Front Matter

30 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

The pace

If the ambling dog continues to increase its
speed, it might begin to pace. In the pace, ipsi-
lateral thoracic and pelvic limbs swing forward

together and then strike the ground. This is fol-

lowed by a period of suspension, and then the

contralateral thoracic and pelvic limbs strike

the ground together (Figure 2.12). The order of

footfall is LR and LF, followed by a short period

of suspension, then RR and RF. The pace is a

very ungainly gait, with the dog’s center of

gravity shifting from side to side, requiring the

dog to waste effort recentering the body, when

it could use that muscular effort to drive for-

ward. Most dogs are not able to change speed

or turn very effectively when pacing, which is

why it is considered an abnormal gait in dogs,

particularly in performance/working dogs.

Dogs that routinely pace have either been inad-

vertently trained to gait this way by consist-

ently walking on leash at speeds that are

between their ideal walk and trot speeds, or

they have a physical problem that prevents

them from feeling comfortable at a trot.

Interference at the trot

Another gait abnormality is referred to collo-

quially as crabbing or side‐winding. Some dogs

will crab when heeling because as they raise

their head up and look at the handler, the rear

naturally swings outward. This is generally

correctable through training. However, a far

more common reason for crabbing is related to

an imbalance of angulation between the tho-

racic and pelvic limbs, and for that reason is not

amenable to retraining. The most common form

of imbalance of angulation consists of a dog

with a very angulated rear and a straighter

front. The less angulated thoracic limb has a

shorter step length and, therefore, a faster gait

cycle time than the more angulated pelvic limb.

This makes it difficult for diagonally opposite

thoracic and pelvic limbs to strike the ground at

the  same time as they should when a dog is

trotting.

There are four common ways that dogs

attempt to correct for this disparity. Some dogs

will use what is called a hackney gait, in which,

after swinging forward, the thoracic limbs are

held high in the air, waiting until the more

angulated pelvic limbs have finished their

swing phase so that the thoracic and pelvic

limbs can strike the ground together. This gait

is commonly seen in the Miniature Pinscher

2

2

1

1

Figure 2.11 The pattern of footfall for the rotary gallop.
In this example, the dog is using the right lead in the
front and the left lead in the rear.

Figure 2.12 In the pace, both limbs on the same side of
the body move forward together until there are only two
feet on the ground, followed by a period of suspension.
Source: Illustration by Marcia Schlehr.