Dogs competing in sports like agility, flyball, and disc require proper physical conditioning to prevent injuries and maintain long-term welfare.
Dog sports participation can be highly enriching when properly managed, but poorly conditioned dogs face significant injury risk. Common welfare concerns include overtraining young dogs whose skeletal systems are still developing, inadequate warm-up and cool-down protocols, training through pain signals, and prioritizing competition performance over dog wellbeing. The best sport dog handlers view conditioning and injury prevention as expressions of care rather than optional extras.