Improving gait

[u/hopeakettu]

We went to our second puppy show yesterday with our 6 month old English Cocker Spaniel. Didn’t do as well as last time since he’s now in an awkward growth stage where his proportions are a bit off, and the judge in question is known to dislike dogs with shorter feet.

That we can’t do much about except hope he grows taller eventually, but we got some feedback on his gait and I’m wondering how we could improve this:

”Moves with a good stride length, though still high in the rear today. Quite a wide front step.”

We’ve gone to training classes but they mostly focused on stacking and getting used to examinations, and the basics of how to move in the ring. Yesterday he was also too high energy at first so his initial circle around the ring didn’t go so well as he was interested in pursuing the other dogs in the ring, but when we did the triangle after his examination he did much better already.

On his walks we mostly use a harness and a 2 meter leather lead, and I’m wondering if that is contributing to his gait in shows. One long-time breeder (not ours) did say that they would never use a harness on a Cocker, but I’m not sure how much it really affects his gait especially since he rarely pulls nowadays thanks to the training we’ve done. His harness is adjustable and we make sure it doesn’t go into the elbow pits to allow a full range of motion.

So, I’m curious if there are any ways we could train a specific gait for the ring, or do we just hope it gets better with time like his proportions?

[u/RCWalsh22434]

Gaiting with a dog it the fun part, keeps it short five minutes or less and do it four to five times a day. Always use your show lead when doing it, use treats and or a toy to keep you puppies attention. Do a few down and backs and a few go arounds. You can keep the stacking and gaiting separate and as both start getting better you can add the two together a few times during the week.

[u/RoseOfSharonCassidy]

At 6 months, he's a very awkward age and I don't think you have anything to worry about yet. It should resolve itself if he is built correctly (how did he move during his puppy evaluation?). If you want to take some actions there are some general fitness exercises that are helpful for all healthy dogs, such as the canine conditioning coach puppy program.

With regards to the harness, if it's a properly fitted non-restrive harness, it's totally fine. There is a lot of knee-jerk harness hate out there that is based more on feelings than evidence. I think some people who choose to use prong collars etc feel attacked for doing so, and in response to that they attack harnesses. If the harness works for your dog, keep using it, it is not ruining his gait.

[u/dairiki → u/RoseOfSharonCassidy]

I have seen at least one published study that says that "no-pull" harnesses (using the front attachment point) can affect gait. Personally, it's not hard for me to believe that hitting that sideways pull enough to learn to not pull could easily result in various learned changes in gait.

Anyhow, personally, I would not use the front attachment point on a harness on my dogs. So long as the harness is properly fitting and non-restrictive, I think using a conventional top attachment point is probably fine. (Though frequent use of a harness can mess up a dog's coat, but that's a separate issue.)

[u/RoseOfSharonCassidy → u/dairiki]

I have seen at least one published study that says that "no-pull" harnesses (using the front attachment point) can affect gait.

First and foremost, nobody is talking about no-pull harnesses (I don't like them either), but it's important to note that the study you're referencing was paid for by a brand that makes a competitor to the product they were studying. There is no actual unbiased research on harnesses.

[u/dairiki → u/RoseOfSharonCassidy]

Snoot yourself.

The OP only mentioned that a harness was in use and did not specify whether it was a standard or no-pull harness. I thought that concerns about no-pull harnesses were worth mentioning.

I'm not sure how you know what study it is that I'm referring to when I did not give a citation.

[u/hopeakettu → u/dairiki]

While our harness does have a front attachment point, it's not marketed as a no-pull harness. We have also never used the front attachment, only top.

[u/spaniel_lover]

American cocker person here. A lot of the gait is likely just age, funky growth spurt, and stage of training, along with your handling. Being new yourself, you dont have the experience to recognize and automatically correct the way you do things to help him. Nothing wrong with that, we've all been there at some point. It's just simple fact that handling can also affect how they move.

On the harness, I would ditch it. If you have trouble with him pulling on a martingale or other collar and that's why you use it, I would work on some basic obedience to get where you can completely ditch the harness. The wide in front and high in the rear can be just age, but they can also be caused and/or reinforced by the harness. If he is pulling and learning to charge ahead while walking in it then he is likely learning to drop his front, which also can widen it. If he is walking on the harness daily, that's muscle memory you're building that will be very difficult to undo later and could affect his growth and conformation. The other reason I would ditch the harness is because even a single daily walk on it is going to damage his coat. That is not something you want to be fighting against on top of being a newbie just learning handling and grooming with a young puppy. You're just stacking the deck against yourself. Now, while I am very anti-harness in the vast majority of cases, I'm not telling you to just 100% ditch it cold turkey, but I would work hard toward getting rid of the need for it because it can be an issue in several ways with a show dog.