Leerburg | The Agility Advantage

The Agility Advantage
Health and Fitness for the Canine Athlete

By M. Christine Zink DVM, PhD

The Agillity Advantage

145 Pages | Paperback
Product #997

Need to design a conditioning program for your agility athlete?
Trying to figure out which of your dog's legs is lame?
Wondering how much longer to trial your senior dog?
Worried about bringing back an injured dog too soon?
Seeking guidance in selecting your next agility prospect?

The Agility Advantage is written with the busy agility aficionado in mind - you! Each short chapter stands alone and is intended to be one sound bite on one topic, designed for easy digestion. You can read about a single topic before bed, while you are waiting for the oil to be changed in your minivan, or in the vet's office before your appointment. The chapters have been grouped into subjects that take your canine agility partner through a lifetime with you. The subjects range from how dogs are built, to how dogs move, to how to feed and exercise them so they move faster and more accurately, to a few of the things that can put the brakes on agility for awhile, to sharing those later years when dogs don't move as fast as they used to.

"Whether you are raising and training a dog with competition in mind or bringing a dog back to competition after an injury or surgery, you will want to keep The Agility Advantage at the ready."
- Julie Daniels, Top agility competitor and trainer of trainers

"Chris Zink offers all dog sports enthusiasts authoritative, unequivocal answers to their questions in an engaging style. I've yet to find a book with deeper understanding of the structural variations in dogs and how they affect performance."
- Rachel Page Elliot, Author, Dog Steps: A New Look

"What every agility competitor needs: A user-friendly guide to the agility athlete from one of canine sports medicine's best and brightest."
- John Sherman D.V.M., Rehabilitation veterinarian for canine athletes

Contents

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements About the Author	vii ix xi xiii
1. Introduction to the Agility Dog	1
How Dogs Look	2
From Top to Toes to Tails: How Dogs are Built for Performance Knowing All the Angles Breeds with Special Needs	2 6 11
How Dogs Move	16
Good to Gait Taking the Lead Taking Sides East-West Fronts Snapping Joints	16 21 25 26 28
2. Getting Started	31
Picking a Performance Partner Your Pup and Parvo Early Spay-Neuter: Considerations for the Canine Athlete Puppy Exercise	32 36 39 44
3. Nutrition Nuggets	53
Food Facts Water, Water What Is an Ideal Weight?	54 58 59
4. Exercise for Agility Dogs	61
Exercise: How Much and What Kind? Indoor Exercises To Tread or Not to Tread Cross Training Front Leg Exercises Fetch and Tug Before and After Exercise I Can't Run	62 66 69 70 73 74 77 81
5. Musculoskeletal Problems: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation	85
Spotting Lameness Recommended Health Checks Dogwalk Slips A-frame Heights Darn Those Slats! Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture: Prevention and Repair Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rehabilitation Flashy Heeler Carpal Arthritis Hyperextension of the Hock Dog Podiatry Knocked Bars	86 89 93 95 96 98 102 105 106 109 111 115
6. Diseases and Conditions of Agility Dogs	119
Travel Stress Hot, Hot, Hot Hypothyroidism Addison's Disease Canine Influenza	120 122 126 128 130
7. Agility Seniors	135
Too Old? Best Exercises to Promote Longevity	136 139
Resources	143

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