ANIMAL WELFARE (Companion Animal Handling) Flashcards
Distant exam:
-don’t approach the animals right away
-increases safety
-improves animal comfort
-decreases fear, anxiety, and stress
-allows time to build a relationship with the owner
Facial expression:
-look at their face, it tells you everything
Dog body language:
*eyes, ears, tail
Relaxed
-tail down
-ears up
-mouth open
Interested:
-wider eyes
-mouth is closed
-tail straight out
Thresholds and intensities:
-behavioural threshold
-emotional threshold
Very high arousal:
-reactivity
-threatening warnings (growl, snarl, lunge)
-escape movements
High arousal:
-displacement (multiple, clustering)
-conflict behaviours
Low arousal:
-normal behaviour
Ladder of aggression:
*not reliable to use, but helps to understand the progression
-if dog takes each step, only 0.2s between each step
-if intensity of stress/threat matters: STEPS CAN BE SKIPPED
Displacement behaviours:
-unconscious behaviour
-normal behaviours out of context
-because they are normal, we tend to miss them
Displacement behaviours questions:
-are they normal but out of place?
-are they repetitive?
-is there more than one?
-context repeatable?
Conflict behaviour:
-I am unsure
-I want it but I don’t want it
Examples of conflict behaviour:
-wants the cookie, but not the human (lip lick, slow motion)
-barking (stay away) and wagging tail (I want to interact)
Body language of fear in dogs:
-slight and major cowering
-more subtle signs of fear and anxiety
More subtle signs of fear and anxiety:
-liking lips
-panting
-brows furrowed, ears to side
-moving in slow motion
-acting sleeping or yawing
-hypervigilant
-suddenly wont eat
-moving away
-pacing
Feline later of aggression:
-understand the steps they go though
-they go through the steps much faster
