Rachel Page Elliott

The articles that have appeared in recent months in several dog magazines on the 45 degree layback angle of a dog’s scapula with a 90 degree angle at the shoulder joint have concerned me. It is important to understand structure as it relates to gait and movement, however, it is equally significant to acknowledge the reality acquired with new information that refutes old beliefs that are structurally impossible. Unfortunately the theory of McDowell Lyon and others accompanied by misleading diagrams that many of us accepted until the findings of new research came to light.

Thirty five years ago, at the time that the first edition of my book Dogsteps, Gait at a Glance was published in 1973, I too had accepted, without question, Lyon’s theory about shoulder structure and wondered, quite frankly, why we never found it. Curiosity led me to Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology where special equipment, newly designed by Dr. Forest Jankins, made possible the simultaneous x-raying and fluorescoping of dogs as they moved at varying speeds on a treadmill. In collaboration with the former President of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Edgar Tucker, my research on gait, structure and movement continued.

Called cineradiography, or moving x-rays, this procedure revealed the action of bones and muscles as dogs moved at varying speeds on the treadmill making it possible to see the dog from the inside out. The study made it clear as to why a 45 degree layback of the scapula and 90 degree angle of the shoulder joint was an anatomical impossibility in normal canine structure.

With such an important revelation, it was imperative to get the information out to the dog world through a new edition of my book entitled The New Dogsteps. Published by Howell Book House in 1983, this work was accompanied, shortly thereafter, with a video on the cineradiography research. In 2001, a third, updated edition titled Dogsteps - A New Look, continued the message with emphasis on sound structure, whatever we may ask of our dogs.

I am reminded of one of my favorite quotations: “Information understood is knowledge. Knowledge understood is wisdom.”

With scientific advancement and technology, new information became available to me and sharing this updated knowledge with canine friends was paramount. In the beginning, I did not have all the answers but the process of discovery has made me wiser.

In my forthcoming book, From Hoofbeats to Dogsteps, I discuss in detail my research particularly on the from quarters about which much misunderstanding seems still to exist. I hope that your readers will learn that we are never to old to learn and will help me spread the word. At 95, I am still studying.