| Summary: | The purpose of the study was to determine the physiological load tolerances of two breeds of dogs used for sports, namely the Siberian husky and the Czechoslovakian wolfdog, on the basis of measurements of surface temperature and blood lactic acid levels.Two breeds - Czechoslovakian wolfdog (10 individuals) and Siberian husky (10 individuals), 20 dogs - male, 4-6 years old, were selected for the study. All the qualified animals were previously examined by a veterinarian and considered to be healthy. The dogs tested were used in dogtrekking sport competitions. For both breeds, an attempt was made to test the dogtrekking harness for 5 km of non-stop track running. The animals trotted while being led by a guide. Three attempts were made for each dog at 48 hour intervals. All dogs were tested for two parameters, first before and then after the exercise – measuring surface temperature at selected points of the body as well as lactic acid concentration. A higher and statistically significant level of lactic acid was recorded in the case of Siberian husky. Before the run, the level of lactic acid was comparable in both breeds. The second parameter was the surface temperature measured at the selected measuring points. Significant statistical differences were noted for the wolfdog breed at P≤0.05 before the exercise and 10 minutes after resting, at the neck, rump and abdominal points. In addition, the same level of statistical significance was measured by surface thermography at the abdominal point, both before and immediately after the run. The high statistically significant increase (P≤0.01) in surface temperature was noted for muscles of the so-called rump, both before and after the exertion. There was no statistically significant difference in the back thermography in the wolfdog breed. In the Siberian husky breed, statistically significant differences (P≤0.05) were observed at the neck, rump and chest points, in confrontation with the temperature value after the run as well as 10 min after rest. After completion of the run, there was a statistically significant decrease in the thermography at the abdominal measurement point, relative to the temperature before exertion and after rest.
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