Clean Run Magazine - March 2010 - 81

Letter to the Editor Dear Editors, Thank you. Thank you. A huge thank you to Kate Eaton DVM for her article “Gaits, Leads, Horses, Dogs, and Misunderstandings” in the January issue of Clean Run. For more than 40 years now, I have been teaching both horses and dogs to jump, and observing and comparing their movement. I agree with her completely. “Dogs are different.” Their gaits, their footfalls and their basic locomotion are not the same as horses. Certainly much can be learned from training horses to jump efficiently and confidently that can be applied to teaching dogs. (Have you ever thought about whether you would actually want to “ride” your dog over a course of jumps, even if you could ?) But leads and canter strides in dogs and horses are different. A true “lead” is initiated by the first footfall of the hind end, not the “leading leg,” and this has often been critically misrespresented when dealing with dogs. While I agree it is almost impossible to observe the stride and footfalls of a running Border Collie, movement is somewhat easier to observe in the breeds I have worked with most—Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds. I have watched my dogs countless times race around a huge bush (about 25' in diameter) in our field, after they have been swimming in the pond. More often than not, they will actually switch to what would be a countercanter lead in a horse (such as being on the left lead both front and rear, even though they are circling to the right). And often they will choose to cross-canter (use different leads in front and in rear), in order to gain balance and traction and speed. Cross-cantering (or cross-firing as it is also known in horses) often seems to be the gait of choice when dogs are focused on being agile and balanced at speed. This is also referred to as the horse traveling “disunited,” but in dog movement they do not seem to be disunited in any way when their front lead does not match their hind-end lead. In truth, left to their own devices while running in a large, fast circle (such as in a competition reining pattern), many horses will actually want to switch to what we would call a cross-canter behind. The reason might be that they can then bring that inside hind leg underneath themselves better for more balance and control on the circle. But you do not need to know all this to teach your dog to jump well. Once he is comfortable with adjusting his stride, using his body efficiently over the jump, and turning at speed in both directions, I agree with the author’s advice wholeheartedly. In sequences and on course, simply let the dog know which direction to go as early as possible—and the dog will know best which foot goes where and when. Kudos to Clean Run and to the author for this excellent article. Sheila Booth (author of Purely Positive Training and Schutzhund Obedience: Training In Drive) Addendum to “Interpreting Dog Food Labels: What You Need to Know” in CR November 2009 By Julie A. Roos DVM In the article I listed the ranges of protein (30-35%), fat (35-45%) and carbohydrate (10-15%) that are recommended for feeding agility dogs. These numbers reflect the percentage of calories in each category recommended for daily consumption (calories and kilocalories are terms used interchangeably in animal nutrition). But remember, all foods can only be compared on a dry matter basis; so you cannot compare the food labels unless you have removed the moisture. I failed to clarify that when a food is listed as having X number of kcals/cup on the label, it is not listed on a dry matter basis, unless otherwise stated. So to compare foods you have to do another calculation to determine the metabolizable energy. Metabolizable energy is the energy that is available (assuming perfect digestion) in a certain amount of food. To convert weight (dry matter) to energy (kilocalories) dry Dry matter matter should be multiplied (%) by the Atwater* number for Protein 31.45 protein, fat, and carbohydrate. Fat 17.35 Add these numbers together Carbohydrate 40.78 for total kcal/100gm. Then for Total each category (protein, fat, and carbohydrate) divide by the total and multiply by 100% to get total kcal/100gm on a dry matter basis. I’ve done this below for the example from the article. Don’t be overwhelmed by the math; remember these are rough calculations and may vary by a few percentage points depending on how the ash component was handled. The main point I wanted to convey is that when you compare foods you have to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If you are interested in going deeper into analyzing diets I highly recommend Performance Dog Nutrition by Dr. Jocelyn Jacobs DVM. The Food and Drug Administration also has a helpful website: www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/resourcesforyou/ucm047113.htm. Guaranteed analysis or “as fed” (%) 29 16 37 1st Step Metabolizable energy calculation (kcals/100gm) 31.45 x 3.5 = 110.1 17.35 x 8.5 = 147.5 40.78 x 3.5 = 142.7 400.3 2nd Step Kcals/100gm on a dry matter basis calculation (110.1 ÷ 400.3) x 100 = 27.5 (147.5 ÷ 400.3) x 100 = 36 (142.7 ÷ 400.3) x 100 = 35.65 ~100% *Atwater numbers tell you how much energy is available (kcal) per 100 grams of protein, fat, or carbohydrate. Fat has twice as much energy available per 100 grams as protein or carbohydrate. The Atwater numbers are constant and are as follows: protein and carbohydrate 3.5 and fat 8.5. March 10 | Clean Run 81

http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/resourcesforyou/ucm047113.htm

Clean Run Magazine - March 2010

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