Overview
- The study in Injury Prevention reviewed five US-based analyses covering almost 500,000 dog walking–related incidents.
- Women accounted for 74% of hand and wrist injuries and people over 65 made up 31% of cases.
- Leash pulls caused 68% of recorded injuries, while tripping over dogs or tangled leads contributed to 20%.
- Broken fingers were the most common injury at 30.8%, followed by wrist fractures at 25.2%.
- Researchers estimate £23 million a year in direct NHS treatment costs for wrist fractures alone and recommend proper leash handling, front-clip harnesses and basic obedience training to reduce risks.