Exam 2 Review Questions Flashcards
What are common mother dog behaviors before her pups are born? After the pups are born?
Before:
- Changes in behavior close to whelping
- Find a safe place to nest
After:
- Mother licks, removes birth sack
- Cuts cord
- Aids to suckle
What are the 4 stages of puppy behavioral development? What is the timeline for each?
- Neonatal period –> birth-14 days
- Transitional period –> 14-21 days
- Socialization period –> 3-12 weeks
- Juvenile period –> 12 weeks-sexual maturity
Neonatal period primary behaviors
Innate Behaviors
- ** Rooting reflex
- Triggered by maternal licking
- Enables puppies to locate the teat
- Develop nipple preference
Behaviors:
- Vocalizations limited to distress called
- Accompanied by increased activity
- Behaviors don’t change much in the first 2 weeks
- Dependent on mother
- Learning abilities limited
- Early handling may be beneficial
- Long term effects on behavior: accelerated maturation of the nervous system, increased growth rate, enhanced development of motor skills, senses, and problem-solving abilities
Transitional period primary behaviors
- Behaviors begin to transition from neonatal to adult
- Stand and walk
- Tail wagging
- No longer need stimulation for urination and defecation
- Social behaviors start to emerge
- Capable of learning
~ rate of learning reaches adult level at 4-5 weeks - Expose to normal household sounds smells, sights, handle, pet, brush
Socialization period primary behaviors
- Puppies become highly responsive to stimuli
- Increased opportunities to learn
- Form attachments to other animals, people
- Rapid increase in activity
~ More complex behaviors
- Play becomes more complex
- Facial expressions and aggressive vocalizations appear at 5 weeks
- Social structures begin to develop
Moving to new homes
- Usually 8 -9 weeks
Juvenile period primary behaviors
- Refine existing capabilities, increase coordination
- Attention span increases
- Social behaviors develop until 18 mo.
~ increase in urine marking, aggression, roaming, mounting behaviors
Physiological developments coincided with
Neonatal
- Altricial (dependent on maternal care)
- Unable to regulate body temperature
- Primary behavioral goals: acquire food, warmth, and maternal care
- Require tactile stimulation for urination and defecation
- well developed olfactory and tactile systems
- Poor hearing and eyes closed
Transitional
- Rapid physiological changes
- Deciduous teeth erupt - 20 days
- Maturation of sensory organs
~ open eyes 12-14 days
~ About 19-21 d, ear canals open
Socialization
Weaning process
- Start at 3-4 weeks of age
- Completed by 7-9 weeks
Juvenile
- Permanent teeth begin to erupt, complete by 6 mo.
Why is socialization important? When is it important?
When
Socialization period –> 3-12 weeks old, most important period of social development
Why
- Development of species-specific social behavior
- Dog social to its own species and humans
- Prevent development of inappropriate behaviors
Xenophobia: fear of new things
- Approach and investigate novel stimuli
- Unit about 5 weeks of age
- Starting at 5 weeks, puppies become more wary of new things
- Fits with natural development in wild
What are some examples of socialization?
- bring to a vet clinic
- children
- cars
- other pets
- walking on a leash
- different flooring/ textures
- loud noises
- variety in people
- grooming, trimming nails
–> really anything you want them to react well to as adults
What motivates a dog to eat or stop eating?
To eat:
- Empty stomach
- Glucose levels
- Odor
- Taste
- Sight of food
To stop eating:
- Stomach fills
- Satiated
- Glucose increases
- Hormone signals
How do the feeding behaviors compare to those of the domestic dog?
- Ad lib vs. meal fed
- Rapid eating pattern
- Social competition
- Hiding food
- Eat during day
What are the main benefits and drawbacks of ad-lib feeding?
pros:
can eat throughout day, dog can rely on internal cues, easy for humans - requires least effort/ knowledge
cons:
overeating (risk of obesity), food could spoil, habituation, can’t monitor food intake
What are the main benefits and drawbacks of portion-controlled feeding?
pros:
can monitor food intake, can feed based on caloric needs to prevent obesity, catch changes in eating intake, sets routine
cons:
could accidentally feed/ underfeed, requires most owner knowledge/ effort
What are the main benefits and drawbacks of time-controlled feeding?
pros:
can monitor food intake, establishes a schedule, owner establishes dominance, can limit amount of time eating
cons:
can cause them to vomit from eating too fast, may not always eat in time allowed, resource guarding
What are the main causes for overeating in dogs? What is the best way to correct this?
- Palatability
~ Own food
~ Human food
- Boredom
- Inactivity
- Disease
~ Thyroid, overactive adrenal glands, heart or liver failure
Best way to fix:
- Portion control based on caloric needs, provide enrichment, get more exercise
What is pica and why does it happen?
Eating non-food items
~ cords, furnitire, wool, string, etc
Why does it happen?
Boredom, anxiety, curiosity, don’t have access to toys, inappropriate diet
What does the social structure of the wolf look like? How does it compare to that of the domestic dog?
Wolf social structure
- Pack
- Small group related individuals
- Work together to raise young, scavenge and hunt for food, protect den and territory
- Important that pack work together to obtain goals
- Social ranking
- Single-sex hierarchies
- Cros-sex dominance relationships
- Dominant male and female
- Maintain pack order and security
- Demonstrate dominant body postures
- Preferred sleeping areas
- Initiate pack activities
- Eat first
Domestic dog social structure
- Need to live in secure, orderly social group
- Consists of human caretakers, other pets
- Dominant dogs: display dominant body postures, steal toys, food
- Initiate social activities and play
- Compete for owners attention
How can we tell the dominant and submissive dogs by looking at body posture and behavior?
Dominant
- Make appear larger in size
- Stand on toes
- Head held high
- Elevated tail
- Tail wagging
- Piloerection
- Forepaw on shoulder of another dog
Submissive
- Body appear smaller
active:
- crouches low
- tucks tail
- attempt to lick face of dominant dog
- raise a paw
passive:
- lie down
- partially on back
- tuck tail
- turn head away
- avoid eye contact
- dribble urine
How does the dog communicate through olfaction? What are the primary signals sent?
- Urine, feces, glands (anal gland)
- Convey information about gender, territory, reproductive status, identity of animal
How does the dog use body language to communicate?
Submissive/ dominant behaviors (in previous flashcard)
Ears and mouth
- Alert/ dominant –> forward and erect
- Submissive –> laid pack against head
- Snarl –> display of dominance and aggression
- Submissive grin
What is the importance of eye contact to the dog?
- Dominant stare
- Dominant animals initiate
~ subordinate will avert gaze first - Occurs when dogs meet for the first time, adult and puppies
- Minimizes chance of aggression
- Friendly eye contact common
~ established groups rarely use dominant eye contact - Greeting, play, social, grooming, attention-seeking
Describe dominant, active and passive submissive, defensive aggression, and play bow body postures.
Dominant
- Make appear larger in size
- Stand on toes
- Head held high
- Elevated tail
- Tail wagging
- Piloerection
- Forepaw on shoulder of another dog
Submissive
- Body appear smaller
active:
- crouches low
- tucks tail
- attempt to lick face of dominant dog
- raise a paw
passive:
- lie down
- partially on back
- tuck tail
- turn head away
- avoid eye contact
- dribble urine
Defensive aggression
- Fearful, threatened
- Fear biting may occur
- Slightly lowered body, raised hackles, growl, or snarl
- Insecure and defensive
Play bow
- Inviting another to play
- Paw with front feet
- Play grin
- Open mouth panting
