Dynamic Dog Overview

What is the Dynamic Dog Certification?

A UK-based dually accredited** 6-month program that provides behaviour professionals with training on gait analysis, canine anatomy, physiology, and conformation, and the overlap between pain and behaviour.

What is the purpose of a Dynamic Dog (Behaviour, Movement, and Gait) Analysis?

To provide veterinarians with additional in-depth evidence and information to support their investigation for clients with an underlying suspicion of pain, particularly when linked to challenging behavioural cases, as well as increase opportunities for collaboration amongst the dog’s care team to provide optimal care for the client.

What it does:

  • Provides a thorough overview of a dog’s everyday behaviour, gait, posture, and activities of daily living through:

    • guardian interview

    • static photo analysis

    • visual gait analysis (via video review)

    • observation and description of movement in activities of daily living

  • Final product is a report sent to the client’s veterinarian and reviewed with the client.

What it doesn’t do:

  • Provide a hands-on assessment - it is 100% observational

  • Provide a diagnosis or anything else within the realm of veterinary services

  • Provide objective validated gait analysis (force plate, kinetics, etc)

Supporting evidence:

  • Research suggests that up to 82% of behaviour cases may have an underlying pain component (1) and that identification of pain can be complicated (2).

  • While assessing gait with a validated objective gait analysis tool like a force plate is the gold standard, due to the difficulty and expense of accessing these tools, subjective measures like visual gait analysis are an acceptable part of the veterinary exploration process (3).

  • Chronic pain can affect multiple areas of a dog’s life: behaviour change, capability change, posture and physical appearance change, gait change (4).

  • Many dogs are fearful and stressed at the vet (5), often behaving differently at the vet clinic than at home, potentially making assessment difficult.

** Accredited by CPD Standards and Rural Skills UK. Taught by Gemma Hodson (ISCP Canine Behaviour Practitioner, Canine Myofunction & Rehabilitation Therapist, TTouch Practitioner, Veterinary Physiotherapist (in-progress)).

Supporting research and evidence

(1) Mills, D. S., Demontigny-Bédard, I., Gruen, M., Klinck, M. P., McPeake, K. J., Barcelos, A. M., Hewison, L., Van Haevermaet, H., Denenberg, S., Hauser, H., Koch, C., Ballantyne, K., Wilson, C., Mathkari, C. V., Pounder, J., Garcia, E., Darder, P., Fatjó, J., & Levine, E. (2020). Pain and Problem Behavior in Cats and Dogs. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 10(2), 318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020318

(2) Mills, D. S., Coutts, F. M., & McPeake, K. J. (2024). Behavior Problems Associated with Pain and Paresthesia. The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice, 54(1), 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2023.08.007

(3) Clark, N., & Comerford, E. (2023). An update on mobility assessment of dogs with musculoskeletal disease. The Journal of small animal practice, 64(10), 599–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13650

(4) Capon, H., & Dycus, D. (2018). How to case manage the osteoarthritic dog. BSAVA Companion. DOI: 10.22233/20412495.0518.14

(5) Riemer, S., Heritier, C., Windschnurer, I., Pratsch, L., Arhant, C., & Affenzeller, N. (2021). A Review on Mitigating Fear and Aggression in Dogs and Cats in a Veterinary Setting. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 11(1), 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010158