Beyond the Stopwatch: Assessing Exertion in Agility Dogs

Canine agility is growing in popularity with concomitant increased interest in evidence-based practices that support optimal athletic performance. There are no studies on the relationship between training and activity load and risk of injury in agility dogs. Validated instruments to record training load in sporting dogs are not available. In contrast, there is an abundance of information on this topic for human and equine athletes.

Speaker: Dr. Debra Sellon

Date/Time: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 7:00 pm ET

This webinar will discuss the development and test of a web-based survey instrument in which agility dog handlers can quickly and easily report a daily rating of perceived exertion (RPE) for agility-specific training activities (aRPE) and for all total daily activities (dRPE). Investigators will ask 410 agility dog handlers of varying experience levels to complete the training and activity log daily for 30 days to determine rates of compliance. Successful completion of and subsequent validation will yield a simple, easily implemented tool that can be adapted to an application for smart phones. This will enable evaluation of canine activity load with a tool that is applicable to all sporting and working dogs.

Register here: https://akc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DPiZZVpbQs-zyB-_oE3e3g#/registration

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=332052

Posted by Liz on Jul 2 2025. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.