Why do dogs wag their tail to express their happiness?

Question

Dogs wag their tail to show their happiness and love. But is there any specific reason why dogs wag its tail while no other animal like elephant, cat or cow etc wag their tail to express thier happiness?

Answer 1

i think they do it because they cant say im happy right now. maybe dogs are unique and this was only given to them. other animals show their happiness different like cats purr when they are happy or showing love

Answer 2

I am giving you an excerpts from a link that I referred.

A dog's tail speaks volumes about his mental state, his social position, and his intentions. How the tail came to be a communication device is an interesting story.

The dog's tail was originally designed to assist the dog in its balance. When a dog is running and has to turn quickly, it throws the front part of its body in the direction it wants to go. Its back then bends, but its forward velocity is such that the hindquarters will tend to continue in the original direction. Left unchecked, this movement might result in the dog's rear swinging widely, which could greatly slow its rate of movement or even cause the dog to topple over as it tries to make a high-speed turn. The dog's tail helps to prevent this. Throwing the tail in the same direction that the body is turning serves as a sort of counterweight, which reduces the tendency to spin off course. Dogs will also use their tails when walking along narrow surfaces. By deliberately swinging the tail to one side or the other in the direction opposite to any tilt in the body, the dog helps maintain its balance, much the same way a circus tightrope walker uses a balance bar. Quite obviously, then, the tail has important uses associated with specific movements. However, the tail is not particularly important on flat surfaces, when a dog is simply standing around or walking at normal speeds. At these times, it becomes available for other uses. Evolution again seized an opportunity and now adapted the tail for communication purposes.

It is something of a surprise to many people to learn that puppies don't wag their tails when they are very young. The youngest puppy I ever saw systematically wagging its tail was eighteen days old, and both the breeder and I agreed that this was quite unusual. Although there are some differences among the various breeds, the scientific data suggests that, on average, by thirty days of age, about half of all puppies are tail wagging, and the behavior is usually fully established by around forty nine days of age.

Please refer to the link to read more

Answer 3

Just because a dog is wagging its tail doesn't mean it's happy. Dominant dogs may also wag their tails to show their dominance over other dogs and sometimes humans. It usually depends on HOW the dog is wagging its tail. Happy is usually free, wavy, and fast, while a dominant or aggressive dog usually wags its tail in a stiff, slow manner with the tail pointed upward.

Just like with a human's facial expressions, it's just one more way to tell what kind of mood the dog's in.

As far as other animals not wagging their tails to show happiness.... Most other animals that have tails haven't been domesticated to the extent dogs have to interact with humans. Also, I don't necessarily agree that a cat doesn't wag its tail to show happiness or contentment. I'm convinced that mine does.

Answer 4

An old joke about wagging tails goes like this: A young boy is afraid to pet a dog. An adult says, "He's friendly – look, he's even wagging his tail." The boy responds, "Yeah, but he's barking and growling – I don't know which end to believe!"

This poor excuse for a joke contains a lot of truth, because a wagging tail does not necessarily mean a dog is friendly. So, if a wagging tail does not always indicate friendliness, what does it mean?

A dog's tail position and motion is incorporated as a component of a complex system of body language that domestic dogs use, along with "verbal" cues such as barking, growling or whining, in order to communicate. A wagging tail indicates excitement or agitation. But whether the dog means it as an invitation to play, or to warn another dog or person to stay back, depends on other body language.

Answer 5

To a human, the wagging tail of a dog declares. “Hi! I'm happy to see you!" The dog is happy to see you, however, that does not mean that you have permission to take liberties with the dog. Always take appropriate caution, better still ask the master of the dog before approaching, petting a dog. There are various other reasons why dogs wag their tail, however, I am not going into that as some of it is already explained above

Answer 6

Wagging also spreads pheromones, an important part of canine communication. When a dog moves its tail, the muscles around the anus contract and press on glands that release a scent unique to each animal, enabling others to determine its sex, age and social status.

A tail held high and wagging quickly is often a sign of play or euphoria although it can also signal an aggressive dog.

Answer 7

One way of knowing why dogs wag their tail when they re happy may be to begin at the beginning.The first work to be done on emotions from an evolutionary standpoint was done by our old friend Charles Darwin. His work titled, The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals was really the seminal work on the subject of emotionsThe interesting debates that this has generated include: do animals have emotions? How do animals express emotions? Do animals express emotions the same way that humans do? Some scientists propose that the emotions as a network are an adaptive program, For non-human animals, happiness might be best described as the process of reinforcement, as part of the organism's motivational system. The organism has achieved one or more of its goals (pursuit of food, water, sex, shelter, etc.), and its brain is in the process of teaching itself to repeat the sort of actions that led to success. By reinforcing successful decision paths, it produces an equilibrium state not unlike positive-to-negative magnets. The specific goals are typically things that enable the organism to survive and reproduce.
However, to avoid oversimplification, domesticated animals may require needs beyond food, water, sex, and shelter (such as human company, petting, or perhaps needs which mimic that of their owners). Typically, the more domesticated an animal is, the more closely their goals match human behavior. Lab rats for instance, may exhibit addiction to certain drugs as a substitute for happiness, as in humans.Have you seen dogs, even cats and horses forward their ears when they are listening .We also do it symbolically when we give our ear.

Answer 8

I believe that tail is used by various animals for various purposes but the main reason for having a tail is that it helps in providing stablility. So even when a dog is happy or angry or sad it need to maintain its stability which is achieved by wagging a tail. Even humans have a tail bone which helps to provide stability to us.

Answer 9

Every living creature,expresses their feelings in different manner.

The dog uses its tail to express the feelings in following manner:-

1) When the dog is happy or friendly, it wags its tail -
keeping upwards. You need not to get afraid of its biting.

2) When the dog is angry, the tail will be upward & stirred.
That is the caution / threatening to attack & bite.

3) When the dog is afraided, the tail will turn downwards &
inside.

4) The tail of mad dog will be straight & horizontaly. So be
aware of biting without any caution or threatenning.

Answer 10

This is similar to the blinking of our eyes. Depends upon the mood the number of blinks increase or decrease. The dog is also an living creature, They also have their own feelings. And also dogs will wag their tail even in sad situations.

Answer 11

The tail created by God to wag to make us, the owners know they are glad to see us! Because really, pet dogs do not hunt or do work like in the olden days. They are basically for companionship and to please us so in return we provide shelter, food and security so wagging tail is really one sure way to make us happy!