Heelwork walking is a command that competitive obedience and working dogs are trained to perform. Unlike other canine sports, the research for competitive obedience sport is limited and no research regarding biomechanical gait adaptions during heelwork walking has been published. The aim of the study was to investigate the changes in vertical ground reaction forces, paw pressure distribution (PPD), and center of pressure (COP) of Belgian Malinois during heelwork walking. Ten healthy Belgian Malinois were included in the study. The dogs walked first without heeling (normal walk) and then while heeling on a pressure platform. The comparison between normal and heelwork walking was performed using mixed-effects models. Post-hoc analyses were performed using Sidak's alpha correction procedure. During heelwork walking, a significant decrease in the vertical impulse and stance phase duration (SPD) and a significant increase in the craniocaudal index and speed of COP was observed in the forelimbs compared to normal walking. At the hindlimbs, a significant increase in vertical impulse and SPD was observed during heelwork walking. Regarding PPD, a significant decrease of vertical impulse was observed at the cranial quadrants of the right forelimb and craniolateral quadrant of the left forelimb during heelwork. The area was significantly decreased at the craniolateral quadrant of the left forelimb and the time for the peak vertical force was prolonged significantly at the caudal quadrants of the right forelimb during heelwork walking. The vertical impulse was significantly increased in all quadrants of the hindlimbs except the craniolateral quadrant of the left hindlimb. The effect of these changes on the musculoskeletal system of working dogs should be investigated in further studies, using electromyography and kinematic analysis.
Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) is a common orthopedic disease. Owing to the importance of CHD in affected dogs, both clinically and for their use in breeding or work, increasing attention is being given to early diagnosis. Therefore, early clinical and radiological examination of young animals is increasingly in demand, whereas common CHD screening according to the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is usually performed at the age of 12 months or even older in Europe. One way to objectively evaluate gait pattern is to measure the ground reaction forces (GRFs) and center of pressure (COP). In this study, we used a pressure plate to evaluate the GRF and COP parameters for 32 Labrador Retrievers and 17 Golden Retrievers at 4, 8, and 12 months of age. The dogs also underwent radiological examination of the hip joints following the FCI rules at the age of at least 12 months, which were grouped as sound (FCI grade A or B) and diseased (FCI grade C or worse). The results revealed significantly higher COP values in both breeds in the diseased limb groups at any measurement point during walking, with the most pronounced results obtained at 8 months of age. Furthermore, COP values during walking were significantly higher at 4 months than at 8 and 12 months in both the sound and diseased limb groups, indicating an increased stability of the gait pattern. Except for COP-Speed, the values of all COP parameters were higher during walking than during trotting at 4 months of age (i.e., COP-Speed was higher when trotting), indicating that the 4-beat gait in walk is more difficult to control for puppies than the 2-beat gait in trot. Overall, our results support the early evaluation of CHD in growing animals using non-invasive methods.
Objective Scientific exploration of zoo animals is one of the main missions of modern zoos. As scientific achievements are best reflected within scientific literature, we screened appropriate literature search outcomes from the 5 highest ranked zoos in the D-A-CH region (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) in order to deduce suggestions for optimizations of future research strategies. Material and methods Literature search was done by entering ”Zoo Vienna”, “Tiergarten Schönbrunn”, “Zoo Berlin”, “Tiergarten Berlin”, “Tierpark Hellabrunn”, “Tierpark Hagenbeck”, and “Zoo Zurich” on PubMed and Scopus for the period 2000–2020. These 5 European zoos were chosen due to their broad public recognition and international importance. Inclusion criterion for the literature list was the description/mentioning of analysed animals or samples with a clear affiliation to the respective zoo in the materials and methods or acknowledgements sections. Search hits were then allocated to the following 7 areas: animal nutrition, biology, ethology, infectiology, reproduction, phylogenetics, and clinical medicine. Also, portions of higher animal taxa (and species, if appropriate) were recorded. Results and conclusions A total of 142 papers has been published. Mammals, especially large ones, were clearly over-represented in literature with 2 thirds of analysed papers dealing with them. Sauropsids (birds and reptiles) were treated in 28 % and non-amniotic vertebrates (amphibians and fish) as well as invertebrates in only 3 % each. This apportionment is in no relation to the species numbers of the respective higher animal taxa. The predominating research areas (covered by approximately 75 % of papers) were ethological studies, followed by papers on infectious diseases, and finally papers on biology with morphological, physiological, and molecular biological themes. Research on reproductive biology/medicine, which is considered to be of tremendous importance for the establishment of ex-situ populations and thus for the conservation of endangered species, has been covered by only 6 % of papers. Future research should more intensely keep an eye on that discipline, especially in non-mammalian vertebrates.
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