Is Your Dog a Lefty or Righty?

Posted by Melissa April 4, 2021


Here is a subject most people do not even know can help with your training. Most dogs are either left pawed and discovering which one your dog is will help you train your dogs’ easier and help your dog be more balanced while training.

Here is how you find out which one your dog is:

  1. When you throw a ball for your dog, watch to see which way he or she turns when they come back.
  2. Do this at least six times.
  3. If your dog comes back the same way the majority of the time, that is what your dog is.
  4. If your dog turns back, left, they are lefty, right, they are righty.

How It Helps Training

I can only give you examples here to explain it so you will understand. When we train our dogs to around a blind, or curtain, a certain way, or any object, and they are having difficulty, one of the reasons could be because their instinct is to go around it the other way. When this happens, we train the dog to go around the way they are more comfortable.

Think about when you are writing. Most people are comfortable using one hand or the other. Some people can even use both, which is call ambidextrous. Dogs can also be ambidextrous and you should use that to your advantage in training. It would be hard for us to change our hand in writing, just as it would be for dogs.

When you train, and you’re having a hard time getting your dog to go a certain way, think about what is more comfortable for your dog. You will see a big improvement!