The biomechanics of working dog locomotion II: Loaded trotting.

There is a growing need for working dogs to carry equipment to facilitate or enhance the completion of tasks, and carrying these wearable devices often involves bearing substantial loads on or around their spines. However, the potential locomotory, physiological, and/or behavioural effects of the shape and/or weight of these devices on working dog performance are unknown. This work aimed to investigate the absolute and relative impact of carrying various shapes and magnitude of load on functional performance in working dogs, including Labrador retrievers, shepherd breeds and spaniel breeds.

The biomechanics of working dog locomotion I: Steady-state trotting.

The biomechanics of steady-state locomotion in different breeds of working dog is understudied, despite widespread use of these animals in multiple industries. It is unknown how kinematic and kinetic parameters vary between breeds and how these variations are potentially related to inter-breed variations in morphology. Here, gross morphology and trotting locomotion within a cohort of 27 Labrador Retrievers ("Labradors"), shepherd breeds ("Shepherds") and spaniel breeds ("Spaniels") were compared using motion capture, force plates and biomechanical modelling.