When I take my dogs to the beach.....I go at lower tides so they can run on the low tide wet harder sand, not the deep high soft sand. Same with the horses....we would only briefly walk on the soft sand to get down to the harder wet sand to run the horses. Dogs do ACL damage (hind legs). Horses pull or totally rupture suspensory ligiments(front legs)offten career ending. I am always careful what the ground surface is like before I run or jump my animals on it. ALWAYS!

Thank you everyone for the great replies! I had a feeling it had to be about either lack of conditioning or breeding. My lab gets qite a bit of exercise with 3-4 mile walks every day and some running after the tennis ball in a big soccer field 3-4 times a week. I know that is not as much as working dogs, but it's better than the neighbors' dogs who are lucky to get a slow saunter up the street twice a week. Love this forum!

There is another component to this which is not mentioned which is frankly the rabid change since my father's day of people willing to treat a dog with torn ACLs, along with the litany of other medical conditions we now treat dogs for where in the old days no one simply would have bothered either because the treatment was unavailable, was prohibitively expensive, or not part of the horse doctoring people generally applied to their dogs.

Shoot I met the first dog I've ever seen with braces the other day. Oh what a fun world we live in.

I wonder how much diet plays into the strength of tendons and ligaments? If the diet isn't sufficient (meaning crap in a bag), I think that could potentially weaken these structures and cause them to fail. Thoughts?

 Quote: Konnie Hein

I wonder how much diet plays into the strength of tendons and ligaments? If the diet isn't sufficient (meaning crap in a bag), I think that could potentially weaken these structures and cause them to fail. Thoughts?

That's an interesting question. Range-of-motion and the resulting movement of synovial fluid have been the focus of what I've read about soft-tissue injuries (and strength, and repair). Synovial fluid is largely the lubricant mucin with some albumin and fat and some other stuff I forget. But I don't know whether diet is directly related to its quantity, quality, and I guess the word is viscosity, and/or to the strength and stretchiness of the tendons and other collagen-y structures.

I'd like to look that up. (Making Postit note.)

 Quote: jenni williams

Neutered and spayed dogs are 4x more likely to have this happen.

I am beginning to think there should be a list of information which must be given to any dog owner considering neutering/spaying which factually tells all potential NEGATIVE effects the surgery could have on the dog. We are certainly told every potential side effect/possible problem when WE undergo surgery, so why not our dogs?

Since joining this forum I have learned far MORE reasons why I should never had Falcon neutered than I EVER heard from a vet. I take part responsibility for this - I talked to my vet but did not do any independant research. When I told the vet I had heard some folks recommend waiting at least until the dog was two years old, his response was any bad habits developed during that time (marking, humping legs) most likely would not stop after the neutering at 2 years, etc...

Perhaps due to the fact that so many irresponsible owners don't keep dogs under control which results in so many "unplanned" litters, vets feel it is necessary to stress the surgery, and of course there is the financial end as well... However, I am perfectly capable of ensuring my dog does not run free and would have REALLY appreciated knowing the seemingly endless list of potentially negative effects neutering can have on my dog. Grrrrr... (I hope this isn't a hijack!)

*pfft* humping legs is a non-sexual behavior. Some bitches and many neutered dogs (neutered at as young as 6 WEEKS!) do this. It's a behavioral issue, not a reproductive one.

Territorial marking is about the only behavior neutering is shown to reduce.

Spaying/neutering pets is a lucrative business.
Additionally, there ARE a lot of irresponsible pet owners out there.
Even many decent pet owners will not/do not take the necessary precautions to prevent an unintended breeding, to include keeping a female in heat on-leash 24/7 when it isn't crated.