Guest Blogger-Racine Hyatt, CCM
There are no coincidences – this I know for sure. The year was 1991 – I was involved in a car accident that would put in motion a series of events which would not only change my life, it would lead to what would become my BEST life!
Unable to return to school and the work I was doing due to the brain injury the accident caused, I found myself applying for and getting a job in a veterinary hospital as the secretary/receptionist. After working there for two years a young female Boxer was surrendered to the clinic (the people that owned her didn’t see the sense of investing in the life-saving surgeries she needed). One look into her deep brown eyes not only introduced me to my dog; I was prepared to do whatever she needed for as long as she needed it. We would recover together. The vet assured me that nothing she was enduring would haunt her later on, so we began our long and arduous journey back to life!
She introduced me to the world of dog sport competition to rebuild her confidence and complimentary practitioners who, combined with conventional medicine resulted in a recovery many thought miraculous.
It was one of her chiropractors who introduced me to equine rehabilitation / then the new school she had heard about in Florida for canine rehabilitation and after completing studies there I went on to graduate from the Treetops massage program, and the rest (as they say) is history!
And now, through this webinar, I have an opportunity to share some of the information which has evolved out of the development of Canine Sports medicine, rehabilitation, fitness and wellness with so many more people than I ever imagined!
In the early 90’s very few people gave any thought to fitness conditioning – the assumption was that training was exercise and the dogs were “fit enough”.
Then came sprains and strains / the explosion of knee surgeries / early onset dysplasia / career ending disc injuries and the worst of all – cervical spinal compression and whiplash!
Either dogs were breaking down as a species or, as we were asking our dogs to do more, we were not providing them with more! My Meisha retired from a variety of activities (including IPO) injury free at the age of 10! When asked how she remained so healthy all I could think of was that we followed the few basic rules of fitness (from gym class) – warm up, cool down and exercise to compliment the stresses of training/competition! Equine athletes have been doing this for years – why not dogs?
My primary focus was to educate those competing in dog sport – so I put together seminars to address
canine fitness from the beginning: Raising a Canine Athlete – Puppy Development, to the All-Fit program for overall fitness and finally, How to Condition a winning Performance Dog. For many, these seminars have provided the missing link to their training regimes!
It is important that anyone living with active dogs have a basic knowledge of some key aspects of canine anatomy to understand how injuries can happen in order to prevent them – for example, the dangers of inappropriate exercise for puppies (under 18 months) while over 700+ growth plates are developing the structure upon which they will rely for their entire lives! These micro-injuries are the precursors to dysplasia, spinal conditions, soft tissue damage – all preventable!!
Canine shoulder structure – or should we say lack of it!! It is inconceivable that this bungled engineering can support dogs at all – and the main reason why education became so important to me!
The consequences of malnutrition created by the commercial dog food industry…specific changes in lifestyle for senior dogs to age with vitality…and simple exercises incorporated into your daily leash walk that will optimize this time you spend with your dog improving flexibility, strength and endurance to enhance and maintain healthy muscles!
I look forward to spending the hour with you, sharing enough food for thought that you will have new and greater insight into your dog’s fitness – and inspire you to continue learning through the many full length programs offered at e-trainingfordogs.
Join us in our newest Live Online webinar!
All-Fit Dog – A Whole Dog Approach to Over-All Fitness
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
7:30-9:00 PM EST (10:30 PM GMT)
The lecture will be recorded and available OnDemand after the lecture.
Cost: $25.00