Investigating the influence of neuter status on paw preference in dogs and cats

Motor lateralization is commonly observed through preferential paw use in dogs and cats. Previous studies have uncovered sex-related differences in paw preference, hypothesizing that these differences may be related to sex hormones. The current study aimed to compare neutered and entire individuals to further investigate whether paw preference is influenced by sex hormones. Dog and cat owners were required to fill in a questionnaire with demographic information such as sex and neuter status of their pets. They then carried out two simple paw preference tasks within their homes: a "reaching for food" task and a "reaching for a toy" task. This study revealed an overall preference among the 272 dogs and 137 cats tested to use their right paw in both tasks. In cats, the degree of paw preference (i.e., regardless of the direction) was significantly influenced by an interaction between neuter status and life stage. Also in dogs, both life stage and an interaction between neuter status and life stage tended to influence the degree of paw preference. Post-hoc power analysis revealed a lack of statistical power, suggesting that future studies using a larger sample size are needed to further investigate potential effects of neuter status on paw preference.

Paw preference in wolves (Canis lupus): A preliminary study using manipulative tasks

Behavioural and brain lateralization is widespread among non-human vertebrates. Motor lateralization has been investigated in the domestic dog, revealing that "pawedness" in this species seems to be sex and task related; however, few if any studies considered this asymmetry in wolves (Canis lupus). The aim of this study was to investigate the paw preference of seven wolves housed at Parco Natura Viva - Italy, during the interaction with food-related (FD) and olfactory (OLF) environmental enrichment devices. Eleven sessions were done (22 session in total) per condition (FD and OLF), and data about enrichment manipulation were collected. Most of the wolves manipulated the enrichment devices using one paw rather than both paws. At the individual level, all subjects were lateralized in paw use, six were right pawed, one was left pawed (the alpha male) regardless of the enrichment condition. The fact that one paw rather than both was frequently involved in manipulation could indicate a practical advantage for each individual in being lateralized in paw use. Despite the small sample size, our results provide interesting insights about lateralization in wolves, deserving further investigations. More studies are needed considering factors such as temperament, social rank and task complexity on canid motor lateralization.

Functional cerebral asymmetry in dogs living under different environmental conditions

Investigating the link between stress and functional cerebral asymmetry (FCA) has been a subject of interest in recent years. The demonstration of this link in the field of veterinary medicine is particularly important as measuring FCA has the potential to be an alternative and non-invasive behavioral method to assess stress in dogs. The present study aimed to investigate whether FCA is affected by different environmental conditions in dogs. The main aim of this study was to investigate the changes in FCA in dogs living under different conditions. To this aim, strength and direction of FCA in 40 urban free-ranging dogs were measured by a Kong test. Dogs were divided into four groups considering their environmental conditions: The dogs in Group 1 (n = 8) were rehabilitated urban free ranging dogs, which were kept in enriched shelter conditions. The dogs in Group 2 (n = 9) were adopted free ranging dogs, which lived in home environment for more than 1 year. The dogs in Group 3 (n = 11) were urban free ranging dogs, which stayed in individual cages in a dog shelter for more than 6 months. The dogs in Group 4 (n = 12) were adopted urban free ranging dogs, which stayed in a dog pension for more than 30 days. Considering the length of their stay in a kennel environment, quality of living condition and emotional states, the dogs in Group 3 and 4 were classified as chronically stressed dogs. Statistically significant differences existed between groups considering strength and direction of lateralization. Most of the dogs in Group 1 (87.5 %) and Group 2 (77.8 %) showed significant paw preferences, whereas most of the dogs in the Group 3 (72.7 %) and Group 4 (75 %) were categorized as ambilateral. Considering the individual level asymmetry in dogs and environmental conditions of dogs in Group 3 and 4, one may suggest that high ambilaterality levels is related with chronic stress. Thus, reduced FCA may not be the reason for stress sensibility, rather it can be an outcome of stressful situations. These results are the first to demonstrate the possible link between chronic stress and ambilaterality in dogs.