Canine ethology, behavior, and training

The database of the National Technical Information Service—an agency of the U.S. Government—shows that as many as 70% of individuals [human beings] living in the United States have experienced at least one serious traumatic event during their lifetime. And according to investigators at Boston University School of Medicine 8% of those people who've experienced some form of trauma have developed PTSD as a result.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a database showing the percentage of dogs who’ve experienced trauma. But given the number of dogs abandoned or brought to shelters every year, plus the number injured in fights with other dogs, and the number who’ve been mistreated by their owners, or mishandled by their trainers, groomers or vet techs (it happens), not to mention those who’ve been struck by a car, gotten lost, were fought over during a divorce, etc, etc, etc, I would be very surprised if the figure wasn’t at least 70%. And I’d also be surprised if the number of dogs who’ve developed symptoms of PTSD wasn’t very close to the figure of 8% found in human beings

Since there are over 75 million pet dogs in America, this suggests the possibility that more than 6 million of them might have Canine PTSD.

Human relationships with dogs extend into the deep past, just as they strongly endure in myriad forms in the present. New research in Siberia indicates that humans may have established relationships with wolves as early as 27,000 years ago, and this relationship blossomed into an undisputed case of domestication at least 14,700 years ago (Skoglund et al. 2015). Currently, most research indicates that wolves first joined human society when we were small hunter-gatherer bands around 14,000 years ago (Janssens et al. 2018). After millennia of living in close proximity to humans, a subset of wolves diverged from the larger gene pool as they were physically and cognitively changed by their growing relationships with humans. These became the ancestors of modern dogs. Given that the specific origins and benefits of this relationship are still poorly understood, scientists, as well as dog enthusiasts, continue to wonder how and why humans began sharing their lives with dogs in the first place. Researchers can use ethnographic data in eHRAF World Cultures to better understand how hunter-gatherers use and live with dogs. That being said, the environment, societies, and dog phenotypes have all changed dramatically since ancient times (for a complete description of the theoretical issues involved see Hayter 1994). The ecological relationships recent hunter-gatherers groups have had with dogs may shed light on the use and impact of dogs in ancient societies with similar environments. With this consideration in mind, let’s look at some examples of dog use in recent hunter-gatherer societies living in a few different environments. Exploring the utility of the human-dog relationship may help us understand why we first invited them into our lives.

This text analyzes US sheepdog culture through the lens of American pastoralism, taking its cue from the obvious connection between pastoralism and shepherds, but also locating features of the American pastoral- in particular the tension between nature and civilization and ambivalence towards technology - in the development of sheepdog trials in the US, the figure of the American shepherd, the shepherd's attitude to the dog and the training methods used in the process of training a sheepdog.

Detecting burial sites in archaeology often involves various prospecting methods such as field survey, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity, and remote sensing. This paper presents the results of utilizing human remains detection dogs in detecting prehistoric burials dated to the Iron Age in Europe. Human remains detection (HRD) dogs or cadaver dogs are commonly used in criminal cases. However, they are used less frequently for detecting historic burials. Our research was conducted at the burial site of the prehistoric hillfort of Drvišica (Croatia) located on the littoral slope of the Velebit mountains. A total of four HRD dogs were used in both a blinded and double-blinded search. Those locations where an HRD dog produced an indication were subjected to both visual inspection and archaeological excavation. This research has resulted in the discovery of five new prehistoric tombs as well as HRD dogs detecting previously excavated tombs. Therefore, in this paper, we demonstrate that HRD dogs are a valuable tool for locating burials like other non-destructive archaeo- logical search methods.

A partire dall'analisi delle antiche fonti letterarie, delle raffigurazioni artistiche e dei contesti funerari, questo studio riassume le principali evidenze circa la presenza del cane al fianco delle divinità ctonie del pantheon greco, nei rituali sacrificali e nelle sepolture, concludendo con un piccolo focus sulle raffigurazioni di questo animale nell'arte funeraria attica d'età classica.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in post-socialist Eastern Mongolia, this article aims to acquaint the reader with a series of different ways and forms in which horses come to be present in and around a Barga Mongol household. Situating this article in the context of recent transformations in how animals are deployed and thought of in human-animal scholarship, I focus on how horses emerge as both object-like and person-like entities in their relations with a young man and his family. I do this in order to highlight the role theoretical presuppositions play in making particular kinds of animals visible in the field. Through an engagement with horses, bits of horses, herds, types, equipment, breeding lineages, photos, and local literature; I ask whether animal-centred scholars might strive for “trans-paradigmatic” and open-ended ethnography that allows animals to emerge in a plurality of forms without assuming a priori what those forms are. The article is loosely structured around a succession of moments in the training trajectory of one young dun horse.

To prove that dominance does exist, Dr. Abrantes says, “It is absurd to argue that dominance does not exist when we have so many words to describe whatever it relates to.”

I’m not sure that’s a cogent or reasonable argument. After all, there are thousands or words to describe the concept of God or some form of deity. Does that stand as a rational, scientific argument that such deities exist?

I would argue that there is a recognizable form of social behavior, seen primarily in humans and (perhaps) primates, that may properly be described as dominance. It relates to the use of force, power, or some other form of influence to control the behaviors of group members that rank lower on the social scale. Schools, governments, and the military are top-down systems. However, there are many other systems—in humans on down—that don’t operate through dominance. And while we certainly see similar types of behaviors in canines and primates, the motivations for these behaviors may be quite different.

Il confronto tra diverse metodologie di addestramento del cane porta a considerare i metodi positivi, basati sul premio e il rinforzo del comportamento, superiori ai metodi basati sulla punizione lungo almento tre dimensioni: 1) impatto sul benessere del cane; 2) efficacia del training; 3)relazione cane proprietario.
In Parlamento si dibatte sull'adozione di una norma che vieta l'utilizzo di collari a strangolo ed estende la portata punitiva del reato di maltrattamento di animali fino a ricomprendere l'utilizzo di metodi di addestramento punitivi non coerenti con il benessere del cane. E' tempo per un intervento forte degli addetti ai lavori con l'adozione di position paper o codici deontologici sui metodi di addestramento da preferire.

The hamstring group of muscles are extensively used for generating the forward movement and for the jumping action in canine Agility. I set out to understand how much force is used in executing the jumping action in Border Collies and what might happen if this muscle group is repetitively overloaded and subsequent treatments to help rectify issues. This has implications in Agility as the amount of training and competition continues to increase, placing ever higher demands on the canine athletes. Five case studies were used, all over 5 years old and training / in competition since at least 2 years old. In each case the hamstring tendon of origin was treated on a specific limb with therapeutic ultrasound, deep-friction-massage and stretching. In all cases, improvements were noted.

tWe used two sets of videotaped data of playing domestic dog dyads to determine whether rolling overduring play served as a signal of submission or whether it was a combat maneuver adopted as part ofan ongoing play sequence. Our results provide strong support for the latter. In the absence of any overtindication of agonism, the frequency with which rollovers occurred was determined primarily by playbout length. The discrepancy in partner size had no effect on the probability that rollovers would occurand there was no evidence that smaller dogs were more likely to rollover or to sustain a supine posturefor longer, if they did. The supine phase of rollovers was significantly skewed to short durations. Mostrollovers were either defensive (evading a nape bite) or offensive (launching an attack). None could becategorized as submissive. We conclude that asymmetries in the performance of rollovers cannot be assumed to point to asymmetries in the relationships between play partners.

Nos últimos anos, têm surgido diversos estudos abordando a cinemática de canídeos, a maioria dos quais investigando a influência de diferentes patologias na movimentação. Este trabalho tem como objectivo contribuir para a caracterização morfológica e biomecânica do Cão da Serra da Estrela, com particular incidência para a movimentação típica da raça e desvios induzidos pela ocorrência de lassidão articular e displasia da anca. Pretende-se que contribua para o desenvolvimento de metodologias específicas baseadas em parâmetros cinéticos e cinemáticos que auxiliem a detecção não-invasiva da lassidão articular e displasia da anca, não só na raça, mas também nos cães em geral, assim como na análise da eficácia do seu tratamento paliativo. Esta metodologia torna-se assim particularmente relevante no âmbito da saúde e bem-estar animal.

Una collana di ebook presente nei principali ebook store presenta i cani razza per razza: storia, comportamenti, attitudini, vita in famiglia, salute, standard. 12 volumi già usciti: Si fa presto a dire cane, Labrador, Dalmata, Beagle, Pastore Tedesco, Greyhound, Boxer, Jack Russell, Dobermann, Border Collie, Galgo, Cirneco, Husky. Prossime uscite: Bassotto, Saluki, Setter

“Voice” not only stands for vocal utterance, but for expressing oneself. Having a voice is seen as representation –voicing one’s mind– participating, voting, taking part in the governance of one’s community and place in the world. In music, voice refers to an individual’s vocal contribution to the group; the specific tonal quality of the soloist co-creates the collective character. Voice is independent expression towards social coherence. In human culture, other animals have tended to be deprived of voice. This paper explores relational events with companion canines and art collaborators Tom and Sugi, and how their voices have contributed to the advancement of interspecies aesthetics and ethics for animals.

Cryptic-pattern sharing amongst sympatric species of Corydoras has yet to be fully understood by taxonomists. This research details the behaviour of Corydoras adolfoi, Burgess 1982 and Corydoras imitator, Nijssen & Isbrucker 1983, sympatric in a tributary of the Upper Negro, Brazil. Data, based on observations of combined species groups has shown that both freeze in the presence of a predator model and live predator. Predator-prey reactions are recorded for both species and when they are included with allopatric Corydoras species.