LupoMove® Prophylaxis Programme
The scientifically controlled build-up of the dog from puppy age to adult dog.
Dr. med. vet. Patrick Blättler Monnier
What started for me in 2007 with the puppy passport has now become the branded prophylaxis system LupoMove®. It covers the entire range from growing puppies and young dogs to adult dogs and sports and working dogs.
LupoMove® focusses on the skeletal system, with special attention paid to the hip and elbow joints as well as the bone and muscle system. In addition, nutrition as well as physical and mental exercise are considered. The aim is to enable the puppy to grow in a controlled manner – irrespective of the 1-minute rule, which is outdated according to today’s knowledge and states that the puppy should not be given more than one minute of exercise at a time per week of life.
This rule of thumb, which still circulates in the context of puppy care, has been exposed as erroneous by contemporary science and everyday experience alike, because movement can be understood as the basic prerequisite for effective muscle development. To minimise or even exclude blunt, traumatic effects, it should be exercised in the best possible way. In addition to the physical influences, the psychological and social framework must also be considered in the growth of the puppy and young dog, especially the mental and intellectual development as well as the interaction with other dogs and people.
That hip dysplasia has a genetic component is undisputed. However, my thirty years of professional experience and daily practice have led me to the conclusion that – without excluding genetics – the connection tends to be characterised as epigenetic. Thus, I consider my findings rather as a broadening of horizons that captures the fact that HD is a polygenetic and multifactorial disease. As an orthopaedic specialist in canine kinematics and biomechanics, I can live well with this addition to the definition, because I see a significant connection between movement – especially its nature – and the development of hip dysplasia. In my opinion, this connection is also valid regarding elbow dysplasia, osteochondrosis (OCD) and parostitis.
The contents and thoughts on this topic were elaborated in my first book “Wieviel Bewegung braucht der Welpe” (How much exercise does the puppy need).
This postulate became the central scientific viewpoint of my study of puppy development from the twelfth week of life to the fifteen-month-old young dog. Seven Rottweilers, ten Golden Retrievers and thirty-six Australian Shepherds were involved in the study. In addition to the recording of the movement data with LupoGait® and the BMI data, a questionnaire was prepared for the dog owners, the answers to which provided supplementary information on diet, exercise, training, and the mental workload of the dogs studied.
Currently, the first data is being subjected to a statistical evaluation and the results will then be integrated into a second book on exercise development in dogs from the twenty-fourth week of life.
By the beginning of 2022, all patients participating in this study will have undergone a full radiological examination for HD and ED, including stress radiology and movement measurements. This will allow the subsequent evaluation of over fifty dogs, the data generated from which will be published in a scientific journal.
In addition to the focus on diseases in young dogs, obtaining information on the specific time of development of skeletal diseases during ontogeny is another goal. If necessary, the study questionnaire can provide further clues to triggering factors.
It is obvious that there is still a substantial need for information in this field, which new research will help to improve both the understanding of young dog diseases and the controllability of their therapy. Only in this way can our dogs’ quality of life be increased and the completely outdated 1-minute rule finally be deprived of its effect.
Dr. med. vet. Patrick Blättler Monnier,
orthoVET, Frenkendorf/Switzerland
The scientific paper for the study on the structure of puppies from the twelfth week of life to the fifteenth month will follow. We will inform you as soon as it is available!
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