Tag hand dominance

Can Animals Be Left-Handed/Pawed?

drstaceynaito Leave a comment

left handed dog

Here is an interesting article which I copied and pasted. The article can be found through this link:

http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/can-a-dog-be-left-handed.html#sthash.siZgW3BC.dpbs

It turns out that dogs do show a clear preference for their left or right paw and there’s roughly a 50:50 split between left-pawedness and right-pawedness across all dog breeds. Here are a few tests you can do to find out whether your dog is a ‘southpaw’:

Have your dog sit, and then get up and walk. Which paw do they lead off from?
When you ‘shake hands’ with your dog, which paw do they offer most often?
When trying to get a toy out from under the sofa, which paw do they use?
But whereas left-handedness in humans makes you superior in lots of ways (well, we think so anyway), what does it mean for dogs?

Well, it seems left-handedness in dogs also gives you an advantage. Left-pawed dogs are generally preferred for police and military use and also as guide dogs because they are easier to train (this is mentioned in a few articles but we cannot find a research reference for it. There IS research showing that left-pawed dogs are more aggressive and that may explain the military use) . And a recent study by the Vrije University in Amsterdam has proven once and for all that left-pawed dogs are quicker at learning and better than problem solving (Report: Paw Preference Correlates to Task Performance in Dogs). In the study, the team of researchers selected an equal number of left-pawed and right-pawed dogs to complete some basic intelligence tests. The team found “that dogs departing with the left front paw perform significantly better than dogs departing with the right front paw.”

So let’s hear it for our four-footed lefty friends, and all the dog owners out there do let us know in the comments here if your dog is a lefty or a righty and what effect you think this has.

Being A Lefty

drstaceynaito 1 Comment

Simpsons leftyI am part of the ten percent of the human population which is left handed. Simply by virtue of me being a southpaw, I am more prone to accidents and immune deficiencies, but the left and right hemispheres of my brain exchange information more readily, and I am naturally more creative due to right brain dominance. What is interesting, though, is that I am not left-handed across the board. I do many things right handed, but more on that later.

Studies have discovered that elevated testosterone levels in the womb are often what cause left-handedness to occur. Apparently the higher testosterone level slows the development of neurons in the left hemisphere of the brain, causing more development in the right hemisphere and a corresponding left sided body dominance. One gene (LRRTM1) has also been linked to left-handedness. Some left-handers like me have a cross-dominance, in which one hand is favored for certain tasks while the other hand is favored for other tasks. This is in contrast to a true ambidexterity, in which neither hand is favored over the other.

Here is how my particular hand dominance breaks down:

Write with left hand

Draw and paint with left hand

Perform injections with left hand

Eat with left hand (but can hold utensils with right hand)

Brush teeth with left hand (but can use right hand too)

Tweezers with left hand

Flatiron with left hand

Brush hair with either hand

Throw a ball with right hand (can’t do it with my left at all)

Use computer mouse with right hand

Play(ed) guitar right handed

Play pool right handed

Bowl right handed

Play darts with right hand

Kick with right foot
left handed
I am still not completely sure what this all means, despite having considerable training in science and medicine. It’s pretty fascinating to me, though. I would love to hear from people who might have a little cross-dominance.