FERNDALE, Mich. – Dog walking is both good exercise and fun for your pet. Recent research, however, shows a surprisingly large number of injuries from walking a dog.
The paper, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, looked at over 400,000 dog walking injuries between 2001 and 2020. In that time, the rate of injuries increased fourfold.
Injuries were most common in women between 40 and 64. The three most common injuries were finger fractures, traumatic brain injuries, and shoulder strains.
Katelin Thomas, owner of K-9 Turbo Training in Ferndale, says she’s seen owners concerned after an injury, and often it’s because they weren’t prepared.
“About 99% of people do not adequately train their dogs to be successful on the leash before they expect them to be good on the leash,” said Thomas.
That can turn into serious injuries. The four most common mechanisms of injury were:
- Pulled by the leash without a fall
- Pulled by the leash, leading to a fall
- Tripped by the leash, leading to a fall
- Becoming tangled in the leash leading to a fall
Thomas has some specific tips to help minimize injuries. First, she recommends a standard six-foot leash, not a retractable leash.
Retractable leashes are a trip-and-tangle hazard. The way you hold your leash is also important. She suggests having your hand through the loop at the end and using your other hand to hold the leash about one-third down.
Don’t wrap the leash around your fingers or wrists.
“We don’t want to get caught in our leash, we do want to be able, if we need to, to have our hands freed quickly,” Thomas said.
Thomas also recommended using a front clip harness when walking your dog rather than just their collar.
“These harnesses have a front clip attachment so that you clip your leash to the front here, and then when the dog pulls, the dog actually turns toward you instead of pulling forward,” Thomas said.
One tip that I completely underestimated is the importance of always having treats with you when you go for a walk. Thomas says distractions to our dogs are one of the biggest injury risks.
When your pet becomes excited, it’s more likely to pull or run, and the best way to regain control is with treats.
“We need to be more interesting than that distraction,” Thomas said. “So, we’re bringing our treat pouch, making sure we have all our good stuff so that when we have our dog out, we can make sure we are reinforcing the things we want to see more of like loose leash walking or paying attention to me when a distraction pops up,” Thomas said.
Finally, remember you and your dog are a team. That means it’s important for you to pay attention while you’re walking. Watch for distractions and have a plan for dealing with them. Thomas says using treats to hold their attention is very effective.