Pooches doing the ‘dog paddle‘ are basically just trotting underwater, a new study concludes.
It’s a technique that armadillos, turtles and even humans can use to stay afloat and move in water.
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Fish, from West Chester University, and his team recorded the dogs’ leg and paw movements, as the dogs swam in ultra-clear water at a rehabilitation pool at the University of Pennsylvania that’s normally reserved for horses.
The researchers found that dogs swam with a gait that’s nearly identical to a familiar trot on land. When a dog kicks into this kind of slow run, more brisk than a walk, diagonal pairs of legs move together.
When swimming, the only difference was that they moved their legs faster and somewhat beyond the range of motion for a trot.
The dog paddle moves showed very little variation among the different breeds.
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Aside from revealing more about dogs, the research could help to explain how the ancestors of cetaceans, such as whales, dolphins and porpoises, went from long-limbed four-legged land dwellers to permanent sea inhabitants.
Fish suspects that, like dogs, the ancestors of cetaceans just jumped in water — probably to obtain food and shelter — and stayed in it over longer and longer periods. Changes to their musculature and their skeletons eventually led their limbs to become more like paddles.
They probably fumbled a lot when they first took to the water.
As Fish puts it, “How bad are you at the beginning?”
This story was provided by Discovery News.
