IT’S A DOG’S WORLD

We know that the pandemic took its toll on our young – not to mention many others. But now a study funded by the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home has found that almost all pandemic puppies display behavioural issues, such as being unruly, aggressive or overly attention-seeking. At 21 months old, these dogs display an average of five problem behaviours, with 20 per cent of owners reporting eight or more. Sadly, the charity has seen an increase in the numbers of dogs coming to its shelters, as the challenges of dog ownership is keenly felt by struggling owners, many of whom were training a dog for the first time.

Dr Rowena Packer, who led the study, cautions against using aversive training methods, suggesting owners adopt positive techniques to foster bonding between dog and owner. In fact, techniques to make them wag their tails . . .

It’s handy, then, that animal experts in the Netherlands have come up with research-based theories to explain why dogs exhibit this behaviour. While we know that dogs wag their tails to display a range of positive emotions, it’s thought that the fact they wag them at all is down to humans. As a species, our love for rhythm is so strong that humans of the past may have bred dogs with the waggiest of tails due to this stimulating pleasure responses in the brain. And this behaviour may be a by-product of domestication, with the friendliest and most docile dogs displaying the tailwagging trait. Thereby hangs a tail . . .