Paw preference and handler location may affect a dog’s cognitive performance on the agility course. This may have applications to your rally dog’s performance! By Claudia Bensimoun
First published: World Cynosport Rally
Published July 28, 2014, authored by Claudia Bensimoun at World Cynosport Rally, summarizing Dr. Marcello Siniscalchi’s University of Bari study on 19 agility dogs. Key findings: Paw-dominant dogs (left/right) excel in trainability and agility (weave poles, jumps, A-frame); handler in the left visual field increases errors/slows performance due to right-brain emotional activation. Rally implications: Use paw preference for talent scouting; use handler positioning to focus. This article is based on scientific studies that focused on dogs doing agility. Could it have applications to dogs that do rally as well? Please read it and see what you think!
Could your dog’s paw preference be the key to rally success? This RallyDogs feature by Claudia Bensimoun on barkuptoday.com, published July 28, 2014, dives into a University of Bari study on 19 agility dogs, revealing that paw-dominant pups (left or right) outperform ambidextrous ones in learning, focus, and weave pole speed.
Dr. Marcello Siniscalchi links this to brain lateralization, with the handler position (left vs. right visual field) impacting error rates and times. For rally trainers, it offers a game-changing tool for scouting talent and optimizing positioning. Below are key findings from the study, including practical rally tips. Read the full feature on RallyDogs.com here.
How can you tell if your dog will be talented in agility? Scientists at the University of Bari in Italy are suggesting that you may try asking your canine companion for his paw. A dog’s paw preference has been linked with its learning ability, focus, and performance during agility trials. If your pooch favors one paw over the other, he’ll fare better at many learning and performance tasks.
So Which Paw Is It?
Recent research by Dr. Marcello Siniscalchi from the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bari, Italy, showed that canine paw preference affects agility performance. The results were published in the journal Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition.
In this study, 19 dogs were offered a stuffed toy that was filled with food. This occurred once a month for 10 months. Dr. Siniscalchi tested whether these dogs used a particular paw when gripping the toy.
During these trials, each dog’s owner filled out a questionnaire about how easily their dog was distracted and the dog’s speed during relatively easy agility combinations. The owner also tested and measured the dog’s temperament throughout the procedure using the questionnaire.
Tests demonstrated that dogs that prefer using one paw over the other outperformed agility canines that showed no preference. The ambidextrous dogs (using both paws equally) did not perform as well in agility testing as those that preferred one paw over the other. It didn’t matter whether the dog preferred the left or the right paw – just having a preference made a dog more likely to excel in agility.
Where Are You?
Dr. Siniscalchi and colleagues also found that the dog owner’s position on an agility course relative to the dog had a significant effect on performance. During tests, researchers found that dogs took longer and made more mistakes at agility trials when their owners stood on the left-hand side of their field of vision.
The researchers suggest that this is because it activates the opposite (right) side of a dog’s brain, which is involved with emotional responses. So by standing on the left of the dog, you may provide a distraction. Testing specifically involved weave poles, jumps, and the A-frame.
Weave-pole mistakes and slower performances were more pronounced than the errors and slowness on the other tested obstacles. “The most relevant findings were that agility-trained dogs displayed longer latencies to complete the obstacles with the owner located in their left visual hemifield, compared to the right. Interestingly, the results showed that this phenomenon was significantly linked to both dogs’ trainability and the strength of paw preference,” says Dr. Siniscalchi via Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition.
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