Bringing objectivity to working dog selection: The role of lateralization measures

摘要

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in lateralization in dogs and its association with behavioral phenotypes. Quantifying and categorizing lateralized behavior is inherently more objective than scoring behavioral attributes such as 慺earfulness?or 憄oor coping style,?which can be expressed rather subtly. Converging evidence indicates that lateralization may be related to animal 憄ersonality? rodents and primates with a lateralization bias towards the left are more fearful, anxious, and reactive while right-preferent individuals usually have more proactive coping styles (Rogers, 2009). However, Branson and Rogers (2006) reported greater noise phobia in dogs lacking a clear paw preference as compared to dogs with either a right or left lateralization bias. Likewise, Batt et al. (2009) found greater lateralization (in either direction) was associated with shorter latencies to rest in an unfamiliar environment. Thus, the limited evidence from dogs to date indicates that, unlike other species, reduced fearfulness and anxiety is associated with a strong lateralization bias towards either left or right.