Can the dog do it?

One of the most important things we have to do before attempting to teach a dog (or any animal) something is to determine if they are physically capable of doing what we want to teach. Physical problems or even the construction of that particular dog can have an impact on whether or not the dog is able to perform a specific behavior. This can be frustrating to some people, which doesn't make sense to me at all. The dog cannot help how he was built. Not being able to do something isn't misbehavior. Need a few examples, ok here goes. I have seen many small dogs (miniature Dachshunds come to mind) who cannot gait properly on grass. They move beautifully on other surfaces, sometimes even very short grass, but they cannot move comfortably in their natural gait on higher grass because they are simply not tall enough. When they move properly their short legs don't lift high enough off of the ground to clear it, causing their gait to change, usually to choppy, hoppy movement. Here's another example. A dog who has a bad hips may not be able to get up from a sit quickly. If a dog has weak or painful hips, he is not physically capable of popping up like a dog with a healthier rear would do. It's really important to look at what we are asking the dog to do and determine that he can physically do it before attempting to train it, failing to do that will cause both the dog and the trainer a lot of frustration.