MIDTERM 1 Flashcards
What is the fancy name for domesticated dog?
canis familiaris
What are cats and dogs classified as?
taxonomically as carnivora (feliformia and caniformia suborders)
What were the first carnivores referred to as?
the miacidae family (tree dwelling predators that were small and slender like weasels) – ancestors for cats and dogs
What is the oldest ancestor of the domestic cat?
viveravines
Where and when was the dog domesticated?
12-15,000 years ago in asia
What is the closest living relative to the domestic dog?
the grey wolf canis lupus
What is the difference between domestication and tameness?
domestication: on a pop/species level (takes a long time and isn’t visible)
Tameness: individual level
What happened with the silver fox experiment?
foxes began showing signs of domestication including tail wagging, eye and coat colour changes and physical/behavioural changes (floppy ears, etc.)
Qualitative vs quantitative behaviour
qualitative: types of behaviour
quantitative: degree to which an animal shows the behaviour
What is social referencing?
mirroring its owner (synchronicity)
What are some characteristics and examples of sporting breeds?
- pointers, setters, retrievers and spaniels
- game on land and in water
- highly energetic and active
- highly trainable and social
- low aggressive reactivity
What are some characteristics and examples of hound breeds?
- for hunting (scent and sight)
- independent and work ahead
- typically gentle and quiet
What are some characteristics and examples of working breeds?
- akita, boxer, rottweiler, husky, etc.
- guard property/livestock, pull sleds or perform water rescues
- high reactivity but medium to high in aggression
- bond strongly and highly trainable
What are some characteristics and examples of terrier breeds?
- mini schnauzer, wire fox terrier, bull terrier, etc.
- find and kill small rodents
- need little direction
- low to medium trainability and high reactivity
- increased inter dog aggression
- strong predatory response (almost cat like)
What are some characteristics and examples of toy breeds?
- chihuahua, pekinese, pug, poodle, shih tzu, etc.
- retain behaviours of their larger forefathers
- subordinate nature and neotenized (jeuvenile retentive) features
- probably the first true companion dogs
- high trainability
What are some characteristics and examples of herding breeds?
- move livestock
- highly trainable
- bond strongly
- highly reactive
- strong chase instinct
What are canidae considered?
opportunistic scavengers
What is coprophagy?
when they ingest feces
- not good in dogs as they are not hind gut fermenters
- more in small than large but not always
Is a dogs vision or smell better?
typically smell – vision is 6x less good than humans
How do dogs see colour
- dichromatic vision (yellow and blue well, red and green less so)
- better at distinguishing between greys than humans
When does a dogs vision mature?
at 4 months of age
Panoramic vs binocular vision
pan: the peripheral range (typically 250-270/360)
- determined by skull shape
bin: where both eyes overlap in between (depth perception – where the eyes are set meaning if closer = increased)
What is a dogs predominant sense?
smell
How many scent receptors for a dog vs human?
dog: 220 million (44x more)
human: 5 million
A dogs scent success depends on what?
temp, humidity, wind and age of the trail
What is the vomeronasal organ?
it detects pheromones for the identification of sexual receptivity (heat)
- right under the lip
- known as flemans response in cats, horses, sheep, etc. but not seen as often in dogs
What do anal sac secretions help other dogs distinguish?
age, sex, and/or genetic differences (possibly)
What is it called when a sexually responsive horse, etc. raises his top lip
flemans response
What makes a dogs ear good for hearing?
cupped shape, need to be able to hear prey (can hear ultrasound)
What does crepuscular mean?
most active at dawn and dusk
What is dinural?
active during the day, sleep at night (like dogs with humans)
What is polyphasic sleeping?
multiple bouts of sleep per night
When would dogs dream?
during REM
When does hierarchy begin in dogs?
around 5-6 weeks but can be as early as 3-4
What are other ways modern dogs “fight”?
through posturing and vocalizations (weight more important in male dogs)
What determines rank when breeds are of similar size?
breed temperament
What are some examples of a submissive posture?
- crouching
- tail wagging
- rolling on the back
- overall looking small
What are some arousal postures?
- become aggressive
- ears back
- tail up
- snarling
- play soliciting behaviour
- overall looking big
What are the 4 ways dogs communicate?
- body postures
- vocalizations
- facial expressions
- scent marking
Where are scent markers located?
butt/genitals, urine, foot pads and ears
What does allelomimetic behaviour mean?
when multiple animals do the same thing at the same time (similar to social facilitation)
When does urine marking frequency increase and what type indicates dominance?
during estrus or to more assertive animals that lift their leg
Why do dogs roll?
it was a residual behaviour from their ancestors, do it to make themselves strong smelling to indicate to other dogs that they are higher ranking
What does tail wagging MOST LIKELY indicate?
- distribute odours for recognition
- visual cue of peace
- context specific
- confidence
- anxiousness/nervousness
- threat of aggression
- arousal
When do dogs sexually mature vs wolves
dogs at 7-8 months, wolves at 22 months
How often do females come into heat per year (are diestrus) and when is their first time?
twice and typically around 6-12 months of age
How long is a dogs gestation period?
63 days
What are the 4 stages of the estrous cycle?
- proestrus (2 weeks)
- bloody discharge
- restless
- increased attentiveness to males - Estrus (10-21 days)
- receptive to mating
- length dependent on whether she mates or not - Metestrus (2 months)
- may be the period of pregnancy
- pseudo pregnancies are common among dogs here - Anestrus (4-5 months)
- reproductive inactivity
What is the lordosis stance?
when a female is receptive to mating, she elevates her rump, lifts her tail and stands while the male mounts
What is the tie/lock
When the male turns so the couple stand tail to tail
- can last 5-60 mins
What typically happens to a female right before parturition?
- becomes restless
- seeks seclusion
- nest building
What are the 2 first signs of labour?
panting and vaginal discharge
What is dystocia?
slow/difficult labour/birth
How do puppies get to the teats?
guided by olfactory cues and maternal nudging
- suckle within an hour of birth
- get cleaned by mom while nursing
When are puppies weaned from their mother?
suckle for 3-4 weeks then get weaned by mom cause by week 5, milk supply will decrease
- as seen in wolves, can see the mom regurgitating food for her young to help wean them
FULLY WEANED BY 8 WEEKS
What does altricial mean?
born in a relatively helpless state and needing lots of maternal care (can’t see/hear and motor abilities are limited)
- vs precocial meaning they don’t need as much help from the mother
Are there a set order for teats for puppies?
no – but there is one in cats/piglets
What are the 5 stages of development for puppies?
- Prenatal period
- during gestation (from conception to parturition) - Neonatal period
- between 0-14 days of age
- relies on mother for suckling, elimination and comfort
- most of the time spent feeding and sleeping
- eyes and ears are closed and non functional relying on senses of smell, taste and touch
- motor abilities are limited and reflex driven
- vocalizing to alert or seek attention - Transitional period
- 14-21 days of age
- rapid neurological and physical change period
- opening of eyes at day 13 and ear canals between 18-20 days old
- no longer relies on mom for elimination
- more advanced motor movements
- interact with the other puppies and might play fight or wag their tails
senses mature and behaviours are more obvious - Socialization period
- between 3-10 weeks of age
- onset of more adult patterns of behaviour
- sensory and motor abilities are fully developed
- gradually spends more time away from mom, spends less time feeding and sleeping
- teeth begin to erupt
- weaning around 7-8 weeks
- develops important social bonds with its mother, littermates and people - Juvenile period
- 10 weeks to sexual maturity (at around 8 months)
- adult teeth replace milk teeth at about 5 months (first bottom, then top then molars)
- removed from moms at the start of this period and continue to develop social relationships with humans and other animals
- behaviour is similar to the socialization period but more advanced and controlled
- puberty occurs gradually in males whereas it is more sudden in females at their first heat
What indicates puppies wanna play?
the play bow with play sequences
When is the most crucial development period for puppies?
between 4-16 weeks for socialization and exposure
Are there more dogs or cats as pets?
cats
How were the first domesticated cats most likely introduced?
in grain storage barns for ancient Egyptians about 4500 years ago
- had mice and rodents
- protected nest sites in agricultural communities for the moms to raise kittens
- naturally selected those ok with the presence of other cats and that were less fearful of humans
What are some characteristics of an african wildcat?
- solitary species and shy of humans
- adults live separate lives and use established territories
What is a feral cat?
a domesticated cat thats been released back into the open
How do free living male cats behave?
- very solitary
- travel between groups to mate
- found on the periphery
- no distinct social hierarchy between males
What is allo and what forms of “allo” do we see between cats within groups?
allo = whatever comes after is reciprocated
- grooming and rubbing and other affiliative behaviours
How do cats show differences between one another?
Less seen in behaviours but more seen in coat colour, coat type or anatomical mutations (short legs/folded ears)
- some behav diff but not much
What aids cats with their night vision?
a tapetum lucidum behind the retina that reflects light
- also, pupil opens much wider than a humans which also helps
- changes in aperture
When does a cats vision/light blink reflex develop?
vision: day 17
LBR: day 21 (takes exposure to light for muscles to develop)
When does a cat start hearing?
around 4 weeks old
- range of 10-60KHz (above 20 is ultrasonic)
How has a cats hearing adapted to hunting small prey>
- outer ear can be directed towards a sound
- ear pinna can rotate 180 degrees
- uses both ears to locate
- shaped like a satellite
- ultrasonic hearing
How do cats use their smell?
- for ID and communication in adults
- mark home territory
- very dependant on it for other things such as: appetite, toilet habits and courtship
Home range vs home territory?
home territory is within the home range – range is where they travel during normal activities
What is anosmia?
the loss of smell
What happens if a low ranking cat comes into contact with a high ranking cat?
if its a narrow passageway, the less dominant animal will sit and wait without looking at it while it passes
What is mutual gaze and why is it important?
when a cat looks at another one, can be interpreted as a threat signal (will monitor one another but won’t look at one another)
What is the socialization period?
a time when all primary social bonds are formed – most important period during a cats life (same as in dogs)
- interaction with other cats/adults will help them later on in life
Epimeletic vs Etepimeletic
epi: care giving behaviour (between mother and kittens)
ete: care seeking behaviour (kitten in new environment)