Disease Prevention at Canine Group Settings

Canine group settings are places where many dogs come together, such as dog shows, canine sporting events, parks, training and socialization, dog daycare and boarding facilities. Although very popular and fun, bringing dogs together increases the chance of dogs being exposed to many infectious diseases and getting sick.

Our research team has developed the following important resources to help dog owners and setting organizers/owners maximize benefits while reducing disease risks in canine group settings.

Resources

Infectious Disease in Dogs in Group Settings: Strategies to Prevent Infectious Diseases in Dogs at Dog Shows, Sporting Events, and Other Canine Group Settings

• Written for those who have dogs involved in dog group settings, organize an event, or own/work at a group setting
• Provides an overview of the infectious disease risks in dog group settings with practical, specific recommendations for reducing risks
• Includes tables of key infectious diseases of concern, checklists for event/facility participants and organizers and vaccine and disinfectant recommendations

Risk Reduction and Management Strategies to Prevent Transmission of Infectious Disease Among Dogs at Dog Shows, Sporting Events, and other Canine Group Settings

• Peer-reviewed journal article written for those in the veterinary field involved in organizing and providing care for dogs involved in canine group settings
• Provides an in-depth discussion of the infectious disease risks, supporting evidence and resulting recommendations developed by the research group

FAQs/FACT Documents

Quick reference sheets that discuss a sample of infectious pathogens and general disease concepts geared at the dog owner level. Disease FAQs were sponsored by the AKC Canine Health Foundation.​

• Antimicrobial (Antibiotic) Resistance
• Blastomycosis
• Canine Babesiosis
• Canine Brucellosis
• Canine Ehrlichiosis
• Canine Enteric Coronavirus (CECoV)
• Canine Giardiasis
• Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC)
• Canine Parvovirus
• Distemper
• Heartworm
• Histoplasmosis
• Hookworms
• Influenza
• Leptospirosis
• Lyme Disease
• Rabies
• Ringworm
• Trypanosoma (Chagas Disease)

Short, on-line Infectious Diseases Risk Calculator to find out the risk of infection for your dog at a canine group event. Provides immediate feedback on how to keep your dog and the dogs at your event safer by reducing disease risk.

Recent Research Posters

• Descriptive and spatio-temporal analysis of 45 canine leptospirosis cases from Chicago, Illinois (presented at 2019 The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Research Day)
• Canine leptospirosis in the United States: 2009-2016 (presented at 2018 The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Research Day)
• Recent trends of canine leptospirosis in the United States (presented at 2017 Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases)
• Identifying agreement and barriers to proposed canine infectious disease guidelines for dog group settings (presented at 2016 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Conference)