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.