During fast locomotion -gallop, half bound -of quadruped mammals, the ground contact of 57 the limbs in each pair do not alternate symmetrically. Animals using such asymmetrical gait thus choose 58 whether the left or the right limb will contact the ground first, and this gives rise to limb preference. Here, 59 we report that dogs (Mammalia, Carnivora) and pikas (Mammalia, Lagomorpha) prefer one forelimb as 60 trailing limb and use it as such almost twice as often as the other. We also show

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... this choice depends on 61 the individual and is not a characteristic of the species, and that the strength of the preference was not 62 dependent on the animal's running speed. 63 64