Friday, May 22, 2015

Wagging

I'm not sure if I really think this is helpful information,but if not at least it's a fun trivia tidbit. According to Italian researchers if a dog is wagging its tail to the right it's happy,if it's wagging to the left it's  not a good wag. This is based on the right brain sending signals to the left side and the left side of the brain sending signals to the right side. The study was conducted by noting how the dogs reacted to different stimuli,then measuring their heart rate and other physical signs showing happiness or fear and anger. Other dog experts didn't seem to think the results were necessarily valid pointing out that many happy dogs wag their tails in circles. As far as being useful in avoiding a dangerous dog I think it would be wiser to consider the whole posture of the animal rather than trying to figure out which side the tail was wagging on...but hey! I imagine good money was spent on this research,so what do I know?
20131031rldDogWagLocal01 Dog trainer and educator Penny Layne with her six dogs Thursday at her Irwin home. Ms. Layne and other local pet experts say they aren’t sure what to make of the results of a study by Italian researchers on dogs’ tail-wagging signals. “You really have to look for a while to see if the tail is going left or right. You can’t waste that much time if your life is threatened.”

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