Front Matter

24 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

dog’s seven. Another factor that further reduces
the flexibility of the equine spine is the large
amount of digesta in their voluminous gastroin-
testinal tract.
There are four main gaits that both dogs and
horses use: the walk, trot, canter, and gallop
(Elliott, 2009). Dogs and horses use the same
movements and order of footfall when walking
and trotting, but when cantering and galloping,
the gaits that dogs use are substantially different
from those of horses.
When evaluating a dog’s gait, it is important
to keep in mind the original purpose for which
the dog was bred. For example, a racing
Greyhound, with its arched lumbar spine, at the
trot will look quite different from a Labrador
Retriever, which has a level topline (Figure 2.1).
The arched spine of the Greyhound allows the
dog to reach far cranially with the pelvic limbs
when the spine is flexed, giving this breed a
much longer stride length at the gallop. However,
it also reduces the Greyhound’s step length at a
trot because the more vertical slant of the pelvis
prevents full rearward extension of the pelvic
limb unless the spine is in full extension.
Different performance events require dogs to
use their full range of gaits. Table 2.1 shows the
gaits that dogs most commonly use in various
types of canine athletic activities. It is critical
for the rehabilitation professional to recognize
how dogs use their bodies when performing
each of the normal gaits so that they can recog-
nize abnormalities, not just in the clinic but when
viewing videos of dogs training or competing

sent to them by clients. The value of viewing

videos of clients’ dogs moving cannot be over-

emphasized. Subtle changes in gait such as a

slight shortening of stride, not visible to the

naked eye, often can be captured with a simple

smartphone set on video mode, and viewed in

slow motion. In video footage it is possible to

identify injuries long before the dog is lame.

Normal gaits

The walk

The walk is the slowest canine gait. The order of

footfall is as follows: left rear foot (LR), left fore

Figure 2.1 Arched spine of a Whippet compared to the level topline of a Labrador Retriever. These arrangements of the
vertebral column and its musculature serve different purposes in the dog’s movement. Source: Illustration by Marcia Schlehr.

Table 2.1 Gaits used by performance/working dogs

Event 1 a 2 3

Agility Canter/gallop Trot Walk

Obedience Trot Canter Walk

Rally Trot Walk Canter

Hunting Gallop Canter Trot

Tracking Walk Trot

Lure coursing Gallop

Police dogs Walk Trot Canter/

gallop

Detection dogs Walk Trot

a Numbers 1 through 3 indicate the first through third

most common gaits used in each performance event.