injury.

Got rugs?


The beach is a great place to run and play; there is lots of traction in sand. 


Wood floors, aren't they gorgeous?  Many people want wall to wall wood floors in their home but our dogs can suffer from this decision.  Real wood and laminate wood floors can be extremely slippery.  I know, we had one put in a couple of years ago and it's horribly slippery.  It was not my choice, I chose a rustic rough tile floor but lost the coin toss; so we have one very slippery floor.  It looks gorgeous but is now covered with rug which sort of defeats the purpose of getting rid of the carpet in the first place.  It is just too slippery for the dogs to move around on safely, especially old dogs.

Surface is something that we canine guardians need to pay close attention to.  From the moment a dog is born, there needs to be concern for the surface that they walk on.  I see lots of photos of puppies running around inside plastic pools, on the kitchen linoleum  floor and sliding across the living room wood floor and it makes me shudder.  One of the most important times for puppies to be on a non skid surface is when they are nursing.  Those little feet of theirs attempt to dig in and move them forward as they fight for placement at the milk bar.  Once they latch on the digging continues as they nurse; they need to be on a surface that gives them traction.

Whelping boxes and play areas should have non skid surfaces placed in them.  That can be small throw rugs, thick blankets or rubber matting.  But it needs to be put down in all areas of the box.  Having just one small piece for Mom to lay on in not sufficient.  When the puppies are little and crawling around, they need traction to help to build their little muscles.  Without the ability to build muscle the slippery surface does even more damage.  So the old newspaper lined box of the past should remain in the past. 

Slipping is not good, not for us and definitely not for our dogs.  As much as I hate carpet, it is essential in the form of a throw rug for safety.  If a floor is slippery then our dogs should not be playing on it.  Walking across a slippery floor in a calm manner is one thing but our dogs cannot be guaranteed to do that often, right?  Hearing nails clamor and skids across a slippery surface is a sound that causes me to cringe.  It may be only a matter of time until something is torn and the dog then requires surgery, plus an unbelievably long recovery time.   

I've got throw rugs everywhere in my home.  You can get throw rugs for next to nothing; making them easy to switch them out when needed.  A throw rug is only as good as it's non skid backing so as they wear, replace with new.  I actually need to get out and buy a few new ones to replace those that have been on the floor past their prime.  Place throw rugs in prime traffic areas and where corners can cause a wipeout.  We have two huge area rugs in the family room that cover the flooring and make for a great play place for Luke and Elsa. 

Slipping can cause all sorts of problems; from hip dysplasia to serious tendon, muscle and ligament tears.    When a dogs slips all their muscles cannot kick in to save the tendons, ligaments and joints.  They feel the full brunt of the slip and can suffer serious wear and tear.   Wear and tear can then cause a damage to tendons, ligaments and joints which then are susceptible to serious damage.  DO NOT play with your dog on slippery surfaces. 

Build muscle and offer traction.  This is the best way to avoid injury to tendons, ligaments and joints. 

It's too high



We got a new bed recently; about a week and a half after Luke had made the transition to the floor.  His transition turned out to be perfect timing as the bed that arrived was much higher than our previous one; do to taking the old box springs out.  Our bed has a high frame so when we were calculating whether we should get the high or low profile box springs we chose the high.  I wasn't sure that the box would clear the frame; enabling me to make the bed easily.  The bed arrived and it seemed high.  It turned out to be about as high as our last bed with the box springs.  But, I found it just a tad high for Elsa to be jumping off of.  Funny how just a few inches can make a huge difference. 

I watched as Elsa flew onto the bed and then carefully assessed as she jumped off.  Most of the time I lift her off; I'm very use to lifting dogs off the bed.  But, I cannot always lift her off so there was going to be a lot of times that she was jumping off herself.  The two box springs were only 4" apart, so I wondered if that would make a difference.  I thought about high heels; there is a fine line in heel height.  A point where you have weight on both the front and back part of your foot; then just a fraction higher and all the weight goes to the front making the shoes horribly uncomfortable. 

With the high profile box, Elsa was having to jump straight down which I was not comfortable with.  Not when I thought about how many times she was going to jump off of that bed.  So I made the call and had the box springs switched out.  They arrived yesterday and yep, 4" makes a huge difference.  It has changed the angle in which she is jumping; making it a much more acceptable jump off. 

Great article on shoulder in Working dogs. 

Four inches changed the jump angle drastically.  She went from jumping straight down; which put most of the impact on her shoulder to jumping out and off normally.  The jump now is more outward.  After pondering about the bed height; I of course set off to research shoulders.  I found this very good article on rehab of agility shoulders and the one above. 

Canine shoulder rehab

Dogs are born to run, jump and dive.  But you must always take precautions on everything that they do.  4", who'd think that it would make such a difference?  Well, Luke sure did.  Last night he charged into the our room and right up on the bed.  He had not been jumping on the bed with the other box springs; he just stood looking.  I was surprised that he was able to judge the difference when it was barely visible for me.  Dogs, they are truly amazing.