Put on your imagination hat.

Visualize two pipe cleaners that can magically stand upright on their own. They’re not too close together.

Now, in your mind, picture taking a piece of string and tying the pipe cleaners together about 1/3 of the way down from the top.  Not too tight, now.

In your mind, can you picture how this looks?

Just below the string you just tied, the pipe cleaners are no longer standing parallel to each other. They’re angled out below the string,  right?

If you can picture this, you can picture what is meant by the term, “tied at the shoulders.”

In a dog, this refers to shoulders that are held extremely close to a dog’s chest. When this dog starts to walk, or “move out,” her feet will move wide apart with what could be described as a paddling motion. This motion is considered a gaiting fault, and sometimes, it’s referred to as being “tied at the elbows.”

Causes for this vary. Sometimes it’s caused by muscles that are too loose, or by shoulder blades that are too far forward on the thorax.

Sometimes, a dog’s that is too long in the pastern, or has too great an angle in relation to her foreleg will result in loss of spring, over extension of the ligaments and that looseness, or paddling.

What do you do if you notice that when your dog walks towards you, her elbows seem pinched and her feet seem to flip outwards?

You love your dog, enjoy her company, and give her a wonderful life. You go for walks and have fun. You do not, however, make her jog for five miles, or ask of her physical tasks for which she is not built. Your dog will do anything you ask because she loves you and wants to please you, but if you love her in return, you won’t demand endurance, high level agility or pounding runs. If these are important to you, a future dog should be acquired from a responsible breeder invested in their breed who cares about soundness and structure.

Just saying.

Image:Photo by Darinka Kievskaya on Unsplash