389: 320,000 Dogwalks

In this episode (1:17:56)

In this episode, Sarah and Esteban welcome Dr. Arielle Pechette Markley and Dr. Abigail Shoben to discuss their CARIS research update analyzing data from 1,385 trials and over 300,000 runs per obstacle. They break down the findings from the largest coordinated safety study in agility history on contact obstacle incidents and what the numbers actually mean for handlers and dogs.

You Will Learn

• The actual incident rates by obstacle: dogwalk leads at 2.1 per 1,000 runs, followed by teeter (1.04) and A-frame (0.40)
• Why 91.5% of contact incidents result in no apparent injury, with actual injury rates as low as 1 in 33,000 runs for dogwalks
• How these prospective findings compare to previous retrospective studies and why the methodology matters for interpreting risk
• Which agility obstacle has a much higher incident rate than any of the contact obstacles

Mentioned

• The CARIS Research Update everyone is talking about: https://www.caninesportsscience.org/post/caris-research-update-what-we-re-learning-about-contact-obstacle-incidents.
• The "speed study": Increasing course speeds in canine agility: a decade of trends from American Kennel Club competition data

Sponsored By

• Canine Handler Fitness