Blonde By Nature

Ah yes, the wag of a dog’s tail. What a gift. How charming. Hilarious little action when you think about it. How…scientific?

Turns out that the wag of a dogs tail signifies a lot more than what we thought. Wag more to the right when the master enters the room, then wag a little more to the left when approaching an unfamiliar dominant dog. A new Wolf behaviour that I can understand a little better, awesome!

According to the article published by Science America by Peter F. MacNeilage “Because the brain’s control of the body is crossed, a bias in one direction means more activation of the brain hemisphere on the opposite side. Thus a dog’s tail reveals which half of its brain is responding. This finding ties into a fascinating line of research regarding hemispheric specialization, evolution, specialized tasks versus routine, and how much like monkeys — or dogs — we humans might be.”

Dogs really are (wo)man’s best friend. By understanding them, we are better able to understand ourselves and human development. To you scientists out there, be sure to be giving your “subject” lots of treats and love!

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