IACUC Learning Module - Dogs | Previous Next |
Because of the dog's intelligence and social nature, wild canine species were frequently in contact with early man. Wild dogs were probably domesticated in different ways in different parts of the world; some dogs may have chosen to associate with man when they found it easier to scavenge food from human settlements rather than hunt, others when man hunted dogs for food and took home litters of puppies for "fattening up" and slaughter. By whatever means, domestication proceeded so that fossil remains dating from the beginning of the Bronze age (4500 B.C.) show five distinct body types: Mastiff-type guard and draft type, Wolf-like guard dogs, Greyhound-like sight hounds, Pointer-type hunting hounds and Sheepdogs of various sizes and shapes. These five basic types proliferated by selective breeding and natural genetic mutation to produce thousands of breeds, some of which have been lost through the centuries. Today, there are some 400 recognized separate breeds of dogs. Dog breeds vary a great deal in outward appearance, or phenotype, one need only to consider the tiny Chihuahua and the giant Irish Wolfhound. If dogs breed randomly, without man's control, there does exist a "wild-type" dog. If one examines stray dog populations from around the world, the average "mutt" will look remarkably similar, no matter the location: it will have a short coat of reddish brown hair, a body type much like a skinny retriever (about 45 lbs.) and with semi-erect ears.
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR and INTELLIGENCE
Dogs stand quite high in the IQ league. They are excellent learners with good powers of association. Dogs can easily be trained to come, sit, lay down, stand up, and stay, if you use positive reinforcement associated with the verbal command. Positive reinforcement for dogs include food treats, such as canned dog food or small amounts of canned cat food, or, simply lots of praise and petting.
In UAC facilities, it is NEVER APPROPRIATE to use negative reinforcement such as hitting or jerking on the collar to train dogs. Negative reinforcement may be a tool for professional dog trainers, but requires patience, knowledge and the ability to apply it correctly in response to specific behaviors. Never grab a dog by the scruff of the neck. If you must grab, get the collar and not the actual skin of the scruff.
As social animals, dogs are adept at interpreting subtle signals conveyed by other individuals-either dogs or humans. This allows a dog to learn to "understand" people and to establish friendships with them. Equally important, various signals help dogs to understand each other and to resolve encounters without serious fighting. Dogs develop complex relationships with one another and dominant and submissive roles will shift from encounter to encounter, depending on which signals are sent and received.
Many messages involve smell: dogs mark territory by frequent urination, and by scratching the ground to leave scent from sweat glands in the paws. They also roll in grass and more pungent substances such as manure in order to enhance (to a dog's nose at least) their body odor.
Visual signaling by body language is highly developed too. A varied repertoire of body postures, facial expressions, and tail signals transmits information that other dogs, other animals, and even humans can interpret. Persons handling dogs need to develop an ability to recognize and appropriately react to some of these important body language signals.
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DOG in GREETING POSTURE: body is relaxed, ears are loosely back, mouth is wide open, tail up and wagging and dog may jump and try to lick your face. YOU SHOULD: chill out and remember that when two dogs meet, they greet each other by licking one another's faces. Kicking this dog to make it get down, would be comparable to hitting a person who says "hello" and shakes your hand. Pet and stroke the dog, talk to him. Greet him. |  |
( After you know this dog well and have established a good relationship, begin to train dog to sit, while you kneel down and greet him, rather than letting him to jump up on you.)
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DOG in NEUTRAL POSTURE: body is relaxed, head high, ears erect and forward. The tail hangs loosely from the body. Dog may watch you, or continue to look around. YOU SHOULD: move slowly towards the dog and watch for changes in behavior and posture. |
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 | DOG in ALERT, THREAT POSTURE: Ears are erect and straight. The tail is upright and may even be slightly wagging! The skin on the back of his neck, called hackles may or may not be slightly fluffed and raised. The nose may or may not be wrinkled, so that the teeth are bared. He may or may not growl. This dog is ready to attack. |
YOU SHOULD: STOP! Do not approach any closer, in fact, it is best if you back up slightly, but keep facing the dog. Talk softly to the dog but do not look directly into dog's eyes. Do not corner this dog. Go get someone from UAC to help get this dog. DO NOT REACH FOR THIS DOG.
For a few aggressive dogs, tranquilizers or short acting anesthetics may be needed to allow examination or restraint.
This is a dominant dog, sure that he can win a fight with you (it is unusual for a dog away from his home territory to exhibit this type of behavior and it requires expertise to dominate this dog). Some UAC staff will be able to use body posture and voice tone to intimidate this dog, and make it adopt a more submissive posture and attitude. Other UAC staff will opt to take the more submissive role and crouch down and allow the dog to come forward and sniff them, and usually at this point, the dog will initiate greeting behavior.
Researchers and UAC staff need to report this type of behavior to the veterinary care staff, so a decision can be made whether or not to keep this dog.
 | DOG in DEFENSIVE, SUBMISSIVE THREAT POSTURE: The ears are laid back. The tail is hanging down, or may be tucked between the hind legs. The nose may or may not be wrinkled, barring his teeth. He may whine, or growl. Sometimes, the dog will nervously lick his lips or tip of his nose. Dog may submissively roll over, urinate or defecate, or express his anal glands (a pungent, foul odor). |
YOU SHOULD: Understand that this dog is fearful, but willing to bite. Have everyone else leave the room. Do not look directly into dog's eyes. Talk softly. Kneel, so you look smaller and less threatening, and call the dog over to you. DO NOT REACH FOR THIS DOG! When it does come toward you, slowly place out your hand, or elbow, and wait until dog brushes up against it. This is usually a signal that dog is ready for you to softly pet it. Avoid sudden, quick movements or the dog may snap at you! If the dog does not come to you in a manner of minutes, go get help from UAC staff.
There is also a wide range of sound signals that include aggressive growls and snarls, whines, howls, "yips" (from hounds while hunting), and a variety of barks.
For adult dogs, play is for mainly fun and exercise, although it may also serve to remind each animal of its position in the social order, reducing the risk of serious fighting. But puppies need play to learn all the skills necessary for survival. Not only is play a method to learn how to pounce and bite and bring down your prey, play also teaches important social skills. Puppies need lots of contact with their peers in order to grow up into well-adjusted adults. Puppies deprived of contact with other dogs during the crucial period from three to ten weeks, when they are at their most playful, will not develop correct social responses. Such individuals tend to be antisocial and unable to form normal relationships with other dogs. What is lost during this critical period can rarely be instilled later. In a similar manner, if puppies are not socialized to humans, by kind words and hugs, during this three-ten weeks of age period, they will NEVER be able to respond in an appropriate and predictable way toward humans. Again, you cannot instill these social skills at a later time in life. It is for this reason, that dogs which are born and raised on the streets, rarely make good pets and may be difficult to handle in research facilities.
The dog is equipped with one efficient weapon system-its teeth. Even the smallest dog can do great damage to a human if they feel threatened or if they become frightened. A mutt's powerful muscles of the jaw can exert a bite of 165 kg pressure, compared to the gnaw of a human at 29 kg! Some breeds, such as the Pitbull or Mastiff can bite even harder!
The dog is essentially an animal of the chase: with endurance, patience, intelligence, and fleetness. This is clearly seen in the behavior of packs of wild dogs, which not only cooperate in setting up group ambushes, but also make sure that unattached adults contribute to the community by acting as baby-sitters while parents go hunting.
The fleetest members of the dog family are the sight hounds, breeds such as Salukis and Greyhounds bred specially for racing-they can approach speeds of 43 mph (70 km/h).
Because hunting is often carried out over long distances, dogs have developed tremendous stamina and endurance. African Wild Dogs will pace one another, some loping behind for a while as others race ahead. When the leaders tire, the lopers move to the front and keep up the relentless pace. After a long chase, this species is actually able to run down and kill lions, who are now too exhausted to fight.
In the water, the dog is an adequate swimmer, employing the paddle stroke named after it. There is great variation, breeds such as the Water Spaniel and Newfoundland have developed webbed toes to improve their efficiency in the water.
The dog has the same senses as a human, but they differ markedly in power. Dogs have an amazing sense of smell. Although it varies from breed to breed and among individuals in any one breed, their olfactory ability is outstanding and far superior to our own-in fact about one million times better. Dogs are more sensitive than the most advanced of odor-measuring machines, and are used all over the world to search for explosives, drugs, and for lost or dead people. The olfactory center is highly developed in the dog and far larger than in man. The olfactory area in the adult human nose is about ½ sq. in, whereas in the average canine nose it covers almost 20 sq. in. being arranged in folds in order to filter smells from the incoming air. To accommodate such a structure, dogs have developed long noses (exceptions are due to man's selective breeding). There are also many more sensory cells in the dog's olfactory membrane than there are in the human's. A wet nose helps in smelling: it dissolves molecules floating in the air, bringing them into contact with the olfactory membrane, and clears old smells away. Pigment helps too, but how this works is not understood. The pigment is not in the sensory cells but nearby: the nasal membranes of the dog are dark, and the black pigment in the nose pad may also play some part in improving the dog's sense of smell. Tracker dogs take advantage of the fact that the sweat of every individual human is as unique to him as his fingerprints. A dog can recognize the "scent image" of a person and make deductions from the evaporation of various ingredients of the smell with time. This allows it to run along a trail for a few yards, register the change in the image, and thus even determine which way the person was going.
The dog's sense of taste is relatively poorly developed, but they do develop preferences and tend to like salty foods. Some dogs develop a taste for human foods and will refuse to eat their more nutritionally balanced dog kibble. Although UAC staff use a variety of "treats" to train dogs, or to tempt them to eat following surgery, the bulk of the diet needs to be the dog food, formulated for their best health. Chocolate, even in very small quantities, should be considered poisonous for dogs!
A dog's sight is well adapted to hunting small, fast-moving animals. Most breeds, other than the sight hounds, do not hunt primarily by sight and may actually miss creatures that stand still! Dogs are not sensitive to color, and see mainly in black, white, and shades of gray.
Although some breeds have better hearing than others, most dogs are equipped with large external ears that are served by seventeen muscles, and can prick and swivel these sound receivers to focus on the source of any noise. They can register sounds of 35,000 vibrations per second (compared to 20,000 per second in man and 25,000 per second in the cat) which means that they can detect noises well beyond the range of the human ear. Dogs can shut off their inner ear, so as to filter from the general din those sounds on which they want to concentrate.
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