Most activities need the use of one hand or the other, and for approximately 90% of people, that hand is the right one. Most people are ambidextrous, although between 10% to 13% of people are left-handed, with men being three times as likely to be left-handed than women.Prior to recently, it was believed that humans were the only species with "handedness," however research on other animals indicates that other mammals may share this trait. How this manifests in animals and if it is the same as human handedness are less certain.

To ascertain whether the domestic dog exhibits any signs of preferential paw use, a wide range of tests have been established. Tasks have included holding a toy steady, reaching for a treat that was hidden within a container, or taking something off the animal's body, like a blanket or a piece of adhesive tape.

Other markers include noting the first step made to descend a flight of stairs or the paw extended to a requester.

Studies utilising these tasks have produced a variety of results, but a recent meta-analysis found that overall, dogs are more likely to be paw-preferent than ambilateral—what we refer to as ambidextrous when discussing humans—or to show no preferred paw.

However, unlike in people, paw preference seems to be distributed quite evenly. Handedness in dogs is consequently individual-specific rather than population-specific.

Studies show that paw use varies depending on the activity, with characteristics including task difficulty influencing paw use. In the typical "Kong ball" test, for instance, where the animal must stabilise a conical ball, about equal numbers of left-pawed, right-pawed, and ambidextrous responses are typically produced.

Contrarily, the "give a paw" assignment, a training and repetition-based activity, produces significantly more paw-preferent than ambidextrous answers.

Strong sex variations in canine paw preference have been shown in several investigations. Male dogs are more likely to have left paws than females, who are more likely to have right paws. The domestic cat is one of the non-human species that exhibits this sex difference.

Although hypotheses include hormonal influences and variations in brain architecture, it is still unclear why male and female animals should utilise their paws differently.

Finding out a pet dog's preference for left or right handedness might be a lot of fun, but from the standpoint of animal welfare, it may also be crucial. This is so that we may better understand the feelings that an animal is experiencing through its paw choices.

The left side of a dog's brain, which governs the right side of its body, processes emotions more favourably than the right side does. The left part of a dog's body is controlled by the right side of the brain, which concentrates more on positive feelings like joy and happiness.

Therefore, observing which paw a dog is holding can help us understand how that animal is feeling. For instance, a dog using its left paw to perform a task may be feeling more unfavourable feelings than a dog using its right paw.

Recent research has found a link between paw preference and emotional responsiveness in dogs. According to our research, left-pawed dogs are more "pessimistic" than right-pawed or ambilateral animals, as evidenced by the fact that they take longer to approach an empty food bowl that has been put in an uncertain location during a cognitive bias task.

The recorded sounds of thunderstorms and explosions have been demonstrated to elicit stronger responses in dogs with lesser paw preferences than in dogs with stronger paw preferences.

Additionally, we have discovered evidence of a relationship between canine paw preferences and personality, with ambilateral canines scoring higher than animals with strong paw preferences for aggressive and scared behaviours.

This might have an impact on training animals. There is evidence to suggest that paw preference testing could be a useful tool for predicting which dogs will end up being good guide dogs.

Analyzing paw preferences may help you spot those who are more prone to breaking under pressure. For instance, it has been observed that dogs with left paws in rescue kennels exhibit more indicators of stress than dogs with right paws.

It would be foolish to use paw preference testing alone at this point to assess the risk to animal welfare. However, it has the potential to be an effective tool, especially when used in conjunction with other welfare tests or with other indicators of asymmetry, like tail waving, sniffing behaviour, and hair direction.

Dogs, for instance, frequently wag their tails to the left when they meet their owners, but to the right (which suggests more negative sentiments) when they see a strange dominant dog. Further research in this field will not only advance our knowledge of canine cognition but also improve how we care for and value man's greatest friend.