Socialization and Behavior / Behavior Problems

Body Language

Ethnologists define body language as defensive or offensive.

In Vet medicine you commonly hear:

• fearful

• anxious

• conflicted

• aggressive

• relaxed

Posture is the most easily assessed body language
Ex: Stiff and Tense = arousal of the fight and flight system (arousal can also happen when excited)

Piloerection: when the hair stands up and it can be a signal of anxiety, fear, arousal, excitement or conflict.

Mounting: can be a sexual or displacement behavior

Lifting of one of the front paws indicates that the animal is anticipating something

DBL (dog body language)

Dogs use most of their body to express themselves.

Tail

• wagging is a signal that the animal is aroused and wants to interact

• The way a dog carries its tail is also part of its body language repertoire (repertoire: wide range of nonverbal cues)

• Tail carriage can be breed specific

• lower facing tail can be a fear and anxiety response

• Tucked tail means extreme fear or anxiety

• High tail means aroused and ready to aggress

• Stiff tail means anxiety or fear

• Slow wag means uncertain

• Fast wag of the tip of the tail means highly aroused

• Huge wag where the hind end wags too is a sign of the dog being engaged in a friendly activity

Ears

• Pricked up ears suggest attentiveness

• folded back and flattened ears are signaling fear and anxiety

Mouth

• Curled lips and exposed teeth are a sign of aggression or play, or asking for distance

• Licking or nuzzling the mouth of another is an indication of appeasement and could be asking for social contact

• yawning is an indicator of stress

• Lip licking signals increasing fear and anxiety

• Lip curls with snarls state aggression

CBL (cat body language)

Tail

• A neutral tail communicates that the cat is relaxed.

• A vertical tail with the last 1/3 of the tail wagging is a friendly cat greeting.

• A vertical tail that's puffed up is an indication of fear and aggression.

• Tucking the tail close to the body or between the legs tells you the cat is fearful and defensively aggressive.

• A tail where the first inch is horizontal and the rest of the tail is down signals a fearful and offensively aggressive cat.

• Twitching or flickering of the tail indicates that the cat is highly aroused.

Body Posture

• A cat that's resting on its side with relaxed ears that are up, eyes partially open with normal pupils, a relaxed brow and still whiskers, mouth, and tail is a relaxed cat.

• A cat displaying piloerection along its back is highly aroused.

• A cat walking with its back end higher than its front end is threatening or challenging you.

• A cat that lowers its entire body, is leaning back or has turned sideways is telling you to leave them alone and is fearful.

Eyes

• Half-open eyes tell you the cat is relaxed.

• A cat that engages in a prolonged state is either threatening or just staring at something interesting.

• A cat with dilated pupils is fearful.

• Constricted pupils in a cat indicate the cat is aroused.

• A cat that avoids eye contact is signaling that it's not a threat.

• A cat that blinks slowly and looks away is in either in conflict or is trying to calm itself.

• A relaxed brow means the cat is relaxed. A flattened brow means that the cat wants to avoid a situation. A furrowed brow tells you the cat is tense.

Ears

• Forward ears in cats means that the cat is calm.

• Ears that are perked forward indicate an alert cat.

• Flattened ears are signaling a worried cat.

• Ears pinned back signal a fearful cat.

Mouth and Whiskers

• A relaxed mouth means the cat isn't worried.

• A slightly opened mouth is the flehmen response. The cat is sensing pheromones in the environment.

• A yawn indicates stress, frustration, uneasiness, contentment or being tired.

• Hissing communicates fear. The cat wants distance.

• Lip or nose licking signals unease or that the cat isn't a threat.

• Neutral whiskers show that a cat is calm.

• Forward fanned whiskers signal the cat may be hunting.

• Forward and stiff whiskers are an offensive threat from the cat.

• Whiskers held against the cheeks means the cat is fearful.

Impact of Socialization

• A critical socialization period exists from 4 to 14 weeks old in puppies and 2 to 8 weeks for kittens

• Animals learn how to interact with both their own species and others

• Lots of exposure to stimui is important to how animals respond to different stiutions in the future

• A puppy experiences its first fear period at eight to ten weeks of age and a second fear period at 6 to 14 months this can have lasting psychological damage

Aggression

• Many factors impact aggressive behavior

• Proper socialization at the critial age can affect fear based aggresstion

• Castration in male canines and felines may help reduce the risk of some types of hormone-driven aggressive behaviors

Elimination

• Inflicting punishment or negative stimuli because this can damage the relationship between an owner and his or her pet

Fear Responses

• Fear-free veterinary practice involves the knowledge of learning theory, animal behavior, medicine, body language, and low-stress handling techniques to alleviate a fearful response in animals and owners at veterinary appointments

• During the critial socialization period veterinary knowlege is vidal. It will effect how a animal behaves later on,

• Sometimes less is more

• Listen / Watch your patients body language

Imprinting and Behavior Problems

• Dogs and cats will contiune to learn and change behavior patterns throughout their lives

Common Behavior Problems

• Underlying medical issues can cause a change in behavior

• Canine separation anxiety can manifest in many forms. Excessive vocalization, destructive behavior, inappropriate elimination, anorexia, hyperactivity, or inactivity can all be signs of canine separation anxiety. Some animals may exhibit physical signs, such as panting, hypersalivation, vomiting, and diarrhea

• Found mostly in younger pups but can develop later in life (sep. anx.)

• Conflict-Related Agg. - When a dog learns to use agg. behavior to get out of a threatening situation: avoidance conditioning. Occurs in punishment-based training. (inconsistent or unpredictable evironments ex. Recuses)

• Fear-Induced Agg. - Most common type of agg. in hospitals. happens when an animal is in a situation where it feels frightened and can’t exscape. other cause are noises, children, or specific indiviuals. owners mistakingly reinforce this behavior by withdrawing pet when fear. agg is shown: Negative reinforcement.

• Predatory Agg. - a hunting instinct. it differs from other types of agg. due to having no warning. dogs predatory behavior may result in other pets or small children as targets. Cats predatory behavior may result in hunting small rodents or birds.

• Pain-Induced Agg. - a protective intinct. if a animal is in pain it can result in agg. behavior. a factor in dogfights if punishments is used to break up a dog fight. agg. can still occur even after the painful stimulus is gone.

• Intermale Agg. - Male dogs and cats display agg. towards each other. testosterone-driven instinct. castration is the treatment.

• Territorial Agg. - aggressive behavior related to territory. somewhat different in cats and dogs.

• Maternal Agg. - rare but occurs post-partum.