Understanding Movement: Where Science, Curiosity, and Compassion Meet

There’s something quietly mesmerising about the way dogs move. Each step, stretch, and shift of weight tells a story about comfort, confidence, and how the body and mind connect. For years, we’ve been encouraged to focus on training and behaviour, what dogs do. But if we look a little closer, we begin to see that how they move often tells us far more.

My own fascination with movement deepened thanks to the influence of Sarah Fisher and her work through Animal Centred Education (ACE). Sarah’s approach to observation taught me to notice without judgment, to see posture, balance, and expression as conversations rather than corrections. That curiosity has shaped not only how I train but how I listen.

Working with ACPAT physio Nikki Grant has taken that understanding to another level. When she began assessing Lupin, it wasn’t just hands-on feel and experience guiding the process; it was data. Measurements of weight distribution, stance analysis, and comparisons over time helped build a picture rooted in evidence, supported by imaging like X-rays and MRI scans, and grounded in collaboration with our veterinary team.

That experience reinforced something I now hold as a core belief: meaningful change happens when we combine curiosity with clinical insight. The difference between guessing and truly understanding lies in measurable observation, teamwork, and ethics.

Over the past few years, interest in posture and gait analysis for dogs has grown rapidly. Many approaches promise frameworks for interpreting what we see, but without the support of veterinary and behaviour professionals, they risk oversimplifying what is, in truth, a beautifully complex picture. Dogs aren’t puzzles to solve; they are bodies and minds adapting moment by moment.

We’ll look at:

• How conformation and structure influence comfort, mobility, and behaviour

• What subtle changes in gait, posture, or muscle use can reveal

• How to use observation and simple recording methods to track progress

• When and how to collaborate with vets, ACPAT physios, and certified behaviourists for the best outcomes

• How to advocate clearly and effectively for your dog using evidence and empathy

If you’d like to begin exploring this world, start with Dogs in Motion by Dr Martin S. Fischer and Karin Lilje, a fascinating insight into the mechanics of canine movement. And if you want to learn how to apply these ideas in real life, you can join my upcoming webinar, The Way They Move and, later, my mentoring and consultation programmes, where we’ll translate science and structure into everyday understanding.

Because when we learn to see movement with both heart and evidence, we don’t just train differently, we connect differently. And that’s where the real magic lies.

The Way They Move – Live Webinar

This November, I’ll be hosting a live online session called The Way They Move, exploring how posture, gait, and structure influence behaviour, comfort, and confidence.

Whether you’re a professional looking to deepen your understanding or an owner wanting to better support your own dog, this session is designed to give you the clarity and confidence to see movement differently — and to know what to do with what you see.

Date: 27th November 2025 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Live Attendance: £15 (no recording)

Live + Recording: £25 (includes replay link)

During the session, we’ll cover:

• How structure and movement influence the emotional and behavioural picture

• The difference between observation and interpretation, and why both matter

• Simple, ethical ways to record and track change over time

• How to identify when discomfort may need veterinary or physiotherapy input

• How to advocate clearly and collaboratively for your dog or your client’s dog

It’s not about diagnosing or fixing. It’s about seeing, learning how to translate the story movement tells into insight that supports welfare, training, and recovery.

Why It Matters

Too often, physical comfort and behaviour are treated as separate conversations when in reality they are one and the same. The way a dog moves reflects not only muscle tone or alignment, but emotion, learning, and the nervous system’s response to stress.

When we overlook those clues, we risk misunderstanding what our dogs are trying to show us. But when we learn to watch with curiosity and share our observations clearly with vets and physios, we create space for meaningful change.

Movement awareness is also an act of advocacy. It empowers owners and professionals alike to speak for the dog using evidence rather than emotion, to move from “something feels off” to “here’s what I’ve seen, and here’s what’s changed.”

That shared language between owner, vet, physio, and behaviourist is what keeps the dog at the centre of care.

After the Webinar

At the end of the session, you’ll be invited to continue your learning through one of two new Believe in Magic programmes launching in December:

• Professional Mentoring Programme – for trainers and behaviourists who want to integrate movement awareness ethically into their practice, aligning observation and data with behavioural and veterinary collaboration.

• Owner Consultation Programme – for guardians who want individual support understanding their dog’s posture, movement, and comfort, and how to communicate those insights clearly with their vet or physiotherapist.

Both pathways share one goal: to help you see, understand, and advocate for dogs in a way that’s grounded in both heart and evidence.

Because the way they move tells us everything if we learn how to listen.