Something interesting I heard from a vet student today

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xerospin

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Her professor said 40% of dogs will prefer to wag their tails towards the right. Another 40% to the left. Last 20% will have no preference and it's these ones that tend to develop serious separation anxiety or become overly sensitive to noises.

Has anyone heard of this before? I thought it was very interesting. But alfie rarely wags his, Ajax is the 20% and he is vert much afraid of loud noises.

Is this true for your pups?
 
justus tends to carry on the right side, he actually wraps it around me when we are competing! He is the most social, confident and friendly sheltie I've had the pleasure of knowing.

There was an article recently, a dog friendly dog greeting - the tail is swung to the right... it might be worth a google to find that.
 
I heard dogs wag to the right when they are happy with what they are seeing and to the left when they are not.

I notice my sheltie clearly does this. She has a rightward wag most of the time except when she sees something approach the house or the mini goats she does not like. My shepherd has a natural bob and so cannot display clear enough for me to see. He can manage a fast tail wiggle. He does have a lot of anxiety though.
 
Interesting! I've never given tail wagging much thought before, what about ones that don't really wag at all? Alfie only wags when I come home. Or at my chinchilla lol and it's never over his back. Doesn't wag for food or toys etc. I don't think he has a preferred side, but he is reactive to noise. But which sheltie isn't??? :/
 
2GoodDogs said:
from google search:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...ail-wags-really-mean-some-new-scientific-data
Click to expand...

Great post! I've been on the look out for Indy's cues with the new puppy. This will help determine when he is playing and when he's not so much!

Excellent article. I had seen one similar but glad you saved me the trouble!

Indy and Callan both generally wag their tails to the rift, though I'm going to watch Indy closer next time he herds Callan and next time he "runs my fence" against squirrels, people and other dogs.....
 
Tail wag study starts 3:00 in. Its the same one mentioned in the article or referenced forgot which. I had trouble seeing the difference without the overlay drawings of angles
 
Cookie almost always wags his to the right. He is afraid of *really* loud noises, but doesn't have separation anxiety and is a very social and people friendly sheltie. Interesting study.
 
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