We’ve talked about the importance of shape on a dog’s rib cage before, and specifically, how that shape impacts movement. If a rib cage is barrel shaped, for example, it can “load” a dog’s shoulders with heavier muscling, and that can cause the elbows to “go out” or move wide, both of which impacts the efficiency of the dog’s movement. The shape matters.
That shape also matters because it provides the foundation for muscle attachment and affects the placement of the shoulder blade and humerus.
A dog’s shoulder blades are attached to the rib cage by muscles – 25 of them, in fact, and each contributes to the wholeness of the canine body. Anytime the dog moves, even when she or he is sleeping, the scapulas have to move to adjust the forequarters. If the shoulder can’t do its job, all the parts of the dog will suffer, and that, in turn, makes the dog suffer.
Tendons that stretch across the shoulder joint to insert on the lesser tubercle of the humerus serve to secure the muscles to which the shoulder is attached. Strong ligaments hold the joint surface in apposition, and because the shoulder blades attach to the rib cage by muscles, the thickness of those muscles matter.
In a big or giant breed, muscles can be up to three-quarters of an inch thick. If shoulder blades are too short, they decrease the muscle attachment area. Remember, a dog’s shoulder has to be capable of rotation, flexion, extension, abduction and adduction, all of which control the dog’s direction with balance. Because the shoulder isn’t connected to the spine, muscles also deal with containment as well.
Not surprisingly, the thickness of a dog’s shoulder blade muscle varies by breed. A Bulldog, for example, should have muscular, very heavy, widespread and slanting outward shoulders. A Cocker Spaniel’s, on the other hand, should also slope without protrusion, but they must be “clean.”
Do you know what your dog’s breed requires in the way of shoulders? It’s worth checking the standard, the “owner’s manual” for our breeds.
Image: Golden Retriever/DepositPhoto