The influence of cerebral lateralisation on the behaviour of the racing greyhound

The authors investigated the relationship between paw preference (the paw with which dogs prefer to hold a food object over repeated trials) and racetrack behaviour in the greyhound breed of dog (Canis familiaris). In a study of 53 racing greyhounds, it was found that individuals perform preferential behaviour on the racetrack relating to the direction in which they move upon exiting the starting box (DSB), which is either to the left, straight, or to the right (P<0.05) and their ultimate running position on the racetrack (RP), which is either close to the centre rail of the racetrack, in the middle of the group of racing dogs, or out wide of the other dogs (P<0.05). There was a relationship between the direction of paw preference and the frequency of running in the rail RP; the more left-pawed a dog was, the more frequently it ran in the rail RP (r(53). =-0.29, P