From page 37
when dogs feel stress, they
tend to wag their tails to the
left as a reflection of what's
happening in the brain.
Activation of the left-brain
causes the tail to wag to the
right; activation of the right-
brain produces a wag to the
left.
The research shows that dogs
wag to the right side when
they encounter something
pleasant. When they see
something threatening, for
example, a strange dog
exhibiting dominant behav-
iours, they wag more to the
left side. These results suggest
that dogs notice another dog's
tail wagging and use the
information to decide
whether the dog with the
wagging tail is friend or foe.
The researchers concluded
that dogs aren't intentionally
sending signals with their tails,
but rather the tail wagging is a
consequence of the inner
workings of the canine brain.
Tail-wagging behaviour results
PETS
without a tail.
Tail docking, even if per-
formed with local anaesthe-
sia, causes pain and stress to
young puppies. Recent
research in pain management
indicates clearly that puppies,
even at a few days of age,
have a fully developed
nervous system and a well-
developed sense of pain.
Sometimes, tail docking
results in serious complica-
Not a happy chappie ... docked-tail puppy
tions such as bleeding,
from the way in which
lengths to suit the recommen- infection and even the death
of the puppy.
different emotional signals
dations of a breed standard.
activate different parts of a
Docking involves the
Tail docking does not provide
dog's brain.
amputation of the puppy's tail any benefit to puppies.
with a scalpel. Sometimes
Traditionally, some breeders
Without a tail, a dog cannot
considered a docked tail
communicate his emotions or rubber bands are used,
although this method has
necessary to fulfil the working
intentions, making it more
difficult for people and other never been used by veterinar- functions of the dog. Today
ians. The cut goes through the many working breeds are
dogs to know how a dog is
skin, cartilage and bone. This kept as house pets and only a
likely to react in a certain
small percentage are used for
situation, and may even lead procedure is usually per-
formed without any anaes-
field work, which is a
to an increase in dog fights.
recreational activity for
Tails also assist with agility and thetic, or with a local
anaesthetic,
at
three
to
five
people and not an essential
balance.
days
of
age.
A
small
number
function. If dogs of breeds
Tail docking is the amputation
of
dogs
are
born
naturally
of a dog's tail at varying
Continued on page 41
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