# How do dogs walk?



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Did you know all dogs step with their left hind leg followed by their left foreleg. Then they step with their right hind leg followed by the right foreleg, and so on. Interesting trivia. :sorry:


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Wonder what McGee does since his left leg is the one missing the foot? I'll have to watch him to see what he does!!!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

I'd bet he's no different Kathie, is he still as frisky as ever.?


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

He's calmed down a little from the wild man of the first week to just a sweet and playful pup now. Still doing the bitey thing which I do not like! Have to finish reading that article you posted today!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Kathie said:


> He's calmed down a little from the wild man of the first week to just a sweet and playful pup now. Still doing the bitey thing which I do not like! Have to finish reading that article you posted today!


 yeah , bite him back. Just kidding.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Did you know all dogs step with their left hind leg followed by their left foreleg. Then they step with their right hind leg followed by the right foreleg, and so on. Interesting trivia. :sorry:


Yup. In horse terms it's called a "broken pace".<g> (the pace is when they move with both legs on the same side together, like a harness horse pacer) Horses (except for gaited ones) walk left rear, right front, right rear, left front.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> Yup. In horse terms it's called a "broken pace".<g> (the pace is when they move with both legs on the same side together, like a harness horse pacer) Horses (except for gaited ones) walk left rear, right front, right rear, left front.


Karen you best tell this guy about this lol . http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126121348.htm


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Kathie said:


> Wonder what McGee does since his left leg is the one missing the foot? I'll have to watch him to see what he does!!!


Hey Kathie just realized he couldn't be missing a foot , because dogs don't have feet. ound: Don't mind me, I think the reruns of the royal wedding are getting to me.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Karen you best tell this guy about this lol . http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126121348.htm


Hmmm. That's sure not what it feels like when you're on them... I'll have to think on that.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Maybe you're thinking about them running. Maybe that's different. What is unique about Havs , has to be their gate or bounce. Not sure if I read where it is unique to them only or not.?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Maybe you're thinking about them running. Maybe that's different. What is unique about Havs , has to be their gate or bounce. Not sure if I read where it is unique to them only or not.?


No, the canter starts with outside hind leg, followed by the inside hind and outside fore in unison, followed by inside fore "leading" leg, followed finally by a period of suspension, where all four feet are off the groud,


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

This is a pretty misleading article. It should be titled How Dogs Walk Slowly!! It states in the body of the text about "when walking slowly", but not in the title. The "slowly" is a very important point here.

When a four legged animal walks SLOWLY, the footfall is in the stated pattern. At some speed point, they change to the alternate side foot strike. It's sort of a gait change somewhere before they break into the trot, but still a four beat walk.

When a horse is walking around slowly, not really covering much ground, (as in grazing) the foot strikes are same side. The article talks about a term they call "static stability". There's nothing static about even a slow walk, but they are correct in that the weight is carried on three legs when moving "slowly". When walking slowly, the weight is always supported by three legs. As the speed increases and the center of gravity is moving forward more freely, the weight is taken more on diagonal pairs. If the gait change from walk to trot goes from a slow walk to a trot, it's a much more noticeable change, than when going from a regular walk to trot-especially under saddle.

When a horse is covering ground at the walk, the foot strikes go alternate side. At speed there would be too much side to side movement, and become inefficient, whereas with alternate side foot strikes, the center of gravity can travel along in the same line.

I always got a chuckle when someone commented about likiing Posh's "walk" in the ring-especially our British friends-when actually the gait on leash in the showring is a trot. In a trot the foot strike becomes a two beat gait where the weight is carried by alternating diagonal pairs. At the canter, the first strike is the inside (or outside)hind, followed by the other diagonal pair, and ending with the outside (or inside) front. The gallop becomes another four beat gait. Some breeds of horses have several other gaits, such as the pace, the rack, the tolt, and others. Both the canter and the gallop (run) have a moment of suspension. http://will-may.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Secretariat_Preakness.jpg

It's really odd that the author mentioned "slow" walk in the text of the article, but made it sound like any walk only has the described footfall.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, Tom. This makes much more sense in terms of many years of riding experience. When riding, we want our horses to stride out at the walk, whether to cover ground on a trail ride or to create impulsion in the ring. In fact, a lateral walk is highly penalized in the dressage ring. High level horses spend years building up the muscle to support a true, non-lateral, collected walk.

I was having trouble making sense of the article, until you talked about how they move while grazing or wandering. Then I can see the lateral movement.

While talking about gait in terms of these dogs, I know that many show that adorable little flash of pad while the trot. In the horse world, THAT amount of elevation in front can rarely be matched behind, and the foot actually often lands BEHIND the point of full extension. Is this true with our dogs too? ... And do they match behind? (or can we tell with all that hair!)



Tom King said:


> This is a pretty misleading article. It should be titled How Dogs Walk Slowly!! It states in the body of the text about "when walking slowly", but not in the title. The "slowly" is a very important point here.
> 
> When a four legged animal walks SLOWLY, the footfall is in the stated pattern. At some speed point, they change to the alternate side foot strike. It's sort of a gait change somewhere before they break into the trot, but still a four beat walk.
> 
> ...


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Yeah, one point I left out was that the amount of ground covered at each step is the changing point at the walk. When the steps are short, the same side foot strike works best. When the hind lands in front of where the front strike was, it stops working since they would have to have two feet off the ground at the same time on the same side.

With these dogs the rear and front extension rarely match. Posh is one of the few where they do match. You see a lot more Havanese who lift the front legs a lot, but you can notice that the rear steps don't really lift and push, but take more "shuffle" steps. You will notice that the bottom of the front foot is seen more when viewed from the front ("flash of pad") from these dogs, whereas with ones who have more drive from the rear, and the front foot still reaches way out front that the bottom of the foot is more down in anticipation of the foot strike.

Since Posh is Kodi's Sire, I expect that his trot goes more to being like Posh's. You may be able to see it in Posh's video on his webpage, but you can definately see it in some of his agility pictures at the bottom of his page. 

All of our dogs have Twinkle's strong rear end with good reach and drive in the back, so none of our dogs have the flipping up of the front feet. They are reaching for the strike point out in front.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

LOL I guess you have to be horse people to understand all this.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tom King said:


> Yeah, one point I left out was that the amount of ground covered at each step is the changing point at the walk. When the steps are short, the same side foot strike works best. When the hind lands in front of where the front strike was, it stops working since they would have to have two feet off the ground at the same time on the same side.


Which, of course, is exactly what we want in a good sport horse... a MINIMUM of a hoof length of overstep at the walk... lots of good sport horses have a good 12" of overstep. (just from memory, I'd be surprised if yours don't, even just walking (purposefully, as opposed to grazing) around the paddock.



Tom King said:


> With these dogs the rear and front extension rarely match.


Ha! True of all too many dressage horses too. (and accepted by all too many dressage judges)



Tom King said:


> Posh is one of the few where they do match. You see a lot more Havanese who lift the front legs a lot, but you can notice that the rear steps don't really lift and push, but take more "shuffle" steps. You will notice that the bottom of the front foot is seen more when viewed from the front ("flash of pad") from these dogs, whereas with ones who have more drive from the rear, and the front foot still reaches way out front that the bottom of the foot is more down in anticipation of the foot strike.
> 
> Since Posh is Kodi's Sire, I expect that his trot goes more to being like Posh's. You may be able to see it in Posh's video on his webpage, but you can definately see it in some of his agility pictures at the bottom of his page.
> 
> All of our dogs have Twinkle's strong rear end with good reach and drive in the back, so none of our dogs have the flipping up of the front feet. They are reaching for the strike point out in front.


Kodi definitely drives from behind also, but I do have a couple of pictures where you can see his pad. When I watch Posh's video, I don't THINK Kodi has more "front" than Posh... there are moment when I see Posh really getting those front feet up too. (especially when the people are applauding at the end)

Here are a couple of trotting photos of Kodi. Tell me what you think (and of course there are some differences... Kodi is always watching for a change of pace or direction rather than trying to keep things as even as possible as I suspect you do in the conformation ring):

Well, that didn't work... I have to size the photos down. I'll add them later.<g> (or I can upload video from one of his trials)


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

When you see Posh raising his front feet, it's much the same as when riding an upper level Dressage horse. The rider has to give the horse half-halts to get him to step farther under, bring his neck and head up and back to "collect" so the rear strike under can carry more of the total weight. rather than being so heavy on the forehand. The ability to step under with the rear to carry and lift to do upper level collected movements depends not only on the front end, but mostly on the back end. There are many horses that can do the lower levels, but few that have what it takes to get to Grand Prix.

Pam is able to give Posh half-halts with the leash to get him to collect like that. You noticed the pictures where he is free on the dogwalk with head more down and out in front, have the extension, but not the lift. It's both a combination of Posh's conformation, and Pam's handling ability. I think you probably have to be a Dressage rider to be able to do this. Even Pam can't get that out of a dog that doesn't have the conformation to be able to do it though.

Most people talk about "shoulder angle", both in dogs and in horses, as being the most important, but it means little without a great and powerful rear end to be able to step under to lift, and propel some suspension into the gait. If you notice Twinkle's movement in her Birthday video on her page, you will see that she has pretty good movement even at age 14. It comes from her rear conformation. She has what is commonly called a "straight" shoulder, because her layback is only 25 degrees, but she has the rear end to lift, carry, and push anyway. Fortunately her offspring mostly had better front ends that she does.

Sort of like you always hear about Secretariat's "large heart". Everyone knows that, but it doesn't matter how big a race car's fuel pump is, it still has to have the most powerful engine and best suspension to win. Open the link in my previous post. That's Secretariat at full stride-imagine riding that boy. He not only had the biggest fuel pump, but the motor to do something with it. I don't think any Thoroughbred has ever had a longer stride.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

davetgabby said:


> LOL I guess you have to be horse people to understand all this.


Actually, I think about the same percentage of horse people understand conformation and movement, as do dog people. Percentages in both that truly understand it approach zero. You hear about the same number of people in both always talking about "shoulder angle", and almost none talking about rear conformation.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

It's beyond me Tom and Karen. But it is interesting. I would have summon up my dear old grandfather to help join in on this topic. He was a great man and horseperson. Worked for Seagrams' Stables for 62 years . http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/trainers/2002/JJ_Johnny_Thorpe.html


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> LOL I guess you have to be horse people to understand all this.


It's so vitally important in a sport horse that if you're serious about riding, you'd better at least try to understand it. I think that gives many horse people at least a passing interest in animal locomotion in general.

When I am at our training center I am often struck by the incredible differences in gait among various breeds. In some, I can see the utility, while in others, it seems to have been dictated by fashion.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tom King said:


> When you see Posh raising his front feet, it's much the same as when riding an upper level Dressage horse. The rider has to give the horse half-halts to get him to step farther under, bring his neck and head up and back to "collect" so the rear strike under can carry more of the total weight. rather than being so heavy on the forehand. The ability to step under with the rear to carry and lift to do upper level collected movements depends not only on the front end, but mostly on the back end. There are many horses that can do the lower levels, but few that have what it takes to get to Grand Prix.
> 
> Pam is able to give Posh half-halts with the leash to get him to collect like that. You noticed the pictures where he is free on the dogwalk with head more down and out in front, have the extension, but not the lift. It's both a combination of Posh's conformation, and Pam's handling ability. I think you probably have to be a Dressage rider to be able to do this. Even Pam can't get that out of a dog that doesn't have the conformation to be able to do it though.
> 
> ...


Secretariat was, (and who knows? may always be) the greatest horse ever. The interesting thing is he never produced anything remotely in his own league.

Interesting what you say about Pam's half-halts. It makes sense, and of course I can't do that in the obedience ring, where to the extent possible, you should ALWAYS have a loop in the lead. I HAVE always used half halts with Kodi doing every-day walking to bring his focus back to me, etc. I just haven't mentioned it here, because if you don't know how to ride WELL, with connection, it's all too easy to mistake the idea of half halts as "tugging" or a tight lead, or many things that it is not. If you can't have a following hand, you can't use a half halt. It's something you do have to bring over from a horse background.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

davetgabby said:


> LOL I guess you have to be horse people to understand all this.


Well, I am thoroughly dizzy after reading all this!  All I can say is I am sure glad humans only have two legs. I can alternate left, right, left, right....or is it right, left, right, left??....kinda sorta... ound: But if I had four to choose from, I am sure I couldn't get it right! So.... I tried to watch Augie, and still couldn't figure out how he was walking - way too much hair! I like when he hops - two front feet together, followed by the two hind - like a rabbit! :biggrin1:

Carry on....


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Yeah, Linda... I had to laugh while reading your post... dizzy, yeah. 

I'm glad I only have two legs, too! ound:


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I was glad that it all got talked out--I think. I read through the was they ALWAYS WALK and thought it is going to be a long night as I watched Rosie walk trying to prove or disprove the theory. But the horse people throughly confused me and now I believe whatever they say. lol


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

I, too, had most of this go right over my head! But, something you said, Tom, about the dogs always having weight on three feet at a time. Maybe that means McGee won't have too much trouble with the missing paw? When he's walking he puts that leg down most of the time but occasionally I will see it up. Does this make sense? He can run like the wind, too!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Luciledodd said:


> I was glad that it all got talked out--I think. I read through the was they ALWAYS WALK and thought it is going to be a long night as I watched Rosie walk trying to prove or disprove the theory. But the horse people throughly confused me and now I believe whatever they say. lol


I remember a children's book or poem about a centipede who started thinking about how he walked and got so confused he fell down.ound:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kathie said:


> I, too, had most of this go right over my head! But, something you said, Tom, about the dogs always having weight on three feet at a time. Maybe that means McGee won't have too much trouble with the missing paw? When he's walking he puts that leg down most of the time but occasionally I will see it up. Does this make sense? He can run like the wind, too!


Just look at all the little poodles (and other small dogs... it just seems to me that I see a lot of toy poodles doing it) running around on 3 legs because of bad patellas. They may look funny, but they get around just fine. I think if he uses it, that's great. If he doesn't use it at all, he'll STILL do fine!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Luciledodd said:


> I was glad that it all got talked out--I think. I read through the was they ALWAYS WALK and thought it is going to be a long night as I watched Rosie walk trying to prove or disprove the theory. *But the horse people throughly confused me and now I believe whatever they say. *lol


Oh, no, Lucile! Be very, very wary!!! ound:ound:ound:


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I was watching the horses graze today and noticing the walk. They do keep 3 feet on the ground when they are walking slowly. When they are overtracking there has to be split second where both feet on that side are both off the ground at the same time-I wasn't thinking clearly about that before.

Our Arab mare, when walking slowly grazing, has no steady pattern of progression. It depends on how she is bent (horses rarely move with their spine straight, and all are either right-handed or left-handed like we are and favor bending in one direction). She may move same side front after rear, or opposite front after rear. This mare has never been stronger on one side than the other under saddle, which is rare, so she may be ambidextrous.

Her daughter, who has the most ground covering walk under saddle anyone has seen-according to anyone who has seen her move-sometimes has a very short period where only one foot is on the ground.

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule of foot strikes to fit every walk. I expect long dogs may have different walks than square dogs.


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