02849-A: Development and Validation of a New Body Condition Scoring System for use in Canine Athletes
Grant Status: Closed
Abstract
Evaluating and monitoring body condition in canine athletes is critically important. Athletic dogs can markedly increase their metabolic rates during exercise, are often in negative energy balance, and can quickly lose body condition. Existing body condition scoring (BCS) systems were not developed with the canine athlete in mind; they were developed using dogs in stable body condition and are only validated for quantifying relative differences in body fat. This proposed study will develop a new BCS system that will better allow canine and veterinary professionals to estimate both fat and muscle loss in dogs. The results of this study will benefit military working dogs, sled dogs, field trial dogs, and any other working dogs through accurate assessment of the amount of metabolic reserve in these dogs and the changes in metabolic reserve resulting from exercise.
Publication(s)
Barrett MR, Scott Davis M (2023) Conditioning-induced expression of novel glucose transporters in canine skeletal muscle homogenate. PLOS ONE 18(5): e0285424. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285424
Help Future Generations of Dogs
Participate in canine health research by providing samples or by enrolling in a clinical trial. Samples are needed from healthy dogs and dogs affected by specific diseases.
