How to Know If a Dog Is Right-Pawed or Left-Pawed

Just like humans and the vast majority of mammals, dogs also have more strength in one of their front legs than the other, or at least, they interact with it more often.

In other words, dogs can be right-pawed or left-pawed, depending on whether they use their right or left paw more. Knowing whether your dog is right-pawed or left-pawed is actually quite simple — let's see how to find out.

Techniques to Know If Your Dog Is Right-Pawed or Left-Pawed

Finding out is really simple — just observe your dog while trying one of these three simple techniques:

1. Have your dog sit and hold the palm of your hand in front of it, centered, so you're not signaling which paw it should give you. Ask your dog to shake, and see whether it gives you its right or left paw. If it gives you its right paw, it's right-pawed; if it gives you its left, it's left-pawed.
2. Lay your dog down and give it its favorite toy or a large bone to interact with. Watch to see which paw it uses to hold the bone or toy — dogs tend to use their more skillful, stronger paw.
3. Tell it to stay still, then throw a toy, like a ball, so it runs toward it. Right-pawed dogs start running with their right paw, while left-pawed dogs do so with their left paw.

Differences Between Right-Pawed and Left-Pawed Dogs

Thousands of studies have been done on right-handed and left-handed animals and people, finding that right-handed people use the left side of their brain more, while left-handed people use the right side more.

Each side of the brain is linked to a set of traits and qualities, so researchers in Canada decided to run a test on dogs, observing the predominant traits of right-pawed dogs versus left-pawed ones.

Surprisingly, right-pawed dogs, which use the left side of the brain more, are more sociable, calm, and obedient. Meanwhile, left-pawed dogs tend to be somewhat more restless, nervous, skittish, and sometimes aggressive.

We should remember that temperament is shaped by good training from puppyhood — training and, above all, properly socializing your dog will make the difference between having a calm, social dog or a skittish, distrustful one. Regardless of whether it's right-pawed or left-pawed.