Dogs wag their tails to the right when they are with humans that they love.
Happier dogs wag their tails to the right
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing conducted a study that analysed ten beagles meeting a stranger over the course of three days.
The findings revealed that as the pooches familiarised themselves with the person they started wagging their tails more frequently to the right instead of the left.
Lead researcher Dr. Yong Q Zhang suggested that wagging to the right is linked with the left side of the brain where the dog experiences positive emotions and is feeling happy and comfortable. Wagging to the left is linked with the right side of the brain and indicates that the dog is feeling scared or nervous.
He said: "Positive and negative emotional states have been associated with left and right-sided activation of the prefrontal cortex in humans.
"We speculate that tail wagging toward the left might be accompanied by right brain activation, while tail wagging toward the right side may be accompanied by left brain activation in the prefrontal cortex."