Does Your Dog Wag To The Left Or Right?

Scientists never tire of researching all manner of bizarre things, often with little or no benefits resulting from the outcome.

This weeks 'What Was the Point Of That Trophy' Goes to the Italian scientists who after much research have 'discovered' that dogs react with different body language indications with their tails, depending on whether they're happy or not!

Dogs that are happy such as when seeing their owner apparantly wag their tails with a right hand bias. On the other hand, dogs that are unsure of the situation, or on the edge of 'flight mode'. Yes you've guessed it. They favour a more left styled wag!

At first thought it could, of course, be useful because many people think that wagging tail=happy dog, wrong!! All that a dog tells you by wagging its tail is that it is in a heightened state of awareness. It may be considering a number of options such as licking you to death, biting you, running away or any number of other behaviours. So,it would great if by just looking at the dogs rear end you could assess his moods and intentions.

This is where the benefits of this research become a little less obvious. The bias is so subtle that it requires video analysis to detect. It is not obvious enough for you to make an on the spot risk assessment at the time. Not a lot of use for the postman then!

It is however an interesting piece of work, all knowledge is beneficial but as a 'hands on tool' it has a long way to go.

You can see a short videoclip here.