Introductory Canine Psychology: Canine Nuances, Conflict Responses, and Vocalizations

Vocabulary flashcards covering canine behavioral nuances, predatory sequence, responses to conflict, and canine vocalizations from Module 3.

Prey Drive

The predatory instinct and natural behaviors involved in the location, capture, and consumption of prey.

Food Acquisition Sequence

A phylogenetic predatory motor pattern leading up to eating prey, proceeding through: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect, and consume.

Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)

An ethological term describing an instinctive, species-characteristic behavioral sequence that is highly stereotyped, such as chasing a fleeing animal or innate shredding and gnawing.

Predatory Drift

A glitch in a dog's prey drive that causes it to display predatory behavior toward an agitated, squealing, squirming, or running animal, using teeth and mouth to stop the movement.

Instinctive Drift

Also known as the Breland Effect; the tendency of an animal to revert to unconscious and automatic instinctive behaviors that interfere with operantly conditioned behaviors.

Coprophagia

The practice of eating stool or feces, which can stem from nutritional factors, anxiety, environmental stress, or learned attention-getting behavior.

Scent Rolling

A canine behavior where a dog rubs its neck and back into feces, rotting material, or dead animals, hypothesized as camouflage from prey animals, scent deposit, or olfactory pleasure.

Threshold

The emotional point at which a dog changes from one emotional state to another and enters distress, a state wherein cognitive learning cannot take place.

Flooding

A controversial training method where an animal is exposed to numerous intense negative stimuli at one time until its physical stress alarm system exhausts.

Shut Down

A state in which a dog pushed past its coping capacity displays little to no behavior and appears numb, often misinterpreted by untrained observers as calm or relaxed.

Learned Helplessness

A psychological condition occurring when an animal is repeatedly subjected to inescapable aversive stimuli, causing it to conclude that no action works and leading to extreme behavioral suppression or near-paralysis.

Law of Parsimony

Also known as Occams Razor; the principle stating that when multiple explanations are available, one must account for the simplest explanation available.

Clever Hans Effect

The phenomenon in which an animal responds to unconscious, unintentional human physical cues rather than performing an intended cognitive task, underscoring the need for double-blind testing.

Appeasement

A conflict response (associated with Fidget, Fawn, or Flirt) involving non-confrontational calming signals or displacement behaviors designed to reduce negative outcomes.

Avoidance

A fear and conflict response (Flight or Flee) where the dog seeks to escape or create physical distance from a negative stimulus by hiding, moving away, or turning its head away.

Inhibition

A fear and conflict response (Freeze) where the dog halts motion and becomes stiff like a statue to gather information or evade detection.

Repulsion

An agonistic conflict response (Fight) where a dog uses forward motions, barks, lunges, growls, or bites to force a negative stimulus to back away.

Baying

A deep-throated, prolonged, moaning canine vocalization characteristic of hound breeds, often used to alert or signal arriving visitors.

Growling

A vocal warning communicating discomfort, pain, or resource guarding; punishing it removes the warning signal without changing underlying emotional distress.

Play Growl

An exaggerated, dramatic growling vocalization heard during canine play that lacks hostile intent or stressful, stiff body language.

Howling

A prolonged vocalization triggered by high-pitched sounds, pack communication, or severe distress such as isolation and separation anxiety.

Whimper / Yelp

A sudden distress vocalization indicating acute physical pain or communicating that an interaction in play was too rough.

Whine

A high-pitched, closed-mouth, nasal vocalization that signifies increased stress, frustration from barriers or restraint, or an unmet need.