VT 100 Lec. 15 Canine Behavior

Normal behavior within a pack

In The Wild:

• Social group centered around a dominant pair

• Advantages to group living

• Hierarchy  benefits all

Factors influencing position

In general:

•Male over female

•Older over younger

•Larger over smaller

•Individual motivation

Status communicated through

• Posture, sound and space

• Dominant dog - tail elevated, ears erect, direct eye contact, low growls, bumping, grabbing

Dog Posture 

• Subordinate dog – head down, flattened ears, nose to mouth, urinating, rolling over, whining

Maturity

• Physical maturity reached at 7 to 10 months

• Behavioral maturity reached at 2-3 years.

• When a subordinate dog in pack reached behavioral maturity, it may challenge the dominate dog!

Perception effects behavior

• Vision:  70% greater peripheral and 20 degrees narrower binocular than humans.

  • Discrimination of detail less refined.

• Hearing:  Sound man hears at 17 feet, dogs can hear at 75 feet

Critical Periods in Puppy Life

• A puppy cannot be taught anything prior to 21 days of life:

  • Backing away

  • Wobbly walk

  • Wink

  • Whimper

Canine Development

• First 28 days critical – needs mother and litter mates for

  • food

  • massage

  • warmth

• From the 4th to 7th week of life, canine socialization is developing and puppy needs litter to learn.

• From 4th to 16th week, human interaction is also critical

Critical Behavior Periods & Their Related Problems

• Socialization 3-14 wks

  • Shyness, aggression if after 14 weeks

• Optimum socialization 6 to 8 weeks

  • Shyness, dependence on owner if earlier

• Fear imprint  8-10 wks

  • Traumatic defensive

Canine Development

• Puberty onset 12-14 wks

  • Mounting

• Protective/aggressive 18-40 weeks

  • Barking, social protection

• Functional 36-56 wks

  • Serious protection  Correction problems

• Achievement 104-208 weeks

  • Purposeful, Protection Correction difficult

Agression

• It is important to know what type of aggression a dog is displaying. 

• Body language will give you a clue

• The situation the dog is in will give you a clue.

• Go slow and be patient

Types of Aggression

• Territorial/Protective

  • May be exhibited toward  owner

  • May be exhibited toward surroundings

• Fear aggression

  • This is the most dangerous for techs in a clinic setting.

  • Go slow – plan ahead

• Pain Aggression

  • Even the nicest dog that is in pain may display aggressive, biting behavior

• Interdog aggression

  • Caution when moving a dog from place to place in a clinic  \

  • Caution when breaking up a fight

  • Displace aggression may surface in a clinic setting

Types of Aggression Continued…

• Medically related aggression

  • Seizure -like brain disorders

  • Rabies

  • Drugs

• Maternal Aggression

• Prey Aggression

• Dominance Aggression

  • The dominant aggressive dog is confident and friendly on entry

• Becomes aggressive when you attempt to restrain or treat

Handling a Strange Dog

• A dog’s method of defense is the mouth

• Some general rules:

• Have a general knowledge of breed differences.

• Use a quiet, reassuring voice.  Speak to the dog by name.

• Offer the back of your hand to discern the dogs intention

You have at least 3 factors in your favor in a hospital setting:

• Strange environment

• Slick surface

• The use of a muzzle

Canine Restraint in Hospital

Know the following:

• How to muzzle a dog

• How to pick up and carry a dog

• Restraining a dog on a table and on the ground

• How to hold a dog’s head

• When chemical restraint is necessary

Puppy Temperament Testing

• The best time to do a temperament test at age 49 days – just prior to fear imprinting period

• Whenever possible it is helpful to see both the puppy’s parents

• Each puppy should be tested in a quiet place away from the other puppies

• Tests should be performed in sequence

• Each test should be done in the same way for each puppy

Puppy Temperament Testing Scoring

• Mostly 1’s  Very dominant aggressive.  Needs strong owner

• Mostly 2’s  Dominant.  Needs strong owner and will be too much for small children

• Mostly 3’s  Good for family, but will need early training.  Good working potential

Puppy Temperament Testing Scoring Continued…

• Mostly 4’s  Submissive, manageable and easily trained.  Good family dog

• Mostly 5’s  Shy, easily frightened and may become a fear-biter. Needs calm, quiet structured home.

• Mostly 6’s Very independent.  Not cuddly or demonstrative.  May be a biter if bothered or unsocialized

Test 1 –Social Attraction

• From a few feet away coax the puppy to you by clapping hands and kneeling down.

  • 1 comes readily, jumps and bites at hand

  • 2 comes readily, paws and licks hand

  • 3  comes readily, tail up

  • 4  comes readily, tail down

  • 5  comes hesitantly, tail down

  • 6  doesn’t come at all

Test 2 - following

• Stand up and walk away in normal manner

  • 1  & 2 Follows, tail up, gets underfoot

  • 3  follows readily, tail up

  • 4  follows readily, tail down

  • 5  follows hesitantly, tail down

  • 6  does not follow or walks away

Test 3 – restraint crouch

• Crouch down and gently roll pup on back and hold with one had for 30 seconds

  • 1 struggles fiercely, flails, bites

  • 2 struggles fiercely, flails

  • 3 settled, struggled, settled

  • 4 struggled then settled

  • 5 no struggle

  • 6 no struggle, strains to avoid eye contact

Test 4 – Social dominance

• Let pup stand up and gently stroke from head to tail until recognizable behavior seen

  • 1 jumps, paws, bites, growls

  • 2 jumps, paws

  • 3 cuddles up and tries to lick face

  • 4 squirms, licks at hand

  • 5 rolls over and licks at hand

  • 6 walks away and stays away

Test 5 – Elevation Dominance

• Bend over and cradle under belly with fingers laced and palms up elevate slightly off ground and hold 30 seconds

  • 1 Struggles fiercely, bites, growls

  • 2 Struggles fiercely

  • 3 No struggle, relaxes

  • 4 Struggles, settles, licks

  • 5 No struggle, licks

  • 6 No struggle, freezes

Test 6- Retrieving

• Crouch, get pups attention, toss crumpled ball of paper 4 to 6 feet

  • 1 Chases, picks up and runs away

  • 2 Chases, stands over object and no return

  • 3 Chases and returns with object to handler

  • 4 Chases and returns without object

  • 5 Starts to chase, loses interest

  • 6 Does not chase object

Test 7 – Touch Sensitivity

• Press webbing of one foot with finger and thumb, increasing pressure until response, while you count slowly to ten

  • 1, 8 – 10 counts until response

  • 2, 6-7 counts

  • 3, 5-6 counts

  • 4, 2-4 counts

  • 5, 6 1-2 counts

Test 8 – Sound Sensitive

• Place pup in center of area, from behind strike a metal spoon on a pan twice

  • 1 Listens, locates sound, comes barking

  • 2 Listen, locates sound and barks

  • 3 Listens and walks curiously toward sound

  • 4 Listens, locates sound

  • 5 Cringes, backs off, hides

  • 6 Ignores sound, shows no curiosity

Test 9 –Sight Sensitivity

• Place pup in center.  Jerk a towel tied to a string around the floor a few feet from pup

  • 1 Looks, attacks, bites

  • 2 Looks, barks, tail up

  • 3 Looks, attempts to investigate

  • 4 Looks, barks, tail tucked

  • 5 Runs away, hides

  • 6 Ignores, walks away

Test 10 - Persistence

• Show treat then place under a clean plastic margarine tub

  • 1 Very persistent, barking, successful

  • 2 Pawing, pushing, successful

  • 3 Quiet, thoughtful, successful

  • 4 Small, feeble attempt, has to be assisted

  • 5 & 6 Didn’t attempt or gave up quickly

Test 11 – Stability

• With pup 6 feet away, slowly open umbrella and place it on its side. Allow pup to investigate

  • 1 Barks, growls, leaps, bites

  • 2 Goes directly to object, tail up

  • 3 Investigates with tail up

  • 4 Startles, recovers slowly, cautiously investigates

  • 5  Startles, tucks tail, ears down, avoids and unwilling to investigate

  • 6 Startles , avoids umbrella

Activity level during test

• 1 High energy, gallops everywhere

• 2 High energy, trots constantly

• 3 Medium energy, trots with some walking

• 4 Low energy, mostly walks

• 5 Very low energy, walks all the time