box angle on the PIP (N) and PCF (N/kg) were collected with a pressure mat, recording at 100 Hz, attached to the box, synchronised with 100 Hz videos for identification of limbs contact. Data for outer and inner limbs on the different angles were compared using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis. Furthermore, the differences between the inner and outer limbs were tested by paired t-test or Wilcoxon’s rank test. There was no significant relationship between the box angle and PIP or PCF (P>0.05). However, overall, greatest PIP and PCF were observed on the outer hindlimb in comparison to the inner hindlimb (P<0.05). No differences were noted between inner and outer forelimbs (P>0.05). In conclusion, the box angle does not seem to play an important role in the magnitude of forces exerted on the limbs. The fact that the outer hindlimb withstands higher forces may explain why it has a higher injury rate than the inner hindlimbs, trend observed in previous surveys. Training techniques should consider dogs being trained to turn to both sides to avoid asymmetrical loads| Period | 30 Aug 2023 |
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| Event title | 9th International Conference on Canine and Equine Locomotion |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Utrecht, NetherlandsShow on map |