Study finds dogs are literally dragging their owners to the hospital

By Stephen Beech

Hand and wrist injuries suffered while taking dogs for a walk cost the NHS in England £23 million every year, suggests a new study.

Women and the over-65s are most at risk due to being pulled along on the dog leash, according to the findings.

Cases of injuries during dog walks have been rising in recent years in tandem with an increase in dog ownership and dog walking to improve fitness, say researchers.

In the UK alone, there are around 8.5 million dogs – around one for every seven or eight people.

But, despite the many mental and physical well-being benefits of dog ownership, it is not without its risks of injury.

Few previous studies have reported on hand and wrist injuries sustained while dog walking, despite the fact that such injuries make up between 10% to 30% of all emergency room visits.

The team behind the new research scoured databases, looking for relevant studies, with a view to quantifying the risk profile and estimating the types and costs of hand or wrist injury among dog walkers in the UK.

From an initial haul of 102 studies, five were included in the evidence review published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

All five were published between 2012 and 2024 and included a total of 491,373 patients, nearly three-quarters of whom were female. Around one in seven were younger than 18, while just under a third were older than 65.

In all, 491,400 injuries had been sustained while dog walking. Of those, 110,722 (22.5%) were specific fractures or soft tissue injuries to the hand and wrist.

Finger fractures were the most common injury (31%), followed by wrist fractures (25%), finger soft tissue injuries (24%), and wrist soft tissue injuries (17%).

The dog’s direct or indirect role in the injury was reported in four of the included studies.

Being pulled by a leash, with or without a fall, was the most common cause of a direct injury, accounting for more than two-thirds of incidents (314,189).

Tripping over the leash or dog and falling (20%); and getting tangled up in the leash with (11%) or without (1%) a fall made up the rest.

One study reported an additional 14 indirect injuries, which wouldn’t have happened had the dog not been present. Eleven of these occurred while walking the dog, but weren’t caused by the dog pulling the handler on the leash.

Study author Dr. Brandon Lim, of Sengkang General Hospital in Singapore, said: "Dog walking didn’t emerge as any more risky than any other activity for sustaining a hand or wrist injury.

"But women and older adults were disproportionately affected by dog walking injuries."

The researchers said that the findings were not entirely surprising, given that older women are more likely to have osteoporosis and so be more susceptible to fractures, while older people generally are more likely to have balance and gait issues and to have impaired eyesight.

The team estimated, based on data from the included studies, that the potential annual costs of surgery and casts for broken wrists alone, as a result of dog walking, could exceed £23 million annually in the NHS in England.

They said that doesn’t include the wider economic toll of those patients not being able to work, and the potentially increased care demands required.

Dr. Lee said: “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.”

He added: “Teaching safer leash-holding practices, such as holding the leash in the palm as opposed to finger or wrist wrapping, or leash choice, such as avoiding retractable devices that can lead to sudden increases in tensile force at the end of their working range, may be recommended.”

Dog obedience training may also be helpful, according to the research team.