Dog walking injuries rise with increased dog ownership

The increase in dog ownership has seen an associated increase in dog-walking-related injuries, which can impose a substantial financial burden on the healthcare system, according to a new study. Helpfully, there are easy ways to avoid injury.

Google Trends data from April to May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, showed a worldwide peak in online searches for dog adoption, up to 250% higher than typical trends for early pandemic months. GlobalPETS data indicates that, although overall pet numbers plateaued in 2024, dog ownership is still trending upward in countries such as the UK, France, and Italy.

However, the increase in dog ownership and the consequent increase in dog walking has been associated with another increase: hand and wrist injuries. In a new study, researchers from the UK and Singapore investigated how common it was for dog owners to injure their hands and wrists while walking their dogs.

“Dog-related injuries that present to the emergency department are often associated with walking leashed dogs,” said the researchers. “The increase in injury incidence associated with dog-walking injuries can be attributed to a rise in dog ownership and dog walking to improve fitness.

“Despite the physical and cognitive benefits, dog walking also creates the risk of injuries through mechanisms such as being pulled by the leashed dog or tripping over the dog or the leash, leading to musculoskeletal trauma.”

The researchers conducted a comprehensive systematic review of previous studies that focused on the incidence of hand and wrist injuries caused by a dog-walking-related fall or tripping on a leashed dog. The five included studies – four from the US and one from the UK – included a total of 491,400 injuries. The researchers analyzed the data to figure out how common these injuries were, who gets hurt the most, how they get hurt, and how much these injuries cost the healthcare system.

They found that mostly women (74%), especially those over 65 (31%), got hurt the most. The most common cause of injury was being pulled by a leashed dog, whether it led to a fall or not. Other causes of injury included tripping over a dog leash or a dog, or getting tangled in the leash. Among 110,722 hand and wrist injuries, broken fingers were the most common (30.8%), followed by wrist fractures (25.2%), then soft tissue injuries to the fingers (24.3%) and the wrist (17.1%). Soft tissue injuries to the hand and hand fractures were the least common: 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

The estimated annual cost of dog-walking-related wrist fractures in the UK alone was over £23 million, equivalent to approximately US$31 million. This includes medical costs and indirect costs like lost productivity, especially for working-age adults.

“Although this review does not show dog-walking to be an outstanding risk factor for causing hand and wrist injuries within the adult population compared with all other causes, it does highlight a significant number of such injuries to be attributable to dog ownership, particularly in the elderly and female population,” the researchers said.

They said that the risk of such injuries can be mitigated by using safer leash techniques (holding it in the palm and not wrapping it around the wrist or fingers), avoiding using a retractable leash that can jerk suddenly, choosing an appropriate dog breed, and avoiding slippery or uneven surfaces during walks. Dog obedience training might also be helpful.

The study had limitations. Three of the five studies reviewed used the same US injury database, which may limit the variety in data sources. And the review didn’t account for different dog breeds, different types of leashes, specific walking environments (e.g., city vs park), or cultural differences in dog walking habits. Additionally, cost estimates were based on assumptions and inflation adjustments, not direct economic data from injuries.

Nonetheless, as the study’s findings suggest, while the physical and mental benefits of dog walking (for both owner and dog) are something to be championed, there needs to be a consideration of the notable risk of injury, especially for older women. However, simple precautions and better awareness, which is the upshot of this study, can reduce these risks.

The study was published in the journal Injury Prevention.