Let’s face it, laser pointers seem to offer an ideal way to play with dogs especially because dogs seem to be very fascinated by them. Dog owners may just sit down, move the laser point in several directions and off goes Rover, following it into a frenzied chase. The countless videos of dogs chasing laser pointers are proof that many find it to be a fun way to burn a dog’s energy. Many dog owners prefer this to a game of fetch since they don’t have to continuously toss and handle a slimy ball. As fun as the game may seem though there are certain risks associated with it and some dogs have been already paying the price.
Predatory Drive
Why are dogs so attracted to laser pointers? The main reason is that it triggers their predatory drive. Just like a ball, the rapid movement of the light beam stimulates the dog’s nervous system, triggering the dog’s chasing instinct. The mechanism is similar to when dogs in the wild were chasing critters in hopes for a meal.
All dogs have some level of predatory drive in them as it’s part of who they are, and it will come out at some time or another, whether it’s from seeing birds, squirrels or a ball pouncing in front of them.
There is really nothing wrong with stimulating the dog’s predatory drive through games as games redirect it to appropriate outlets, but laser pointers no matter how attractive they are to dogs, are quite unique for the fact that they come with a major flaw.
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Never Getting It
The main problem with the laser beam is the fact that unlike a ball, the dog never really gets to grasp it. The full predatory sequence in dogs consists of detecting the presence of prey, orienting towards it, stalking, chasing, grabbing, killing, dissecting and eating.
When dogs play with a ball, they get to catch it and some dogs even enjoy biting it or chewing on it. This fulfills a dog’s predatory drive. With the laser pointer, the dog sees the dot but he can never gets to feel it or hold it, thus never completes the chase and catch sequence. This fruitless chasing and lack of closure may cause frustration and confusion in dogs overtime.
This is nothing new. Trainers of bomb and drug sniffing dogs know for a fact that fruitless searches may overtime cause dogs to get become drained and mentally disturbed. To prevent this, their dogs are occasionally taken on dummy missions where they finally get to find something and get rewarded for it.
Obsessive Disorder
Playing frequently with laser pointers may therefore cause the onset of serious behavior problems, since overtime, the dog may start getting obsessed about it. Soon it becomes a behavior problem. It’s as if the chase instinct doesn’t turn off and the dog is constantly seeking a way to gain closure.
“I’ve seen light chasing as a pathology where they will just constantly chase around a light or shadow and pounce upon it. They just spend their whole lives wishing and waiting,” explains Nicholas Dodman, veterinary behaviorist and professor at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
Of course, not all dogs will become obsessed about laser pointers, but with several dogs already showing signs, why take the risk?
“Will playing with a laser or flashlight beam trigger behavioral issues in your dog?…maybe…maybe not, but it has in many anecdotal cases. Will your dog get hit by a car if you let it run loose in the neighborhood?…maybe…maybe not, but are you willing to take that chance?” ~Dr. Caryn Animal Behaviorist and Dog Trainer
Alternative Games
There are several better options than using laser pointers in dogs. One option is using a flirt pole, a stick with a rope attached at the end. With a flirt pole you can just fling it around without having to move around too much and your dog gets to touch it and catch it.
Tug of war, is another great game that can be fun for dogs and owners when played by the dog tug-of-war rules. There are several other great ways to keep dogs mentally stimulated while allowing them to channel their predatory drive.
Interactive games where dogs must chase a ball, grasp it and pour the contents out, offer a stimulating challenge that’s fun to watch too!
Did you know? According to an article on New York Times, Dr. Karen Overall, a veterinary behaviorist, estimates that about 8 percent of dogs in America (that’s about five to six millions!) suffer from obsessive behaviors.
References:
Discovery News, Pets and People Addicted to Dots of Light, retrieved on March 11, 2016
New York Times, Scientists Find a Shared Gene in Dogs with Compulsive Behavior, retrieved on March 11, 2016
Dogs often surprise us with their astounding abilities, and something really surprising is a dog’s talented perception about knowing when his owners are coming home. Surveys have demonstrated that 46 percent of dog owners in England and 45 percent of dog owners in California noticed this ability in their dogs, and in both surveys, dogs were capable of detecting their owner’s arrival less than 5 minutes prior to when the person arrived home. Some dogs though showed remarkable anticipatory signs as long as more than 10 minutes prior to the person’s arrival! How can dogs know when their owners are coming home? Following are some “pawsibilities.”
The Car’s Make and Model
OK, dogs may not be able to tell you exactly what make and model your car is, but they sure can recognize the distinctive noise of your car. Dogs are very sensitive to environmental cues and through experience they can learn to put two and two together. If every day your dog hears your car pulling into the driveway and then he hears you opening the door, through associative learning your dog will soon learn to pair the two events together. But that’s not all.
Dogs also have uncanny ability to chain together a longer series of events. We see this all the time in dogs suffering from separation anxiety. These dogs get nervous the moment you start your “getting-ready-to-go-to-work” routine as soon as you get up and prepare breakfast. So in the case of you coming home, your dog may reach a point where he’ll pair the noise of your car’s engine at a distance, the noise of your car’s breaks, the noise of your car pulling into the driveway, the noise of your car door closing, the noise of your foot steps and the noise of your keys jingling with the most anticipated event of all… you opening the door to come inside. This can explain how dogs may be able to know their owners are coming home perhaps a couple of minutes prior, but how can some dogs know even 10 minutes or more in advance?
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The Almighty Sniffer
We all know that dogs have a powerful sniffer, so it’s not surprising if dogs could smell their owners as they’re on their way home. It’s highly unlikely though that dogs could pick up their owner’s scent as they’re driving considering that scent doesn’t travel forward like sound, and on top of that, cars are for the most sealed nowadays, and at home, windows and doors are closed to prevent drafts, explains Malcolm Fish of the Essex Police Dog Section in the book “Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home” byRupert Sheldrake. Dogs are therefore more likely to pick up their owner’s scent if they’re walking and the wind is blowing the right way, but likely at less than a mile for a dog like the bloodhound.
An interesting explanation as to how dogs may predict their owner’s arrival might come from how long the owner’s scent lingers since he leaves the house. Some researchers suggest that after dog owners leave the house, their smell lingers for some time. There’s a possibility that the scent decays slowly over the day, and that around a certain time, the dogs associate a specific amount of scent with the owners unlocking the door. The video below shows an episode from “Inside the Animal Mind”: Episode 1 Preview – BBC Two discussing this theory.
Reactions of Others
As we already know, dogs are very tuned in to the slightest changes in their environments and they easily pick up even the most subtle cues. It’s therefore no surprise if dogs could also pick up “pre-arrival” signs from those around him. If, for example, you know your husband comes home every day at 5PM, you might be carrying out tasks that are telling your dog that the anticipated arrival time is coming closer. It could be anything you do on a daily basis such as starting to prepare dinner, putting the mail on a table or unlocking the front door. Don’t forget that dogs are always watching! If you notice your dog starts getting excited when you start doing these things, it could be your dog is picking up these signs predicting your husband’s arrival.
Perception of Time
Dogs may not be able to tell you exactly what time it is if you were to ask them, but they are very tuned in to their biological clocks. If you always come home around the same time, your dog may rely on his circadian rhythm to roughly predict when you are about to come home. Circadian rhythms include all the physical, mental and behavioral changes that occur in a 24 hour cycle. They offer animals and plants an advantage in evolutionary terms as they help them anticipate and prepare for regular environmental changes.
“Dogs wear an actual clock-though internally. It is in the so-called pacemaker of their brain, which regulates the activities of other cells of the body through the day.” ~Alexandra Horowitz
Psychic or Telepathic Powers
Finally, sometimes we stumble on things that are unexplainable even when it comes to science. Take for example the behavior of Jaytee, a mongrel terrier who has shown the uncanny ability to anticipate the owner’s arrival up to half an hour prior, or even more. In the case of Jaytee, nobody else knew when the owner was on her way as she returned at non-routine times, and on top of that, she sometimes arrived in unfamiliar vehicles, so the above explanations wouldn’t cut it. In the research conducted by Rupert Sheldrake and Pamela Smart, they concluded that Jaytee’s behavior remains unknown to science and must be stemming from telepathic or psychic abilities or even perhaps a “sixth sense”
” There is a strong connection between humans and animals that lies beyond present-day scientific understanding.” ~ Rupert Sheldrake
References:
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, by Alexandra Horowitz, Scribner (September 3, 2009)
A Dog That Seems To Know When His Owner is Returning: Preliminary Investigations Journal of Scientific Exploration 14, 233-255 (2000) Rupert Sheldrake and Pamela Smart.
Brown, D. and Sheldrake, R. (1997) Perceptive pets: a survey in California. JASPR (in the press).
Sheldrake, R. and Smart, P. (1997) Psychic pets: a survey in North-West England. JSPR 68, 353-364.
“Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home” by Rupert Sheldrake, Broadway Books; Upd Rev edition (April 26, 2011)
Pointing in dogs is a behavior that has been cherished by hunters for many centuries. Not all dogs are suitable for the task, which is why we have specific dog breeds who specialize in pointing, but how did pointing develop in the first place? If we asked the average dog, the sight of birds would maybe trigger the impulsive chasing instinct causing the birds to flee prematurely, something not very helpful for hunters who wished to just aim and shoot! Pointing behavior as seen in pointing breeds therefore must have required a certain level of constraint, something that must have happened over years of selective breeding.
Understanding Pointing Behavior
What exactly is pointing behavior in dogs? If you ever saw a dog holding very still after spotting prey, that’s an example of pointing. You may have seen some paintings from the past depicting a dog pointing with his muzzle extended forward, and one paw raised up. Perhaps behind the dog was a hunter aiming with his rifle at a bird. This is an example of pointing. Before rifles were invented, hunters were using nets to capture birds. The dog’s pointing behavior grabbed the hunter’s attention and indicated where the birds were so they could toss their nets. The pointing was very valuable because dogs are better than humans in detecting prey. Several pointing breeds that specialized in this style of hunting were therefore developed.
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A Look Back
Pointing dog breeds date back to the 1650s when in Europe hunters were still using nets. There is belief that the first pointing dogs breeds originated from Spain and then spread to other parts of Europe. Each region developed its own pointing dog with characteristics meant for that particular region and with its type of prey, but most of these dogs likely derived from a single, common ancestor. There is belief that the Old Spanish Pointer is one of the great ancestors of most pointing dogs, but more research is needed.
Did you know? The University of California Davis has been collecting DNA from pointing dogs in hopes of tracing a “Pointing Dog’s Family Tree” and unlocking the origins of pointing behavior.
Instinct or Training?
When we look at predator animals, we might notice a pattern of pausing before pouncing on prey. During this moment of hesitation, the animal’s eyes fix on the target, and if the target prey is moving, the animal will also measure speed, angle, height above the ground and size right before the attack is launched, explains Buz Fawcett in the book “Instinctive Shooting: The Making of a Master Gunner.” This “stop-listen-look” behavior is likely a way the animal can focus on his sensory receptors so to quickly collect data before making that pounce that makes the difference between dinner or perhaps another day of starvation.
There are chances that thousands of years ago, hunters may have observed the same behavior in certain dogs and they must have refined it through training so to put it to good use. For many years, they must have selectively bred dogs based on their natural ability to hold longer and longer pauses in their pointing behaviors. Eventually, at some point, they must have stumbled on dogs who would freeze at the mere scent of prey without even being prompted to do so.
“The act of pointing is probably, as many have thought, only the exaggerated pause of an animal preparing to spring on its prey.” ~Charles Darwin.
A List of Pointing Breeds
While pointers generally find game and silently point, several pointing dog breeds were selectively bred to be versatile, multi-tasking dogs who will find, point, and sometimes even flush. Here is just a short a list of several dog breeds with a history of being used for pointing:
“We speculate on the possibility that the pointing trait exhibited by several hunting breeds may have two different origins: (1) a prolonged ‘‘halt before the pounce’’ exaggerated through artificial selection, and (2) a pointing stance which appeared spontaneously and much earlier in chasing dogs.” ~SM Schmutz & JK Schmutz
Pointing Behaviors in Non-Hunting Dogs
Why do dogs point even if they don’t belong to a pointing breed? As we have seen, the behavior is natural and even if your dog isn’t a pointing breed, you may occasionally stumble on him “pointing” by default when he spots an animal. While the behavior of pointing was selectively bred for in certain breeds, several dogs will also exhibit it to some extent, perhaps though in a more “amateurish way” compared to the experts in the field. This may be just natural behavior, or if the dog is a mixed breed, it could be that somewhere back in time there may have been some hunting dog’s bloodline mixed in the dog’s heritage.
“Dogs are just dogs, and there are certain behaviors that probably any dog that’s a dog can do. Even dogs bred and trained for one trait can often exhibit other talents. You’ll see a sporting dog who circles like a herding dog, and you’ll get some herding dogs who point.” ~ Dr. Vindell, Veterinary Behavior Consultations in Pleasant Valley, N.Y
Dogs Lifting A Paw
On the other hand, you may see a dog lifting his paw up when no critters are around, what does it mean? It really depends on context. Generally, paw lifting behaviors are seen when something is about to happen, explains veterinary behaviorist Lisa Radosta. It could be the dog is anticipating a treat from the owners or it could be he’s even getting ready to lunge and bite! That paw lift is signaling that something is about to happen and the dog’s accompanying body language should give a hint as to what. A paw lift can also be seen when dogs feels uneasy or mildly stressed such as when a small dog is surrounded by unfamiliar dogs or a person approaches too fast.
References:
The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection; Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, by Charles Darwin, Penguin Books Limited, 1985
Photo Credits:
Detail of the painting “The Spanish Pointer” by John Buckler, public domain{{PD-1923}
English Pointer, Stonehenge (John Henry Walsh) – The Dog in Health and Disease, public domain{{PD-1923}}
It’s Tuesday Trivia and today we will be talking about dog zoomies, those sudden energy bursts we randomly see in dogs. Whether your dog gets the zoomies after a bath, the zoomies after eating or a case of zoomies first thing in the morning or when you come home from work, one thing is for sure, your dog seems to be having a blast romping around wildly. Today’s trivia dog question will therefore revolve around these sudden energy bursts in dogs, so our dog trivia question is:
What is the “technical” name for dog zoomies?
A: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
B: Dog Hyperkinesis
C: Obsessive compulsive disorder
D: Frenetic Random Activity Period
The correct answer is:
If you answered A, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the answer is incorrect. According to Pat Miller, dogs with ADHD tend to display frenetic activity, but they have a hard time focusing due to abnormally short attention spans and they’re highly impulsive. This condition is greatly overdiagnosed and for the most part dogs who are acting “hyper” are just perfectly normal high-energy dogs. True hyperactivity in dogs is “a rare clinical syndrome, explains Debra F. Horwitz, veterinarian and Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behavior.
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If you answered B, Dog Hyperkinesis, consider that this is just another term used to depict dogs who are hyperactive and cannot seem to rest even in calm, quiet surroundings.
If you answered C, Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) this answer is also incorrect–unless your dog is running in circles or chasing his tail for the most part of the day. Dogs with OCD will engage in repetitive behavior, such as chasing shadows, sucking their blankets, chasing tails, or licking paws, explains Jill Goldman, an applied animal behaviorist based in southern California.
So the correct answer is D, Frenetic Random Activity Period.
Understanding the Zoomies in Dogs
Also known as Frenetic Random Activity Period (FRAP), dog zoomies are quite popular in puppies and young dogs, but they are also seen in older dogs every now and then. Affected dogs will get a crazy look on their faces as they take a play bow and then start wildly romping up and down the hallway or from one side of the room to another. Why do dogs get the zoomies in the first place? It varies from dog to dog. Some dogs may get a case of zoomies after being restrained for some time such as when being groomed or bathed. If the dog is not too eager to stay still and be groomed or bathed, then the zoomies may be a dog’s way to release stress as if saying “ahh… it feels so good to be free to move around again” or perhaps an even more relieving “wheeewww… I am so happy this is over!” Dogs act crazy after a bath also perhaps as a way to speed up the drying process. You may sometimes see the zoomies in dogs engaged in doggy sports as a way to release their stress and in puppies it may be a sign that the puppy is getting tired and cranky, frustrated or overstimulated.
For some dogs though the zoomies are just a way of celebrating life. Some dogs get the zoomies after eating as if they were celebrating the sensation of having a full stomach and some dogs get them when their owners come home as if to celebrate the end of feeling lonely or bored. Some other dogs find that it’s a nice way to start the day after sleeping all night. And then there are dogs who act crazy after pooping as if they had to celebrate the relief of emptying their bowels or perhaps their wild running is just a way of ensuring that “no particles” are being left behind! Last but not least, there are dogs who get the zoomies when they’re tired or frustrated, just like toddlers throwing tantrums when they’re cranky and it’s time to go to sleep.
How to Handle Your Dog’s Zoomies
What should you do if your dog has the zoomies? When your dog acts crazy due to those Frenetic Random Activity Periods, you may be concerned about him hurting himself or knocking down your vases or porcelain collection off a coffee table. One option is to rush towards the door to entice your dog to chase you and let him take the steam off in the yard. With more space, there are less chances of him causing trouble and you can wait it out. Alternatively, you can try focusing his attention on some toy and encourage him to play a calmer game of tug or a fetch. A helpful way to teach your dog how to turn off his “hyper switch” is by teaching a fun game such as Ian Dunbar’s “Jazz up and Settle Down” game.
Some owners of deep-chested dogs may be rightfully concerned about their dogs running like crazy shortly after they eat in fear of them bloating, especially if they’re predisposed. They may therefore wish to keep their dogs calm until they digest. Veterinarian Dr. Dobias, suggests not letting dogs exercise within 3 to 4 hours after feeding.
You can prevent the zoomies from occurring in the first place by evaluating when they seem to occur the most and taking action. For example, if you know your dog has the zoomies after meals, prevent them by engaging your dog in a training session or in a mentally stimulating game using interactive toys before he starts running around acting crazy. Remember that the zoomies are often fueled by excess energy so if you engage your puppy or dog in several activities during the day, they are less likely to occur. For many dog owners, the zoomies are simply an entertaining activity that’s worthy of sitting back and watching the show.
“The normal drive-you-crazy high-energy dog may have the zoomies all day long. But she gets easier to live with when you supply plenty of exercise to tire her body and reward-based training to tire her mind and improve her manners.” ~Jolanta Benal
Just like us, our dog’s spinal column is composed by several vertebrae, and just like us, dogs may suffer from several problems such as misalignment, pinched nerves and herniated discs. Not surprisingly, there are also chiropractors for dogs to help get relief from achy neck and back problems! Getting more acquainted with a dog’s spine is not only interesting, but also educational so we can understand what may be going on when dogs develop neck and back pain. So let’s let our dog’s spinal column do the speaking so we can get to know him better.
Introducing the Dog’s Spinal Column
Hello, it’s your dog’s spinal column talking! I am also known as vertebral column or simply backbone, and as mentioned, I am structured in a quite similar fashion to your spinal column. I am a tubular structure, running from the base of your dog’s skull to the end of his tail, but I am not at all rigid, I am quite flexible courtesy of several irregular bones known as vertebrae. For ease of explanation, I am divided into five regions: the cervical (composed of 7 neck vertebrae ), thoracic (composed of 13 chest vertebrae), lumbar (composed of 7 abdominal vertebrae), sacral (composed of 3 pelvic vertebrae) and coccygeal (composed of 6 to 23 highly mobile tail vertebrae).
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In between my vertebrae are several intervertebral disks that provide cushioning and act as shock absorbers so your dog’s vertebrae aren’t rubbing against each other. Other than making your dog’s back flexible, the vertebrae also protect your dog’s spinal cord, a bundle of nerves responsible for relaying information between your dog’s brain and his body.
When Things Go Wrong
When all goes well, I am well aligned and allow your dog to make fluid and smooth movements. Your dog is a happy camper with no signs of problems. However, things can sometimes go wrong, either because of aging, trauma or hereditary conditions. To get an idea, imagine your dog’s intervertebral discs as jelly donuts, with the dough being the fibrous covering and the inside being the gelatinous nucleus, suggests veterinarian Dr. Fiona. As the dog ages, the jelly substance becomes chalky and hard. All it takes is a bit of force for the disc to herniate, extruding its chalky contents, in what’s known as a herniated disc. A herniated disc is painful as it compresses the soft tissues and nerves (hence the term dog “pinched nerve”) of the dog’s spinal cord.
The condition where the discs of a dog’s neck, middle back, or lower back degenerate, is generally referred to as “intervertebral disk disease” 0r “IVDD” Some dogs breeds with long backs and short legs such as dachshunds, basset hounds, beagles and Corgis are particularly predisposed to back problems due to their “chondrodystrophic“conformation which causes their vertebrae to degenerate prematurely.
Signs of Herniated Discs in Dogs
When my discs herniate, I cause symptoms in dogs which are often confused with other conditions. Affected dogs will be reluctant to move and when they move they’ll assume unusual postures and their movements are often not well-coordinated. Pinched nerves in the dog’s neck cause lots of pain and affected dogs may vocalize as they get up or turn their head. When the nerves of the dog’s back are affected, dogs may be unable to walk on their hind legs and may even lose control of their bladder and bowels.
Fortunately, when treatment is sought in a timely manner, there are chances that I may recover. Surgery can help remove the disc material that has herniated and is compressing me. If the vet thinks, it’s worth a shot, he may skip the surgery and try to handle things conservatively by allowing the dog to rest and recover. This means strict confinement and cage rest for several weeks so to give my discs time to heal. To help the dog cope with the pain and reduce inflammation, pain relievers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) are often prescribed. More and more veterinarians are offering chiropractic care and acupuncture for dogs suffering from the chronic effects of pinched nerves in their neck and spine.
As seen, I am a very important structure! To sum it all up, I support your dog’s body and skull, I allow flexible movements of your dog’s head, neck, back and tail. I protect your dog’s spinal cord and all those internal organs enclosed within your dog’s rib cage. I offer a place where your dog’s muscles, ligaments and tendons may attach and my vertebral discs act like shock absorbers. With all these important functions, it’s important that you take good care of me! Here are a couple of ways you can help me out, according to the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University.
Four Ways to Help Prevent IVDD in dogs:
Feed your dog a balanced diet.
Keep your dog lean so to reduce stress on the neck and backbone.
Invest in a harness rather than a leash to put less strain on the dog’s neck.
Prevent jumping by keeping steps next to the bed or couch.
So do your best to take good care of me and report to your vet at once should you notice any signs of neck or back trouble in your dog. Respectfully yours,
Your Dog’s Spinal Column
References:
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine, Disc Disease, retrieved from the web on March 7th, 2016.
Pet Education,Intervertebral Disc (Ruptured Disc) Disease in Dogs, retrieved from the web on March 7th, 2016
Veterinary Practice News, Non-Surgical Options For IVDD? Keeping Hope, And Dogs, Alive, retrieved from the web on March 7th, 2016,
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, Intervertebral Disc Disease in Dogs, retrieved from the web on March 7th, 2016
Dog owners who own more than one dog may at one time or another have to deal with dogs who are jealous of the other dogs coming close to the owner for attention. Many dog owners have been saying it for years, “my dog is jealous of other dogs coming near me,” but back in time, jealousy was thought of exclusively being a human trait. Yet, recent studies have found that what the dog owners were thinking was right, dogs do seem to feel jealousy, and if it’s not exactly jealousy, it’s something pretty close to it. Today we’ll discover more about the study and take a closer look into the dynamics behind dogs who are jealous.
Primordial Form of Jealousy
In the past, dogs weren’t believed to be capable of feeling jealousy because jealousy was always thought as being a feeling that required “complex cognitive abilities.” “Scientists tend to separate emotions into two categories: primary and secondary. Primary emotions, such as fear, anger, disgust, joy, and surprise, are considered to be universal. Secondary emotions such as guilt, shame, jealousy, and envy, are thought to require more complex cognitive processes.” explains Stanley Coren.
A dog has always been thought of not being capable of thinking in complex terms such as the anticipated loss of something of great personal value that’s associated with feeling jealousy. In order to feel jealousy the dog must think something in terms of: ” I better be careful, by looking at some past events, there’s a risk that my owner will start thinking that Scruffy is much better than me. I must take action to prevent this from happening.” However, dogs may be capable of feeling a more primordial form of jealousy, a more “in-the-moment” form versus the after-the-fact “mulling over” form, requiring more complex cognitive abilities. According to Clinician’s Brief this basic form of jealousy may have evolved from a need to “secure resources and as a survival mechanism for species with siblings.” In a recent past article we talked about sibling rivalry in dogs and the interesting revolutionary role it may have played.
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“Many people have assumed that jealousy is a social construction of human beings – or that it’s an emotion specifically tied to sexual and romantic relationships. Our results challenge these ideas, showing that animals besides ourselves display strong distress whenever a rival usurps a loved one’s affection.” ~Christine Harris
What the Study Says
The study, which was modeled from a study on human infants manifesting jealousy when their mothers interacted with a lifelike doll, was published in PLOS ONE and was conducted by University of California San Diego psychology professor Christine Harris and student Caroline Prouvost. The results of the study suggested that there might be a more basic form of jealousy affecting dogs. The dogs were found to exhibit behaviors suggestive of jealousy such as getting in between, pushing or snapping when the owner manifested affection towards an animated stuffed dog that barked, whined and wagged its tail. These manifestations were less likely to occur when the owner manifested interest in an object such as a carved pumpkin or a book.
“Our study suggests not only that dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviors but also that they were seeking to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival.” ~ Christine Harris
Signs of “Jealousy” in Dogs
While more research may be needed before determining with certainty that dogs act out of jealousy, one things is for sure, when dogs feel that their owners are giving too much attention to another dog they give signs of not “liking” the interaction. The signs may be pretty obvious while some others may be more on the covert side.
Some dogs will approach as soon as they see another dog receiving attention and they’ll wriggle their way in between. Others may try to do things to revert the attention from the other dog to them such as pawing, rolling over or grabbing a ball and running over to the owner with it. Some other dogs may sit with their back facing their owner, perhaps even leaning against him, telling other dogs in doggy language “this person is mine, stay away!” just as they may do when resource guarding a bag of dog food. Should another dog approach, the dog may growl, lunge forward barking or even bite. Whether we call it jealousy or a form of resource guarding, one thing is for sure, it’s something that should be tackled as in some cases it may get out of hand.
Tackling Jealousy of Other Dogs
There are several ways jealousy of other dogs can be tackled, but one thing is for sure: using physical punishment and harsh techniques can make the issues much worse. Physically correcting the jealous dog may lead to defensive behavior or even a re-directed bite. On top of that, the jealous dog learns that when the other dog comes close he’s punished so he comes to dread the other dog’s presence even more. So what’s a good protocol? A good starting place is teaching both dogs to promptly respond to a verbal cue such as “lie down” or ” go to your mats!” at the very first signs of trouble so to diffuse any tension before things start building up. This is a good management practice to prevent squabbles in multi-dog households, but it’s also important to go to the root of the problem.
One way to approach this issue is removing the very thing the jealous dog wants the most: the owner’s attention. As soon as the jealous dog gives the most subtle sign of problems, the owner gets up and leaves. With no owner’s attention to stir things up, the dogs are left with nothing to fight over. If done with perfect timing, the jealous dog may eventually learn that his behavior leads to the owner leaving so he’ll reduce the jealousy episodes. Another method involves teaching the jealous dog that good things happen every time the other dog approaches. The jealous dog is therefore fed treats and given attention exclusively when the other dog comes near. When the other dog is away, the dog is ignored.
Obviously dogs with a history of serious fights, should be kept separated and owners should consult with a professional; however, for the correct implementation of behavior modification and for safety purposes, consulting with a qualified dog behavior professional specializing in force-free techniques is recommended for mild cases too. The sooner the jealous dog behavior is tackled, the better.
The Bottom Line
As seen, studies seem to suggest that dogs may show signs of a basic, primordial form of jealousy, but these studies aren’t conclusive. What may seem to us jealousy may sometimes be something else. For many years, we assumed that dogs were acting guilty and many dog owners had their own stories of dogs acting ashamed or guilty for doing something they weren’t supposed to, but recent studies found that dogs aren’t acting guilty but just responding to our behavior.
There are many interesting reads about animals manifesting “jealousy.” Below is an interesting video of wolves greeting a human. What do you see here? Do you think it’s jealousy, pure and simple resource-guarding, a matter of who gets to greet first or perhaps re-directed aggression due to high arousal levels? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!
References:
University of California – San Diego. “Dog jealousy: Study suggests primordial origins for the ‘green-eyed monster’.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 July 2014.
Clinician’s Brief, Jealous as a Dog, retrieved from the Web on March 6th, 2016
Elsevier. “What Really Prompts The Dog’s ‘Guilty Look’.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 June 2009.
Let’s face it, as humans our faces offer a wide range of options when it comes to expressing our feelings. We can smile, frown, raise an eyebrow, wink and roll or widen our eyes. We can even wrinkle our nose, drop our jaw, purse our lips, blush or become pale. All of this happens courtesy of several facial muscles that allow us to create lines and folds in our faces and several movements so we can effectively convey our emotional states. When it comes to canines, things can be a tad bit more complicated as their facial muscles aren’t as developed as ours; however, Mother Nature has likely figured out a way to compensate for the deficit.
Facial Expressions in Dogs
Dogs may not have facial muscles that are as developed as humans, but they rely on several features of their faces to convey their emotions. A dog’s eyes may squint, blink, show whale eyes, or stare intently. The pupils may be dilated and the area above the dog’s eyes may appear tense (furrowed brow). A dog’s mouth may be closed tightly shut with tense muscles or opened in a relaxed manner. Yawning can take place. The corners of the dog’s lips (commissures) may be pulled back or the lips may be puckered forward or lifted in a snarl. The tongue may be hanging out relaxed or the edges may be curled (spatulate tongue). The tongue may also be flicking in and out or quickly licking the lips and nose. These are just a few of many facial expressions in dogs.
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Facial Markings in Dogs
Head markings seem to emphasize facial expressions, and well- delineated markings are often found in social animals with developed communicative systems, explains biologist and author Roger Abrantes in the book “Dog Language, An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior.” There are therefore chances that facial markings in dogs are meant to enhance elements on the dog’s face which play a role in communication.
There is not much research conducted on this yet, but there may be chances that dogs with distinct facial markings may have a better time communicating than dogs who have fewer markings or lack facial markings altogether. However, just because some dogs don’t have distinct facial markings (think Labs and goldens), doesn’t necessarily mean they will struggle to communicate with other dogs. Dogs have many ways to communicate!
Dog Breeds with Facial Markings
Many dogs have distinct facial markings that may play a role in helping them communicate. Ever wondered why Doberman, Rottweilers and Bernese mountain dogs have copper or brown markings on their faces? In these dog breeds, the markings on their cheeks may help emphasize when they snarl, while the markings above their eyes may help emphasize their eye movements, suggests dog trainer and behavior consultant Liz Palika, in her book “The New Age Dog.”
And what about dogs with very dark muzzles such as German Shepherds, mastiffs, boxers and great danes? In this case, their dark muzzles may allow a dog’s pearly white teeth to stand out. Even some dogs who are entirely white may have some facial features that point out to the eyes and mouth. For instance, in the Samoyed or great Pyrenneese those dark-rimmed eyes, black noses and black lips may help emphasize these important areas of expression.
What Studies Have to Say
As mentioned, not much research has been conducted on dog facial markings, but there’s an interesting study conducted in Japan by Sayoko Ueda of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kyoto University. In the study, several species of the canidae family were divided in 3 groups. In group A were gathered specimens with irises that were lighter than their facial pupils and with other facial markings that made the eyes easy to locate. The animals in this group included the grey wolf, coyote and the golden jackal. In group B were specimens with only facial markings in the eye area and no visible pupils. The animals in this group included the maned wolf, the dingo and the kit fox. Finally, in group C were specimens that had no facial markings. The animals in this group included bush dogs, tanukis and African wild dogs.
The study concluded that animals equipped with eyes that were easier to locate belonged to species who lived and hunted in groups where eye communication was useful to bring down large prey. Whereas, animals with eyes that were more difficult to spot, were more likely to lead solitary lives. This seems to suggest that “eye-based conversations” must have played a crucial role in allowing animals to adhere to social functions such as living and hunting together.
“Various predators camouflage their eyes to increase their hunting success.” ~Cott HB (1940)
Types of Facial Markings in Dogs
As seen, the facial markings in different members of the canidae family may have served various adaptive functions, but what about dogs? Domestic dogs surely share a genetic basis for the conspecific gaze-communication observed in wolves. While dogs no longer hunt, they seem to understand the gaze signal of other dogs and humans. When it comes to gazing behavior directed towards humans, it was found that it was much longer in domestic dogs compared to gray wolves.
This seems to suggest that longer gazing behaviors directed towards humans may be a trait that has been selected artificially. In dogs though, their facial color patterns have quite varied during the selective breeding process by humans. Dogs today have different types of facial markings and some markings are distinctive of certain breeds, so much that they’re in some breed standards. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the most common facial markings in dogs:
Haggerty dot: a little circle of dark hair found on top of the head in the middle of a white blaze. Often seen in Boston terriers.
Blenheim spot: also known as the mark of “Duchess Thumb Print” is a chestnut spot in the middle of the forehead seen in Cavalier King Charles spaniels.
Blaze: a white strip in the center of the dog’s face usually between the dog’s eyes.
Kiss Marks: tan spots found on a dog’s cheeks and over the eyes.
Mask: a dark shading on the dog’s front portion of the skull.
Spectacles: markings over or around the eyes or from eyes to ears.
Muzzle bands: a white marking around the muzzle.
References:
The New Age DogKindle Edition by Liz Palika Renaissance Books (July 8, 2014)
Dog Language – An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior Kindle Edition
by Roger Abrantes, Amazon Digital Services LLC, November 27, 1997
Ueda S, Kumagai G, Otaki Y, Yamaguchi S, Kohshima S (2014) A Comparison of Facial Color Pattern and Gazing Behavior in Canid Species Suggests Gaze Communication in Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). PLoS ONE 9(6): e98217. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098217
Cott HB (1940) Adaptive coloration in animals. London: Methuen. ix+508+plate48 p.
American Kennel Club, Glossary, retrieved from the web on March 5th, 2016.
We are used to paying attention to our dog’s ears, eyes and tail when we try to interpret what our dogs may be feeling, but did you know that a dog’s tongue can also play a role in communication? A dog’s tongue covers many important functions and we often take this muscled organ for granted. Dog tongues aren’t there just for decoration. There are many fascinating functions our dog’s tongues have that are just ready to be discovered. Following are six fascinating ways dogs use their tongues coming straight from a dog’s mouth.
Home of The Taste Buds
Ever wondered why I spit out that bitter pill you offer me giving you a hard time administering my medication? Chances are, my taste buds informed me that it’s not something I may want to eat. You see, just like you, a dog’s tongue is covered with these small bumps known as papillae. Each papillae contains several clusters of taste buds and each taste bud is equipped with taste receptor cells. These receptor cells transmit messages to a special area in our brain that’s dedicated to allowing me to detect odors or tastes so that I can evaluate them. I am known to be capable of discerning between salt, sweet, bitter and sour. Mother Nature has given me this gift, so that I could avoid eating things that could be potentially harmful.
” Sensations of pleasure and disgust provided by taste serve a survival function. A reasonable rule of thumb, at least for natural substances, is that bad tastes are a signal that the animal has encountered something that is harmful, indigestible, or poisonous, while good tastes signal useful, digestible substances.” ~ Stanley Coren
A Dog’s Radiator
On top of allowing me to perceive taste, my tongue also allows me to cool off especially on those dog days of summer. Unlike humans, who cool off by sweating, us dogs stick out our tongues and start panting. No, my tongue doesn’t sweat, instead, it’s kept moist courtesy of four pairs of salivary glands which release saliva in the mouth. You see, when I’m hot, my tongue acts like a thermostat, and those quick, shallow, breaths allow air to flow over my tongue causing saliva and moisture to evaporate. Through the evaporation of water from my tongue, mouth and upper respiratory tract, I am able to effectively cool down.
Panting in dogs is not only seen when it’s hot or after exercising, sometimes us dogs may pant with our tongues sticking out also when we’re stressed. So a panting dog isn’t always a happy dog. How can you tell if I am panting from stress? You will have to look at context and rely on other subtle signs such as facial tension, furrowed brows, a tense, spatula-shaped tongue (tongue curved at the edges), whale eyes and prominence of muscles and veins on the face among other signs.
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Did you know? According to veterinarian Marty Becker, when a dog pants he takes about 300 to 400 breaths per minute, which is whole lot compared to the normal 30 to 40 breaths per minute.
Lapping Up Water
When you drink water, you just gulp it down with your tongue staying nicely put inside your mouth. That’s because you have a nice set of full cheeks that allow you to suction. When us dogs must drink, we must stick out our tongues instead. The way we drink water may seem sloppy to you as you wipe away those random splashes by the water bowl, but turns out, it took a group of researchers at Virginia Tech and Purdue University to figure out exactly what we’re doing. You see, as we’re drinking, we plunge our tongue in the water and then the underside of our tongues curls up to bring up a ladle of water into our mouths. We then quickly bite down to capture that water and on goes the lap, gulp and repeat cycle. Researchers say that us dogs are very fast in accelerating our tongue upward and we do so more quickly than cats.
“The everyday experience of dogs as messy drinkers results from the backward curl of the tongue, which increases the size of the water column and thus enables dogs to drink more per lap than with a straight tongue.” ~Gart, Sean, et al.
My Cleaning Device
Humans are blessed with hands that come with opposable thumbs, while us dogs are left with nothing more than our mouths and paws to carry out several tasks. Count your blessings for this. According to veterinarian Patty Khuly, a practicing veterinarian based in Miami, Florida, if humans lacked opposable thumbs and weren’t able to reach out for disinfectants to clean up their wounds, they would possibly lick their wounds just like dogs do! Whether we’re grooming our puppies, removing debris from our fur or licking a wound, our tongues are our cleaning devices.
We’re not aware of it, but our saliva contains beneficial compounds capable of destroying the cell walls of gram-positive bacteria. So our instinctive wound licking behavior can help promote healing, diminish our pain and at the same time, inhibit bacterial growth! However, as with many things in life, too much of a good thing is bad. I may get carried away into licking too much and the repeated abrasive action of my tongue along with the negative implication of keeping a wound moist for too long (moisture attracts bacteria), may lead to trouble. This is when your vet may recommend I wear that cone of shame.
“Pets can get obsessed with licking to the detriment of healthy skin. There’s also a lot of bad bacteria in a pet’s mouth, so as with so many good things in life, licking is an activity best done in moderation.”Patty Khuly
Tongue Flicks Speak Volumes
You’re likely familiar with snakes flicking their tongues, but dogs can flick tongues too. When you see me doing this, you might want to pay attention to what is happening. Patricia McConnell in her book ” For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend” explains that in dogs these little tongue flicks are an expression of low level anxiety or an appeasement signal. You may see tongue flicks happening anytime I feel uncomfortable such as when I am at the vet’s office, when you’re trimming my nails or when I am being hugged or in a place surrounded by strange dogs. Don’t ignore these subtle pleads of help, take notice and try to find ways to make me more comfortable in certain situations. Ignore them, and my anxiety may escalate. Not all tongue flicks stem from anxiety though, a dog who is engaging in a full body wag, and comes towards you with the head lowered and tongue flicking, may just be soliciting attention.
“If a dog stands still, tongue-flicks out of a closed jaw, and then stiffly turns his head away from you, mind your manners. You are being told loud and clear that Fido is uncomfortable. (. . .) Ignore this message at your own peril.” ~Patricia McConnell
A Greeting Tool
You’re likely quite familiar with the enthusiastic licks I give upon greeting you in the evening when you come home from work. You like to call them “doggy kisses.” Well, from our doggy perspective, things are a tad bit different from what you may imagine. We don’t really “kiss” as people do and people who kiss dogs are often at risk of being bitten. You see, us dogs use our tongues from a very young age. Mother dog licks us from the day we are born. After we make it out the birth canal, mother dog licks us vigorously to help stimulate our breathing and then she’ll keep licking us to stimulate us to eliminate as we can’t do that on our own when we’re very young.
As we grow up, you’ll see us lick around our mother’s mouth. This behavior is likely reminiscent of the old days when we were in the wild and we licked our mother’s mouths to elicit her to regurgitate for us when we were in the process of being weaned. You see, back then, mother dog couldn’t bring a whole carcass to our den to feed us, so she would regurgitate to feed us. Today we have the luxury of breeders serving us puppy mush before being started on kibble, but back then, things were just that way. So when we greet you by licking your face, we might not necessarily be asking you to regurgitate (although we loves those cookie crumbs on the corners of your mouth!), but if our tails are wagging and we look happy, chances are you can take it as a sign of friendliness or a sincere compliment coming from “the tip of our tongues.”
Dogs like to lick our faces, a behavior that is disturbing for many dog owners and particularly non-dog owners. Yet, this behavior is a demonstration of friendliness, an attempt at pacifying us and themselves, a hand (though not literally) reaching for peace. It’s a compliment a dog gives you, “I like you, you can be my friend.” ~Roger Abrantes
Did you know? Some dogs have black in their mouths and this can mean black spots on their tongues or even blue/black tongues. Here’s an interesting read on the tongue of the Chow chow: the chow’ chow’s fascinating tongue.
References:
For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend, by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D Ballantine Books; 1 Reprint edition (July 22, 2009)
American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics. “Fluid dynamics explain what happens when dogs drink water.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2014.
Gart, Sean, et al. “Dogs lap using acceleration-driven open pumping.”Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.52 (2015): 15798-15802.
Psychology Today, How Good Is Your Dog’s Sense of Taste?, by Stanley Coren, retrieved from the Wed on March 4th, 2016.
Ethology Institute Institute Cambridge, Why Do Dogs Like to Lick Our Faces?, by Roger Abrantes, retrieved from the Web on March 4th, 2016.
It’s Talent Thursday and today we will be focusing on the secret behind dog tricks. How do dogs perform tricks? We are used to seeing shows where dogs perform amazing tricks. Whether it’s a dog playing dead, a dog grabbing a tissue when a person sneezes or a dog walking backwards, what you see is mostly the finished product, but there are many things going on behind the scenes before the dog performs the tricks so naturally and fluently in front of an audience. Today, we’ll be taking a sneak peak into how dogs are taught to perform tricks and what really goes on behind public view.
A Matter of Prompts
When dogs are taught to perform tricks, there are several different kinds of prompts trainers may rely on. Prompts, as the name implies, are simply aids that help the dog perform the behavior. Food used as a lure is a common prompt used by trainers to evoke behaviors. Because dogs tend to follow treats with their noses, a food lure is often used to guide the dog into a desired position.
For example, holding a food lure at the level of the dog’s nose and lifting it up towards the back of the dog’s head will often get a dog to sit. Lower that food lure down from the dog’s nose to the middle of his paws and outwards and you may get a dog to lie down. Move the food lure in a large circle, and you’ll likely get a dog to spin. Other forms of prompts include physical prompts such as gentle physical assistance, under the form of guiding a dog with a leash or giving a light touch to get a dog to sit, however, it’s best to avoid physical prompting as it can distracting and even disruptive. Another more subtle type of prompt can be slightly leaning forward towards a standing dog to get the dog to take a few steps backwards.
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“A prompt is defined as an antecedent stimulus (something that comes before a behavior, as opposed to consequence, which comes after a behavior) that is likely to elicit (achieve without any training) the desired response. ” ~ Jean Donaldson
The Power of Reinforcement
The purpose of training a dog is getting the dog to first perform a desired behavior, and then, having the dog to repeat the behavior. As we use a prompt to get the dog to perform a behavior, how do we tell a dog: “Oh, that’s great! Can you please do it again?” The best way is to provide feedback through positive reinforcement training. To inform the dog he did something good, positive reinforcement trainers will mark the desired response with the click of the clicker or a verbal marker such as “yes!” immediately followed by a treat. Some dogs who are highly motivated by toys, may find the use of a ball instead of treats rewarding enough.
What do we accomplish by marking and rewarding behaviors? It’s as if we were telling the dog, “Yes! you got it right, here comes a treat!” For the sake of comparison, it’s sort of like a game show’s right answer bell going “ding, ding ding!’ immediately being followed by money being deposited into your account. Doesn’t getting a right answer motivate you to get more right answers in the future so you get more money? You bet!
“Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect – Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).” ~Saul Mcleod, Psychology Tutor at The University of Manchester.
Fading the Prompts
When you watch a dog perform an impressive trick on television or at an event, you’re unlikely to see the trainer still using prompts. After all, it’s not very impressive (and it’s also very wrong!) if the trainer must show food to get the dog perform the behavior or if she must rely on other types of prompts. Good trainers will start fading prompts as soon as they can, otherwise the dog will become overly reliant on them. The longer they stick to prompts, the harder it will be to remove them. So prompts are gradually faded.
The trainer who leaned forward towards the standing dog to get him to him to take a few steps backwards, will start leaning less and less. The trainer who used a food lure to get the dog to spin by moving it in a large circle will have a little more work. First, he must fade the food lure by using an empty hand to make the large circle hand motion. Then, to make the trick even more flashy, he may be making the hand motion smaller and smaller until the dog performs the spinning trick with a mere wave of the hand.
Introducing Flashy Cues
Once a dog gets pretty good at performing a behavior, a new, flashier cue can be permanently assigned to it. In other words, the behavior can be named and the dog can be taught to perform the trick when the trainer says the cue. The cue doesn’t necessarily have to be a word. For example, a dog may have been taught to grab a tissue from a tissue box when the trainer pointed to the tissue box. To make the trick more impressive, the trainer may wish to have the dog grab the tissue the moment he sneezes. To introduce this new cue and replace the pointing gesture, the trainer would therefore first sneeze, and then point. After several repetitions, since most dogs love to anticipate, at some point, they’ll grab the tissue upon hearing the trainer sneeze even before the trainer points at the tissue box!
“Once you have the behavior you want, practice it until the dog is actively offering exactly that behavior—that perfect behavior—80% of the time, then add the cue.” ~Melissa Alexander
Feeding on Variable Schedule
You may have heard in the past that dogs who are trained with treats are bribed and will go on strike that day the person isn’t carrying treats. This may be true, there are several dogs who won’t budge until you get that treat out of your pocket, but this doesn’t mean that using treats for training is wrong. It just simply means that the treats are being used incorrectly. A good trainer will make sure to fade those food lures quickly so that the dog doesn’t rely on them and think that they’re part of the cue.
On top of that, the trainer will also move from a continuous schedule to a variable schedule. This means that while it’s fine in the initial stages of training to reward the dog for every single correct response (continuous schedule), once the dog’s behavior becomes reliable, treats can be given in an unpredictable, random manner (variable schedule, also known as intermittent schedule). Since the dog won’t know when the next treat will be coming, he’s kept on his toes just like people who don’t know when they’re going to hit the jackpot next when playing the slots at Vegas. From a performance standpoint, it means that the dog can compete in an event without the trainer having to dole out treats too often, while feedback can still be given though under the form of praise which can be rewarding on its own if it’s been astutely paired with treats in the past!
“When your pet is learning a new behavior, reward him every time he does the behavior. Once your pet has reliably learned the behavior, you want to switch to intermittent reinforcement, in which you continue with praise, but gradually reduce the number of times he receives a treat for doing the desired behavior.” ~The Humane Society of the United States
Practice Makes Perfect
Training a dog to perform a trick requires lots of practice so to attain a high level of fluency and a high response rate. To help dogs generalize the trick, the trainer makes sure to train in different contexts in gradually more and more distracting environments. The trainer may first train the trick in the home, then may practice in the yard, then on walks and then in front of a crowd. Other challenges are added, such as training the dog to perform the behavior at greater and greater distances (think a dog sitting from across a room) or for longer and longer times (such as a dog holding a five-minute stay) Distraction, distance and duration are known as the 3D’s of training and they are part of what’s needed for proofing behaviors. The rest involves getting the dog to perform the tricks with precision and speed. Once the dog performs the behavior fluently and reliably anywhere upon hearing the cue, the behavior is said to have attained stimulus control.
“When a dog performs a behavior on cue quickly, anywhere, and under a wide variety of conditions, the behavior is said to be under stimulus control.” ~Pat Miller
Did you know? Using prompts is only one way of training. There are trainers who used other different methods such as capturing, where spontaneous behaviors dogs do on their own are rewarded or shaping where successive approximations of a desired behavior are rewarded taking a step-by-step approach.
References:
Oh Behave: Dogs from Pavlov to Premack to Pinker, by Jean Donaldson, Dogwise Publishing (April 7, 2008)
Whole Dog Journal, Advanced Dog Training Methods: How to Fade Prompts and Lures by Pat Miller, retrieved from the Web on March 3rd, 2016
Clicker Training, by Karen Pryor, Fading the Click? retrieved from the Web on March 3rd, 2016
Clicker Training, by Casey LoMonaco, Everything You Wanted to Know About Proofing—But Were Afraid to Ask, retrieved from the Web on March 3rd, 2016
Clicker Training, by Casey LoMonaco, Got behaviors? Want proof? retrieved from the Web on March 3rd, 2016
It’s Wednesday word day and today we’ll be getting more acquainted with the word “ratter.” What do dogs have to do with rats? Last time we checked, cats were the role models par excellence when it came to chasing rats. Interestingly, it turns out that there are several dogs breeds with a history of taking over the unglamorous task of killing rats and excelling at it too! It may be surprising for you to find certain types of breeds among the list of dogs with a history of being ratters.
Jack Black the rat catcher and his dog.
The History of Ratters
In its most simple definition, a ratter is dog who was selectively bred for catching rats and other types of vermin. Generally, ratters were dogs who were small to medium in size. In ancient times, keeping the rat population under control was of primary importance due to the spread of fatal diseases such as the black plague in Europe. Rats were also often damaging food supplies, leading to great losses.
Several types of dogs were found suitable for the task, and some were known to routinely accompany the “rat catcher” a person who made a business out of catching rats. Jack Black was a popular rat catcher from Victorian England who was often accompanied by his furry helper.
Did you know? The earliest record of dogs used to kill rats comes from the retrieval of the body of “Hatch,” a mongrel dog whose body was found on the Mary Rose, an ancient ship that sunk in 1545. Hatch was purposely kept on board to control the rat population.
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A Bloody Sport
What did rat catchers do with all the rats they caught? Jack Black was known for supplying thousands of live rats for the purpose of rat-baiting, a bloody sport that became popular towards the end of the 19th century. The sport consisted of placing several rats in a pit, and then dogs, usually terriers, would be sent out to kill them. People would bet on how long it would take for the dogs to exterminate them all.
Not all dogs were up for the task, rat baiting required agile dogs with fast reflexes. A good ratter was expected to take five seconds to kill a rat, and dogs who killed fifteen rats within a minute were considered excellent ratters. It wasn’t unusual for some rats to bite when they were cornered which led to injuries to the dog and some dogs even lost their eyes. Fortunately, the bloody sport of rat baiting has become illegal in most countries. The last rat-baiting event was held in 1912 in Leicester.
Did you know? The world record in rat baiting was held by Jacko, a black and tan bull terrier who managed to kill 100 rats in 5 minutes and 28 seconds on 1 May 1862.
Dogs Used to Kill Rats
Many dogs bred to control the population of rats were working terriers developed in England, Ireland and Scotland. Following is a list of several dog breeds that were commonly used as ratters:
Bedlington Terrier
Don’t be fooled by this breed’s lamb-like appearance. Under their innocent looks hides a feisty terrier with a history of catching a wide variety of vermin ranging from mice, rats, badgers, hares and foxes. Bedlington terriers originated in England and were named after the mining town of Bedlington, in Northumberland, North East England. In the mines, this dog was able of clearing many tunnels of rats with a tenacious determination. Their looks aren’t casual, it’s said that the fur on the bottom parts of their legs was crafted in such a way as to protect them from the bites of vermin.
Yorkshire Terrier
Don’t let the lap dog with pink bows looks fool you, the Yorkie is a ratter by heart. Originating in Yorkshire, a region in Northern England, the Yorkie was employed for killing the many rats populating the mines and cotton mills in the mid 1800’s when England was at it’s peak production during the Industrial Revolution. But that’s not all! Soon, the Yorkie was also used to hunt down animals living in dens and burrows such as foxes, badgers and other small wild animals. These dogs were admired for their bravery and determination, a trait that’s often seen in many working terriers.
Manchester Terrier
In England, the 19th century was a time when rats were consider a health risk and killing the rats was a popular sport. John Hulme, a fan of the rat baiting sport decided to cross a whippet with a cross-bred black and tan terrier in hopes of developing a tenacious dog that was suitable for the sport. The ancestors of the Manchester terrier succeeded so well, that the breed was established. The ears were cropped to prevent them from getting torn. Despite the fact that the sport of rat-baiting was banned, the small terriers managed to continue their work in the many public inns that were infested with rats. At night, they were turned loose to snatch as many rats as they could.
Rat Terriers
And what about rat terriers? As the name implies, the name rat terrier stems from this dog’s main occupation. The rat terrier’s ancestors were introduced in the US by English miners and other working class immigrants. This dog was particularly cherished for his ability to kill vermin on American farms in particular from the 1920s to the 1940s. Their numbers though declined sharply from the 1950s with the advent of chemical pesticides.
The list of ratters goes on. Other dog breeds who were used to kill rats included: Jack Russell terrier, dachshunds, cairn terriers, Norfolk terriers, Sealyham terriers, border terriers, papillons, schipperke, Affenpinschers, Patterdale terriers, Lakeland terriers, and Prague ratters.
Ratter Dogs Today
Most breeds with a history of ratting are kept as house pets today. Because of their past, these dogs tend to not do too well with small critters. According to the Rat Terrier Club of America, any small, quick moving animal is considered “fair” game from a rat terrier’s perspective and therefore the chase is on. Many ratters are attracted by toys that make sharp, squeaky noises, and given the opportunity, they’ll just break them apart. Nowadays, may previous ratting dogs are “put to work” by engaging their bodies and minds in earth-dog trials, but in some places they are still being used as ratters. According to Wikipedia, some dogs are still be used as a form of pest control in many major cities around the world as a more humane alternative to rat poisons.
References:
Wikipedia, Rat Baiting, retrieved from the web on March 2nd, 2016.
Photo credits:
Jack Black, rat catcher, 1851, Mayhew, H. (1851). ‘London Labour and the London poor’, Volumne 3, pg. 11 at The Perseus Digital Library, public domain
Predatory Drive
Never Getting It 
Alternative Games
Did you know? According to an article on New York Times, Dr. Karen Overall, a veterinary behaviorist, estimates that about 8 percent of dogs in America (that’s about five to six millions!) suffer from obsessive behaviors.
