Seeing how our dogs’ tails move when we get home or when we say the word “walk” is something we are more than used to. This instinctive behavior, developed after three or four weeks of life, is an essential form of communication between their peers, and also with us. However, dogs not only wag their tails when they are happy, but they also wag their tails when they get nervous or excited.
So being the wolf ( Canis lupus ) and the dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) of the same species, is this a trait developed only in dogs by leaving their wild ancestors behind? Why should there be any difference when communicating using this method? Well, the truth is that there isn’t, wolves also wag their tails. In fact, they do it on many more occasions than our fellow dogs.
Sarah Marshall-Pescini, a researcher at the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at the Vienna University of Veterinary Medicine, tells Live Science that “most of the time, wolves wag their tails with the so-called ‘greeting behavior’, behaviors shown mainly by subordinate individuals to dominant individuals, and particularly during reunions after physical separation. “Wolves do not always remain with their packs, sometimes they divide into subgroups, small hunting units, or they may explore the terrain alone. Rejoining the other members of the pack, subordinates usually approach to welcome them, wagging their tail low and quickly.This behavior helps those who return to know the status of that individual in the pack.
Something curious is that, in wolves, this movement is usually accompanied by licking the lips of the highest ranking individual. It is a behavior that they learn from a young age, and that is essential for the survival of the puppies. According to the International Wolf Center in Minnesota, cubs stop depending on their mother’s milk starting at three weeks of age, at which point they begin to eat meat regurgitated by the adults in the pack. It turns out that it is precisely these lip licks that cause regurgitation in the elderly.
When they reach approximately six weeks of age, although cubs can already eat raw meat, not regurgitated, this behavior is maintained when greeting, along with the movement of the tail. These licks could remind us of what some of our dogs try to do to us when they get home, unless we train them to stop. “The dogs learned ‘okay, maybe the face lick is not appreciated’ and we somehow took it off. But they definitely still engage in all kinds of greeting behaviors, including tail wagging,” concludes Marshall-Pescini .
References:
Pester, P. (2021, September 2). Do wolves wag their tails? Livescience.com. https://www.livescience.com/do-wolves-wag-tails.html
