If anyone doubts that the world is moving ever closer to integrating Artificial Intelligence with our daily lives, they need only to look at anyone’s electronic device to see how readily one can access “Chat GPT.”

ChatGPT is a machine learning model designed to generate human-like answers in text based on the question given it. Put another way, if one “asks” ChatGPT to describe what it is in terms a child can understand,  it will say that it’s like having a super smart friend that can answer all kinds of questions. When we asked ChatGPT to elaborate, it added: “Imagine you have a magical book with lots of stories in it. Whenever you ask ChatGPT something, it reads the magical book, finds the best answer, and tells you.”

Out of curiosity, we asked ChatGPT to define “dog fancy.” It responded with this: The term “dog fancy” refers to the community of dog enthusiasts, including breeders, exhibitors, judges, and other individuals who are passionate about purebred dogs. This community is often associated with dog shows, events, and kennel clubs that promote and celebrate specific breeds according to established standards.”

Not bad, but Chat GPT doesn’t know everything, something we learned when we asked it to explain, “moving close” in dog fancy terms.

Here was its answer:

“In the context of a dog show, ‘moving close’ typically refers to the judge or handler observing the dog’s movement and conformation from a short distance. During the judging process, dogs are often required to move around the ring individually or in a group so that judges can assess their gait, structure, and overall movement. Moving close is a crucial part of the judging process to ensure a thorough assessment of each dog’s conformation according to the breed standard.”

Uh, no.

In dog parlance, “moving close” occurs when a dog’s hocks turn in, or its pasterns fall straight to the ground, and thus when the dog gaits, its legs move quite close to each other. This action is also called “dusting the hocks” which Chat GPT defined as “a term used in the context of grooming and showing dogs, particularly in certain breeds with feathering or longer hair on the hind legs, such as some spaniels or setters. The phrase refers to the practice of trimming or tidying up the feathering around a dog’s hocks.”

Uh, no.

When a dog is “moving close,” or “dusting the hocks,” his legs actually brush against each other on the inside of the legs. This is not only inefficient movement, but increases the risk of instability, pain, and maybe even a degenerative joint disorder later in life because it’s stressful on ligaments and muscles. When seen in the back end, it’s usually caused by rear limbs that aren’t adequately separated from each other during movement because of poor angulation and muscle tone. A narrow rear can also make a dog unable to build up speed or make accelerated moves. When seen in the front, the legs seem to be coming out of the same hole, so to speak, and thus the front pasterns move parallel to each other and lightly brush against each other.

Remember that when a dog trots, he or she should be “moving in the same planes.” Her legs should move diagonally in two beats with her legs working as a pair. First, she lifts two legs diagonal to each other (right front, left rear) while the other two are on the ground, and then she lifts the other opposite two legs diagonal to each other while the other two are on the ground.

ChatGPT has its uses, but in our view, anyone wanting to learn more about structure and movement can do no better than to consult someone who has been around the dog fancy for awhile.

Image: “Dog goes away” by asmakar/AdobeStock