Because they can! Just kidding; people have come up with many hypothetical explanations for this most familiar canine behavior. Most sum it up by saying, "They do it when they are happy" or "to show love."

Actually it is thought that the back-and-forth motion of a wagging tail helps to transmit scents released from the dog's anal glands. This helps other dogs identify important scent-related specifics about a particular dog, which humans can't understand or relate to, but they are very meaningful to dogs, as demonstrated by all of the "butt sniffing" dogs do to one another.

Second, it is thought actually to be a conflict-based movement, stemming from a dog's simultaneous feelings of fear or desire to exit and its urge to stay. Whether the dog is contending with other dogs or humans, each time a dog is in close social proximity with others, conflicting forces are working on it. Although it is very desirable to be in close social contact, it also can be threatening. People and other dogs have made close contact both rewarding and threatening in the past, and caught in the middle of these two pulls, dogs' tails wag as a displacement behavior. The energy of conflict is expressed in this visual signal, which demonstrates the dog's emotional state when interpreted by carriage as well as movement. A high-carried, rapidly moving tail, wagged with tighter motion is more indicative of a dominant or aggressive attitude while a low, tucked or slowly wagged tail demonstrates submission and subordination. Reading tails as visual signals can help owners understand their pets' emotional states, but it is important not to form the sweeping assumption "if the dog is wagging its tail it is friendly." This isn't always true, as many people who have been bitten by a dog that was wagging its tail during the incident can testify!

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