neurotypical behaviour: dogs and cats and handling Flashcards
behaviour can be ____ or _____
passive or active
behaviour is
everything an animal does including movement, activities and underlying mental processes
or
how is an animal acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus
neurotypical behaviour
conforms to common behaviour for a species
behaviour is _____- specific and ______- specific
species and situationally
non-neurotypical or neuroatypical behaviour can indicate many things, including
welfare issues
what influences behaviour
genetics (intrinsic) and learning experiences (extrinsic)
dangers of anthropomorphizing
animals don’t experience emotions the way we do, better to talk about what you see rather than assuming
neurotypical behaviour of dogs
- not hierarchal pack animals
- social
- live singly, in pairs or have fluid family groups
- can be territorial
- breed specific traits exist (ex some friendlier to people than others)
- non verbal communicators
- highly affiliative (do best in groups w dogs or people, develop strong bonds)
true or false; dogs and indoor cats do not need enrichment activities to meet their needs
false they do
neutral, relaxed dogs are (temperament, head, ears, mouth, tail, body)
- friendly and often initiate contact
- head erect, ears up or neutral
- mouth slightly open
- may pant lightly, tongue may hang out
- tail relaxed, may wag
- weight even , balanced
fearful dogs:
(ears, eyes, mouth, lips, body, tail, others)
- ears pinched back or pinned down
- intermittent eye contact or avoidance or staring, eyes half close or whale eye
- mouth nearly closes, tongue tip may dart out
- possible lip curling
- body curved, back rounded, low position, makes self smaller
- tail tucked
- may urinate, cower, hide, or become aggressive and bite
appeasing, submissive dogs (ears, eyes, head, mouth, paws, body position, others)
- ears down and back
- avoids eye contact, lots of blinking
- turns head away, avoidance
- licks lips, licks nose, yawns
- may raise one paw
- may roll over and expose belly
- may urinate, show lipstick, cower, crouch, hesitant, tail position varies
*example pic shows a bunch of dogs “smiling” showing teeth
alert dogs (eyes, tail, mouth, ears)
- eyes enlarged, hard and staring
- tail up, may have stiff wag
- muzzle tense, may lift lips and show teeth
- ears up, forward
- overall tense
- this is not aggression
confident aggressive dogs
(ears, eyes, lips, hackles, tail, weight, others)
- eyes erect, tilted forward
- eyes staring, pupils dilated
- lips curled, teeth bared, growls, snarls, barks
- hackles up
- tail stiff, raised
- weight forward
- extremely tense
- lunging or charging, will bite
defensive, fearful aggressive dogs (demeanour, tail, mouth, weight, other)
- same as fearful but intensified
- tail low and tucked
- muzzle tense, wrinkled, snarling
- teeth exposed, all weapons visible
- posture crouched, weight on hindquarters
- will bite but would likely prefer to run
neurotypical behaviour of cats
- can be social IF resources are abundant
- territorial, males have more territory than females
- queens w kittens defensive of territory
- cats can have territories inside homes
- non verbal communicators
- affiliative
adult cats spend most of their time _____ and _____
sleeping and grooming
friendly cats (ears, eyes, posture, tail, others)
- ears up and attentive
- eyes wide, will dilate initially but then return to slits
- relaxed posture
- tail neutral
- will approach and touch you, might purr, probably rub against uou
fearful cats
(ears, eyes, tail, fur, body position, others)
- ears plastered back against head
- eyes wide, dilated pupils, let in all the light
- tucks tail around body
- piloerection (hair up)
- tense, low or may do halloween cat
- attempt to hide, may hiss or yowl
aggressive cats (ears, eyes, mouth, body, tail, etc)
- as for fearful but intensifies rapidly
- ears wide
- dilated pupils
- mouth often, hissing, often loud vocalization
- body crouched to attack
- tail tucked, tip of tail flicking
- piloerection, busy, makes self bigger
- cats use ALL their weapons
cats eyes _____ before striking
dilate
what is welfare and wellbeing
welfare is how animal copes physically and mentally within its environment
wellbeing is ensuring both physical and emotional needs are met
five freedoms and five domains
1) from hunger and thirst -nutrition
2) from discomfort- environment
3) from pain, injury and disease - health
4) to express normal behaviour- behaviour
5) from fear and distress- mental state
five domains reinforce that:
animals have emotional needs equally as important as physical needs
when handling animals you have to consider what they:
hear, see, feel (emotionally and physically), smell and taste
what to consider about what an animal hears within the clinic
- latches, clippers, doors, other animals, staff, strangers talking
what to consider about what an animal feels within the clinic
slippery surfaces, cold surfaces, illness, pain
what to consider about what an animal sees within the clinic
unknown animals, predators/ prey, strangers, rapid threatening movement, equipment, shiny surfaces, bright lights
difference between odour and pheromones
odours: animal sniff to smell or scent, taken through nasal turbinates, bony structures inside the nose covered w soft tissue mucosa, the olfactory epithelium
pheromones: chemicals produced unconsciously by animals which can effect behaviour of others, flehmen response, perceived through the vomeronasal organ
before interacting with an animal, do a
distant examination:
- posture, movement, body and coat condition, assess demeanour
how to approach a dog
quiet, friendly, soft, slow, avoid staring and grabbing, side on, lower posture, encourage dog to come to you
how to approach a cat
quiet, friendly, slow, less is best, stroke head to tail, encourage to come to you
whats the weight of dog where you have to lift in pairs
15 kg and up
