Chapter 2 Locomotion and Athletic Performance 25foot (LF), right rear foot (RR), right fore foot (RF),
repeat. In other words, a pelvic limb always
makes the first move, followed by the thoracic
limb on the same side. The dog places the rear
foot down on the ground in a spot just ahead of
the location where the ipsilateral front foot
(which has now been lifted and moved forward)
had been located. The footprints of a walking
dog appear as diagrammed in Figure 2.2. When
a dog is walking, there are alternately two feet
then three feet on the ground. The walk is the
only gait in which there are moments during
which there are three feet on the ground, making
this gait easy to recognize (Figure 2.3).
The trot
In the trot, the dog moves diagonally opposite
thoracic and pelvic limbs (e.g., RF and LR, then
LF and RR) forward, and they strike the ground
at the same time. There is a moment of suspen-
sion after each pair of diagonal legs lifts off and
before the other pair strikes the ground (Elliott,
2009). This is true for most breeds, although
breeds with extremely angulated pelvic limbs,
such as the German Shepherd Dog, may use a
continuous support trot, in which one thoracic
or pelvic limb remains on the ground during the
period when other breeds would have a moment
of suspension (Lyon, 1968; Brown, 1986).
When a dog is trotting, the foot of the pelvic
limb that is moving forward should step into
the spot where the ipsilateral front foot left the
ground a moment before. This results in foot-
prints as shown in Figure 2.4A. When viewing
a trotting dog from the side, the front foot
should be seen lifting just before the rear foot
lands (Figure 2.4B).
The trot should be an efficient, ground‐cover-
ing gait. Viewed from the side, a dog that is
trotting efficiently will swing the thoracic limbs
forward to touch the ground at a point under the
tip of the dog’s nose and kick the pelvic limbs
back with full extension of the coxofemoral joints
(Figure 2.5). When viewed from the front, the
thoracic and pelvic limbs should be straight
from the shoulder or pelvis to the ground, and
should converge on a center point under the
dog’s body for the best biomechanical efficiency
(Figure 2.6). This is called single‐tracking. This pre-
vents the dog’s center of gravity from shifting
from side to side, allowing the dog to use all its
muscular energy to drive the body forward.
There are some breeds, however, that sacrifice
efficiency at the trot to excel at other aspects
of performance. For example, many herding
breeds, and most notably Border Collies, have4(A) (B)231Figure 2.2 The walk. (A) Diagram of the footprints of a
dog walking. The black prints represent the front feet and
the gray prints represent the rear feet. The numbers
represent the order of footfall. In this diagram, the light‐
gray prints represent the prints of the front feet from the
previous stride. (B) Footprints in the sand left by a
walking Dingo. Each rear foot is moved forward and
placed in a spot just ahead of where the front foot (which
has now lifted and moved forward) was previously.
Figure 2.3 The walk is the only gait in which there are
moments during which there are three feet on the
ground. Source: Illustration by Marcia Schlehr.