Training To Work In Hazardous Conditions

With the recent icy conditions outside, it’s crucial to address how certain environments can increase the risk of injury for our working dogs. Unlike training sessions or dog sports where we can easily adapt our plans, working dogs often don’t have that luxury. When called out for a search, crunchy snow or treacherous rubble piles won't stop them from doing their job. So, how can we mitigate these occupational hazards and be ready to deploy in less than ideal conditions? Strength training! Focusing on strength, reaction and neuromuscular skills—like proprioception, body awareness, muscle recruitment, and flexibility—allows us to prepare our dogs in a controlled environment. By managing variables such as rep scheme, tempo, range of motion, and strategic limb loading/unloading, we can intentionally load their bodies, fostering adaptations that help reduce injury risk in challenging conditions. Consider the joints and muscles involved when a dog slips on ice. How can we train those specific areas? Through hours of dedicated training, your dog can develop the resilience needed to handle uneven terrain, slips, and falls, ultimately preventing musculoskeletal injuries and keeping them working. While we can’t avoid hazardous conditions for working dogs, it’s vital to ensure our training is intentional, focusing on building the skills and strength necessary to navigate these terrains on a deployment. That being said, we must still evaluate risks during a deployment, as first responders do, prioritizing team safety.  However, through dedicated training, we can be as mission ready as possible to ensure both the safety and effectiveness of our dogs.