Jump to content
BC Boards

Wraps around legs


INU
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm sure this has been discussed but I can't search it because I don't know what you guys call it.

I saw agility dogs wearing little wraps around their legs at an event. Someone told me it prevents injury. My team mate's dog had ACL fetching fribee and now he only gets a ball tossed for him for his reward. Cooper's reward is frisbee and Jazzy gets to fetch balls. They both love jumping high. I was thinking about using the 'magic wrap' agility people use. What exactly do you use? Is that just vet wrap? Any instructions on how and when to use?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only seen someone use leg wraps twice in agility ... and never on course. Not even sure they would be allowed on course! The first time I saw it, the person was trying to study which lead the dog was using, so each front leg was wrapped in a different color. Another time, it was for "wrist" support.

 

Lure coursing dogs often have their front legs wrapped ... usually to preven the dewclaws getting caught in the lure line. Someone told me that they had seen that happen once and it wasn't a pretty sight.

 

At any rate, for all the dogs that I have seen wrapped, simple vet wrap was used. Don't wrap too tightly or you could cut off circulation in the leg.

 

Are you sure it was agility where you saw wraps being used? Not flyball?

 

Helen

 

 

I'm sure this has been discussed but I can't search it because I don't know what you guys call it.

I saw agility dogs wearing little wraps around their legs at an event. Someone told me it prevents injury. My team mate's dog had ACL fetching fribee and now he only gets a ball tossed for him for his reward. Cooper's reward is frisbee and Jazzy gets to fetch balls. They both love jumping high. I was thinking about using the 'magic wrap' agility people use. What exactly do you use? Is that just vet wrap? Any instructions on how and when to use?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen dogs doing NADAC agility with neoprene wraps on their front legs. Not sure if it is currently allowed.

 

There are a variety of reasons people give for using them. Here are a few products and their alleged purposes:

 

Wrist wrap:

 

Your dog's front legs are much like your own arms. Directly above each paw is the wrist joint. The Wrist Wrap, fitted securely, stabilizes your dog's forearm bones and lends support to the muscles and tendons of the wrist and leg.

Canine Icer Carpal Wraps:

 

An excellent choice for performance dogs; carpal wraps provide soft but firm support during practice sessions. For more acute conditions rigid stays provide the support needed to help take pressure off of the leg.

 

TTouch Ankle Wraps:

 

I use anklewraps to improve awareness of the feet which can give the dog confidence for TTouch ground exercises and agility. I also find them useful for mentally calming and “grounding” over-excitable dogs

 

Mekuti Leg Wraps:

 

These simple neoprene and velcro straps are wrapped around front or hind legs (or both) to gently bring the animals awareness to the limb & the foot and their use of them. An agility dog that keeps knocking jumps down will be able to work out where its feet are in relation to the jump or the ground and make the necessary adjustments. Anxious animals can lose their contact with the ground - which can only add to their unsteadiness (mentally). If you have a nervous or worried, dog try this - using the back of the hand only & WITHOUT LEANING OVER THE DOG gently stoke down their leg towards the foot. Do they move either it or themselves away from your hand ? This increased sensitivity to touch is not un-common. Using a leg wrap helps them to re-awaken their connection to their limbs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know what it might have been a frisbee dog. There was a frisbee dog demo earlier but I was in agility section so I assumed he was an agility dog.

 

Mekuti Leg Wraps:

 

These simple neoprene and velcro straps are wrapped around front or hind legs (or both) to gently bring the animals awareness to the limb & the foot and their use of them. An agility dog that keeps knocking jumps down will be able to work out where its feet are in relation to the jump or the ground and make the necessary adjustments. Anxious animals can lose their contact with the ground - which can only add to their unsteadiness (mentally). If you have a nervous or worried, dog try this - using the back of the hand only & WITHOUT LEANING OVER THE DOG gently stoke down their leg towards the foot. Do they move either it or themselves away from your hand ? This increased sensitivity to touch is not un-common. Using a leg wrap helps them to re-awaken their connection to their limbs.

Never thought of using wraps for this purpose. That's pretty neat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never seen a dog wear wraps in agility competition and I'm not sure they would be allowed. It's likely that it was a disc dog you saw.

 

Lure coursing dogs often have their front legs wrapped ... usually to preven the dewclaws getting caught in the lure line. Someone told me that they had seen that happen once and it wasn't a pretty sight.

 

A bit beside the point, but I wonder why they wouldn't just remove the dew claws? The purpose of the dew claw in performance sports is to provide grip around tight turns - wouldn't wrapping them simply defeat the purpose?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest TheRuffMuttGang

Were they the type of wraps you see on Mojo in my avatar? If so, that's just disposable Vetrap. In flyball we use it to prevent the dogs from burning/tearing their pads and/or feet (depending on the specific dog).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe the OP was talking about the weave poles that help the dog "wrap around" not sure what they are called- I have 5 sticks. LOL. Not sure I will move them to my next location. I have a lot of dog stuff to give away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Were they the type of wraps you see on Mojo in my avatar? If so, that's just disposable Vetrap. In flyball we use it to prevent the dogs from burning/tearing their pads and/or feet (depending on the specific dog).

 

Yes yes that's it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest TheRuffMuttGang

I don't know whether or not it's allowed in agility or not but I have seen people use it in frisbee on occasion though not nearly as often as in flyball. In agility I could see where really fast dogs could scrape their pads up on contact equipment and it might be useful for those types of dogs (again, if it's allowed).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a coincidence. This very subject was discussed on the NADAC agility list yesterday. Here is what Sharon Nelson (the person who runs NADAC, so she makes the rules) had to say:

 

I have used homemade supports made of neoprene and have been

very happy with them....

 

I always use supports for three day trials or if I get to a trial and the

surface is too hard for my particular dog(s).

 

NADAC does allow the use of supports, as long as the judge feels that they

will stay on the dog and they see no sign that the supports are unsafe for the

dog while running.

 

Sharon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never seen a dog wear wraps in agility competition and I'm not sure they would be allowed. It's likely that it was a disc dog you saw.

 

 

 

A bit beside the point, but I wonder why they wouldn't just remove the dew claws? The purpose of the dew claw in performance sports is to provide grip around tight turns - wouldn't wrapping them simply defeat the purpose?

 

 

Yes, they do use their dew claws when turning. However, most of these dogs were ex-racing dogs and they usually don't have their dew claws removed for the track. From what I understand, removing the front dew claws once the dog is an adult is a major procedure.

 

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The purpose of the dew claw in performance sports is to provide grip around tight turns - wouldn't wrapping them simply defeat the purpose?

 

Depends on how tight the dew claws are attached to the legs. Sometimes they're firmly attached like a fifth toe where you can feel the bone and they are useful IMO for a dog's turns. Some dewclaws are little flaps of skin with a nail and a bit of pad and if they weren't removed as pups, can easily tear when the dog is running around. The barely attached dewclaws can be removed quite easily, even in an older dog. If they are firmly attached, it is an amputation to remove them with a longer recovery time.

 

In the AAC, vet wrap is not allowed in competition.

 

I use vetwrap when we are running on Astroturf because one of my dogs will tear his stopper pads but otherwise he has never needed to be wrapped for agility (he's too big for flyball).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...