Functional measurement of canine muscular fitness: refinement and reliability of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center Sprint Test

Working, sporting, and companion dogs require muscular fitness to perform their daily tasks, competitive activities, operational functions effectively with a low risk of injury. There are currently no methods measure the who not debilitated. Sprint performance is highly correlated in humans, various sprint assessments used for sporting tactical athletes. The Penn Vet Working Dog Center Test (ST) 25 m maximal effort from down position was developed be low-cost suitable field use. purpose this project describe refinements ST, detail measurement protocol, evaluate inter-rater intra-rater reliability, characterize acceleration profile, explore inter-day reliability. Both naïve experienced raters demonstrated excellent profile study similar that average adult human sprinters role over short distance. Finally, small group showed moderate reliability provided initial data inform future studies. ST appears reliable canine could assess healthy guide return sport or work debilitated dogs.