Is your four-legged friend â€˜rightyâ€™ or â€˜leftyâ€™?

An interesting new test can find out if your doggie or even pet horse is a righty or lefty. But don't let your mind run away with the idea; while a paw preference test won't really allow you to high-five your pooch, it can change the way you train your pet as well as his or her pet 'potential'...

What the study says
Aimed to be fun, these tests throw light on what seemed to be an area so far only synonymous with humans. A report quotes Dr Nick Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic in the Department of Clinical Sciences, at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts, on the curiosity that it has generated. "I thought that was something unique to people, and how weird to think the dog could be left or right-pawed," he stated.
Dr Stefanie Schwartz of the Veterinary Neurology Center in Tustin, California, and a member of the American College of Veterinary Behaviourists, added that researchers are studying things like right brain-left brain connections, genetics and sexual orientation that can change the way dogs and cats are bred, raised, trained and used. The research was interesting. While Dr Sharon Crowell-Davis, a behaviour and anatomy professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Georgia, said some horses are ambidextrous, a 2006 study from the University of Manchester in England showed dogs were split half-and-half. Animal experts back home have their say...

Animal experts speak
Rohini Fernandes, animal-assisted therapist who has been training dogs for the past 10 years, agrees that some dogs are more comfortable when using the right than left paw. "But this varies from dog to dog, of course," she states. "This is especially seen when we give them certain commands such as 'shake hand with your paw' or 'tap the biscuit hand', in which the dog has to touch the closed palm in which we have hidden a biscuit. Using a paw of preference can be seen right from the time the canine is a puppy."
Veterinary doctor Premal Darji also adds that such research on right and left preferences is very interesting. "Even for someone who has a pet kitten at home, it will be pleasant to know how to approach and play with it. However, I feel that this study will take time to catch on and be applied," he notes.

Society says
Singer Anushka Manchanda, who is familiar with the idea of the test, says she tried it on her dogs. "My dog Achilla behaves more like a human than an animal. Placing a treat under the cupboard got her mad but she finally pulled it out with her left paw. I also know someone's cat who always reaches out for anangling treat with the right paw. So, this whole idea is interesting."
ismat.tahseen@timesgroup.com