Annie, the newest member of our family, has settled in really well. However, when I take her for her walks she walks beautifully at my left side but if I try to walk her at my right she continually strays across in front of me. If I have her lead really short she still strains to get to my left side. I am now wondering whether she had been trained to walk on the left when she was racing and was walked around the ring prior to a race … although she hasn’t raced for 3 years. It isn’t a problem but just interesting.
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She looks intelligent and focused in that picture. Very cute also,
What a lovely dog - such beautiful soulful eyes!
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Smart looker, probably thats how she was trained.
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When I trained my last dog, a German Shepherd, many years’ ago now, she was trained to keep to my left hand side. I’ve seen many times that this seems to be the usual way so maybe not that unusual. Watching various programmes about dogs and those occasionally seen about training dogs used by police, they all seem to be kept on the left hand side. 
@MargaretF Hi Margaret Annie is lovely 
I am so pleased to hear she has settled well.
Chloe walks on the left hand side and is not ‘happy’ with the right. In her case I have always walked her on the left with the lead over my right wrist/across my body and guided with my left hand and she is always on the inside of a pavement never the outside. I know of a number of dogs that got killed by cars walking on the outside of the pavement near the cars .
Maybe Annie has been taught this way.
@SilverTabby Yes those eyes get her whatever she wants! She is a wonderful companion - in fact I call her my shadow because wherever I go she follows.
@Baz46 Yes I think she must have been trained to walk on the left when she was much younger - old habits I reckon! It doesn’t bother me I just find it interesting that she does it.
@Meg It’s almost as if she has been with us all of her life Meg. When I walk back from the playing field in our village I have always walked down the right hand pavement but now I walk on the left with Annie. I have her lead over my right wrist and then across my body like you describe with Chloe and like you I keep her on the inside. She was quite nervous when I first took her out - not used to the traffic and various noises that I had never noticed until I walked with her. She now walks with confidence which shows that she is settled I think.
I seem to remember that - light years ago - there was a TV programme about dog training. Had a woman presenter - and she recommended teaching dogs to walk on the left - but I cannot recall if she gave a reason. She always seemed a bit scary to me - if she said ‘sit’ I sat ! Think her name was Barbara??
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Woodhouse.
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I’m delighted to see Annie! She looks gorgeous, Margaret! Yes, its probably how she was trained. My dog walks on my left hand side too.
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lovely dog .
I walk my dog on the left side . I loved watching Barbara Woodhouse who could train practically any animal . Although she once said she could train any dog in five minutes but their owners took much longer !
I see the same thing with Cesar Milan he has a great rapport with dogs but most have the dogs have extremely useless owners who would have been better off with a guinea pig or a gold fish .
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She’s a beauty for sure. Reminds me of a fawn. What breed is she?
My Dachshund likes to walk on my left, even when off the lead, if close to me it is just behind my left heel. But my bassett Hound, much prefers the right hand side. She will occasionally walk on the left. But her natural place is on the right.
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@Dachs Annie is a greyhound Dachs. She is 7 years old and we adopted her from the Greyhound Trust a few weeks ago. She raced until she was 4 years old and then was retired, staying with her trainer for about 18 months and then to the Greyhound Trust. She has a wonderful temperament.
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That’s exactly how my dogs were trained too, just got to train the people to stay on the right 
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