10/16/2026
Have you ever noticed whether your dog is right or left-pawed? Most dogs, like people, favor one paw (or hand) over the other. Dogs and people, though very different in many ways, can also be very similar in others. Scientists have long studied the differences between left-handed and right-handed people. One thing they have found is that left-handed people tend to differ in their emotional responses. They are often more emotional and have more difficulty coping with stressful situations. This might be because the right hand is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain while the left hand is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain. The right hemisphere of the brain seems to be much more emotional and tends to be associated with controlling reactive behaviors and expressions of fear.
Scientists have now begun studying whether the same things hold true for dogs. Is a left paw preference a predictor of a more emotional or fearful dog? A study by Shanis Barnard, Deborah Wells, and Peter Hepper from the Animal Behavior Center of the School of Psychology of Queens University in Belfast seems to suggest that it is. They did a study on a group of rescue dogs in a shelter. They first determined which paw the dogs favored by watching how they maneuvered toys or which paw they used to hold a Kong while accessing the treats inside it. Then they measured the stress the dogs were experiencing by monitoring the amount of cortisol (stress hormone) in the dog’s urine and also by analyzing video of the dogs. The left-pawed dogs seemed to be more stressed and emotional and had more trouble adjusting to their surroundings than the right-pawed dogs. While I would not advocate using this method to conduct behavioral assessments or develop training plans for a dog, it is very interesting. In the past, I noticed that my female dog, who had a tendency to be quite shy and fear reactive, was left-pawed. My male dog, who is more resilient, happens to be right pawed. Coincidence, perhaps, but anything that might give us a clue to our dog’s mindset is worth considering. Is your dog left or right pawed? Have you noticed a similar correlation with your dog?
