Preventing Soft-Tissue Injuries

From our September/October 2025 Issue

Is that just a little limp or hitch in the gait, or is your hard-charging bird dog about to succumb to a season-ending soft-tissue injury?

Dr. Jennell Appel, DVM, CCRT, can tell. She’s an expert in canine rehabilitation who specializes in postoperative canine sports medicine, athletic conditioning and injury prevention. In 2013 Dr. Appel founded SportVet Canine Rehabilitation and is based in Georgia during the winter and Wisconsin during the summer. While she specializes in rehabilitating injured canine athletes, she is just as passionate about injury prevention.

According to Dr. Appel: “Soft tissue refers to any tissues that are not bone, including muscles, tendons and ligaments. Soft-tissue injuries are common in canine athletes and can be incredibly difficult to diagnose. Dogs are tough. They love to work, and they love to hunt and want to keep going—even when they shouldn’t.”

To make matters worse, Dr. Appel says, soft-tissue injuries can be intermittent, can be difficult to diagnose and can take months to resolve. “A dog might wake up in the morning and take a few bad steps, but 10 minutes later it looks sound,” she said. “That’s because the blood is now flowing to that soft tissue, the dog is warming up, and that’s going to relieve some of the discomfort and inflammation. The dog may look sound, but that noticeable limp, the head bob, one leg moving farther forward than the other are telltale signs. It’s the dog’s way of telling us there’s something wrong.”

It could be anything from muscle soreness to chronic inflammation of a tendon, such as tendonitis, to an actual tear in the tendon. “The first step toward diagnosis is always a physical exam,” Dr. Appel said. “The ideal scenario would be finding a veterinarian certified in physical rehabilitation, but that’s not always easy. Ask your veterinarian for an orthopedic physical exam to help pinpoint the discomfort or potential restriction in range of motion. Once we’ve localized an area, from there X-rays can help tell us we’re not missing anything joint-related. We always want to rule out joint issues first. Then diagnostic ultrasound or CT or MRI would be next steps.”

CONDITIONING IS KEY

“A well-conditioned dog at ideal body weight is simply less likely to suffer injuries, including soft-tissue injuries,” Dr. Appel said. “On the other hand, if a dog is on the couch for several months and goes into the hunting season deconditioned, that dog is certainly predisposed to more shoulder, muscle and bicep/tendon injuries. When muscles are fatigued, the joints and tendons take on more of the stress. This can lead to tendonitis and other soft-tissue injuries.”

A conditioned dog has greater stamina and can better negotiate the stopping, starting and tight turns required in training, trialing and hunting situations. Proper conditioning should begin weeks or, better yet, months before hunting season. It should be a gradual build that can include free running, roading exercises and swimming with built-in days off to allow the dog to rest and recover. Some conditioning regimens are quite complex and may seem daunting, especially when access to training areas is limited. Dr. Appel says there are ways to simplify conditioning.

“We underplay the walk,” Dr. Appel said. “A fast-paced walk—where you’re walking fast enough for the dog to be at a trot—can be a tremendous way to condition a dog and a human at the same time. Start with a daily 30-minute walk, and keep a constant fast pace. I always recommend starting at 30 minutes and adding five minutes a week, about one minute a day, until you’re doing an hour each day. You’ll find the difference between 30 minutes and an hour is incredible. This is not a walk around the block for fun; it’s a great workout. And it’s totally doable, if people are physically able.”

If someone is not physically able, a bicycle, golf cart or ATV can be incorporated into the exercise.

WARMING UP

Even well-conditioned athletes need to warm up. Think of a relief pitcher in baseball who goes to the mound without warming up and tries to throw a 95-mile-per-hour fastball. At best he’s going to get clobbered. At worst he’s going to hurt his arm.

“The warm-up is really important,” Dr. Appel said, “because it brings blood flow to the limbs, the muscles and the soft tissue. Before any strenuous exercise, I recommend a consistent, fast-paced walk on lead for five to 10 minutes.”

Most dogs (and hunters) are eager to hit the ground running at the drop of the tailgate. “Better to get that blood flow before you push those tissues,” she said.

SOME PET PEEVES

Sporting dogs have big hearts, lots of courage and jobs that often put them at risk afield. Ironically, a lot of dogs are injured at play, in the backyard or just jumping from the bed of a truck.

“We come home, open the back door and throw a ball for the dog to fetch after that dog has been resting for hours,” Dr. Appel said. “That’s the worst possible scenario. We have no blood flow to these soft tissues, and we put the dog in a full-out sprint. A ball throw is bad, because anything you throw that continues to move as the dog moves has potential to cause severe injury. The dog is slamming on the brakes, the back legs are totally torqued, then they’re lunging forward again, full start, full stop.”

Dr. Appel says don’t throw anything until the dog is warmed up, and then, “if I throw a bumper, for example, I’ll only send them once the bumper is stationary and not moving when they get to it.”

Another no-no is allowing kenneled dogs to jump from a car or truck. “Very hard on shoulders, muscles, joints, everything . . . use a ramp, or teach the dog to sit until you can lift it to the ground.”

Last but not least: Don’t allow dogs to roughhouse or play aggressively with other dogs. “I’ve seen a ton of injuries with dogs that are physically aggressive,” Dr. Appel said. “I’m not talking about biting; I’m talking about dogs chasing each other, running into each other, rolling each other. And be very cautious about a puppy playing with a big dog. That can be very dangerous.”

SOFT TISSUE, HARD TIME

Even sporting dogs in top condition can suffer soft-tissue injuries due to fatigue, overstretching tendons, repetitive stress and the rigors of rough terrain. “Look for obvious changes in behavior that are not normal—signs that the dog is sore,” Dr. Appel said. “Maybe the dog hesitates to jump up, wants to lay down immediately when it gets back to the truck, or seems fatigued or worn out.”

Dr. Appel recommends rest at the first signs of an issue. “A common mistake is not giving dogs enough time to heal,” she said. “People are anxious, and if the situation looks to be improving, they’re eager to go right back to work. The problem is, when a dog is injured, the body will try and find ways to compensate for that injury, shifting weight to other limbs. Now the problem gets worse, because that shifting can cause breakdown and injury to other limbs, joints or areas of the body.”

Better to rest the dog and, if the condition persists, seek veterinary care before a minor injury becomes a season-ending injury.

Soft-tissue injuries are among the hardest issues to resolve. “Blood flow is needed to heal chronic soft-tissue injuries, and that takes time,” Dr. Appel said. “Tendonitis might take from one to three months to resolve, and when a tendon is torn—even a 10-percent tear—that tendon can take up to a year to fully heal. And when we say fully heal, that tendon will never be more than 80 percent of its original strength. An actual tear in a tendon is a severe injury, but this gives you an idea of how long it can take to recover.”