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