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Abstract
The aims of this study were to develop a technique to measure canine truncal rotation and to compare that rotation for a dog wearing and not wearing a service vest. Five dogs of various breeds were used in the study. Kinematics data were collected for each dog as the dog walked and trotted on a treadmill thereby establishing a set of baseline parameters for each individual dog that could be compared to the dog walking on the treadmill while wearing the vest. The specific parameters quantified and analyzed in this study were thorax rotation, scapula rotation, pelvis rotation, and vest rotation, with the intent of developing a method for measuring these parameters compared to a relatively stationary coordinate system on the dog. Results indicate that there were measurable differences in canine gait for each of the two service vests compared with baseline.