Georgia Bottoms, PT

Co-Owner, Fetch Canine Rehab

As a physical therapist, I have had the opportunity to treat a wide array of injuries and assist people and their canine companions in regaining their lives back, but nothing can prepare you for training a multi purpose canine.  You are probably thinking what is a MPC or multipurpose dog?  An MPC is an elite, military dog rigorously trained to protect our country.  Each MPC has his or her own handler who oversees their elite conditioning and day to day operations.  These dogs are an amazing specimen of strength and intelligence.   With this elite conditioning, comes injuries.  These dogs can suffer musculoskeletal injuries, develop osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease.  I was lucky enough that the Ranger division asked if I would develop a rehab program to prevent these injuries and allow the dogs to increase their working longevity within the unit.

The military dogs came to Fetch Canine Rehab in Savannah Georgia ( http://fetchcaninerehab.com/)  where we provide skilled intervention to maximize the dogs overall functional mobility.  While watching the dogs in action, the biggest aspect that was missing was a precise, task specific conditioning program with a dedicated warm-up, cool down and off leash exercises.  By implementing a specific conditioning program per dog, I was able to decrease the likelihood of long-term injury and metabolic heat or overheating.  The nature of combat operations are dynamic so I needed to develop a program that would cater to the canines’ task demands and allow them to be successful in their tour of duty.  Their conditioning program was primarily aerobic and endurance focused with intermittent sprint activity.

I evaluated 8 MPC’s and implemented a training program for each dog.  Some dogs had shrapnel injuries, some had hip dysplasia, some had cranial cruciate ligament disease and some just needed to improve their overall dynamic endurance.  There were 2 dogs in particular that you could literally see the difference with a proper conditioning program, Sem and Jax.  These dogs jump out of planes and perform at an extremely high level when they are deployed so I implemented a cross training regimen in the underwater treadmill and had them perform various proprioceptive exercises to challenge their balance and core.

As part of their conditioning program, I used equipment that allowed me to challenge these dogs through a variety of exercises.  The wobble board and cavalettis from my friends at Canine Rehab Systems are the perfect adjunct to challenge these dogs’ balance, core strength and proprioception.  The wobble board allows the dog to balance on an uneven surface and engage the muscles around the core to work in a coordinated fashion.  Since these dogs jump out of planes and may lose their ability to see, I blindfolded them to force them to be acutely aware of where their body position is in space and be able to perform without this sense.  I utilized the cavalettis to challenge their hindlimb musculature and improve coordination and progressed this exercise by adding theraband to the hindlimbs while walking over the cavalettis to add a degree of difficulty.  Both pieces of equipment are imperative to my training regimen for the MPC.  They are easy to use, easy to set up and the dogs can perform their specific exercises to prepare them for deployment.  Both Sem and Jax did so well on their deployment that the rehab program has become a standard part of the dogs overall conditioning program.  Thank you to Canine Rehab Systems for assisting these heroes in protecting our country and being able to perform at the highest level.`

For more info on these products, visit the Canine Rehab Systems website!