Podcasts

Join Now

Common injuries of working dogs | VETgirl Veterinary CE Podcasts

Need Help?

Treat a lot of working dogs? Well, this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast is for you. Parr and Otto out of University of Pennsylvania wanted to evaluate the primary presenting problem of working German Shepherd dogs (GSD) presenting to the ER. What was the underlying etiology of illness? In a study called “Emergency visits and occupational hazards in German Shepherd police dogs (2008–2010),” they retrospectively reviewed GSD presenting to the Penn emergency services from 2008-2010 (Shout out to the Penn Working Dog Center!). They wanted to be able to identify the number and underlying conditions of police dog visits and confirm the primary causes of illness in working GSD.

In this study, the authors included cases that presented for a new condition or a new onset of a pre-existing condition as long as the previous episode has resolved and 2 weeks had passed since then. All animals included in the data reported were above 1 year of age. They compared this population to a control group of non-working GSD, which were randomly selected. Overall, they had 74 working police GSD and 129 control dogs for a total of 138 ER visits. The majority of dogs in the working dog group were intact males (76% of all males), with only 3 intact females represented. Working GSD were generally younger, with a median age of 5.3 years (range: 3.4-7.2 yrs) as compared to companion dogs (median, 7.5 years; range 4.1-9.9 years). And in VETgirl’s opinion? Police dogs are typically younger, meaner, and need more handler-handling during veterinary examinations!

During the study period, working police GSD had a statistically significant higher median total hospital visits per dog (7.5, range: 4.0-10.0) as compared to privately owned GSD which had a median total emergency visits per pet of 1.0 (1.0-3.0). Similarly, the total number of visits per animal to the emergency room was statistically higher in working police shepherds with a median of 3.0 (range: 2.0-4.0) when compared to the control population (1). The authors then classified GSD into 14 groups of medical problems based on the presenting complaint or most life-threatening problems in cases with more than one problem.

Overall, they found that in all dogs, 25% (70/276) of all visits were due to “gastrointestinal disease” (which included GDV, vomiting/diarrhea, and “other” as sub-categories). Of this population, 18.1% (50/276) presented for vomiting/diarrhea. Note, of those working GSD presenting for GDV (2/74), both were treated and released from the hospital, compared to 7/79 control dogs that presented for GDV, of which 5 were euthanized. The next most common cause for presentation for all GSD was orthopedic emergencies, which comprised 18.8% (52/276) of all visits. While we won’t bore you with all the statistics, overall, it appeared that other causes for presentation in all GSD included trauma/wound emergencies (12%), dermatologic emergencies (8%), and random other diseases (e.g., colonic volvulus, bile peritonitis, EPI, IBD, etc.)

What else did this study find? The most common presenting clinical signs in all GSD was gastrointestinal disturbance. Also, dogs in the control group had a statistically significant risk of presenting with geratric-related diseases such as cardiac disease, neoplasia, or central neurological disease as compared to working police dogs; this wasn’t unexpected, as the control group of pet GSD were generally older. Police GSD were statistically more likely to present for orthopedic-related injuries, especially for appendicular skeleton-related injuries. I suppose with their line of duty, they are more likely to be injured! This group also has a higher percentage of hospital release as compared to pet GSD (likely due to them being younger dogs with more treatable diseases). This contributed to working GSD being are less likely euthanized (again, likely due to age, type of injury or underlying problem, and the financial investment in these trained dogs!).

One important bias that affected this study was that the academic emergency room had a contract service with the K-9 work unit with full medical care provided. This likely increases the number of working GSD presenting to this emergency room (for potentially more minor problems) and further work-up and treatment. Also, keep in mind that this study was performed at a single academic institution and may not represent all canine working dog populations. Lastly, as this study only looked at GSD, it excluded other working dog breeds so biased the study towards what GSD “get.”

So, what can you take from this VETgirl podcast? If you see a lot of working police dogs – especially those that are GSD – know that they are typically younger and present more often with gastrointestinal and orthopedic injuries as compared to non-working dogs. If you see a lot of GSD in general – whether or not they are working dogs or pet dogs – keep in mind that they present frequently for gastrointestinal disease. Whether the owner is a police officer/handler or pet owner, they should be educated on how to minimize gastrointestinal disease in their GSD (e.g., diet, probiotic therapy, treatment for underlying GI disease, etc.).

References:
Parr JR, Otto CM. Emergency visits and occupational hazards in German Shepherd police dogs (2008–2010). J Vet Emerg Crit Care 2013;23:591–597.

Only VETgirl members can leave comments. Sign In or Join VETgirl now!