The direction in which the dog’s tail wags is important

Human body language has all sorts of subtle variations in posture and movement. Turns out dogs have more nuance than thought, too.

Dogs can show all kinds of emotions. Maybe partly filled in by us, but there are definitely differences in behavior that can be interpreted as such. For example, the position of the tail can tell us all sorts of things: hanging down, or between the legs, often has something to do with fear or submission, and standing up usually signifies excitement or dominance.

A wagging tail usually signifies excitement or happiness, but this wagging is more nuanced than you might think. Italian researchers have found that speed and direction matter.

When dogs look at something they would like to be near, such as a friendly owner, the tail usually wags to the right. If they see something they’d rather stay away from, like another aggressive dog, the tail usually wags to the left.

In the case of the positive response to the wag, they also saw – unsurprisingly – that the dogs moved their tails faster. Can a dog get tired of moving too much? You can. On a very positive day, a dog’s tail may also have giggle cramps.

Read more: How to interpret what your dog is feeling by the way he wags his tail†