Welcome to dog psychology
Milan Dog Psychology Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Milan Dog Psychology. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
How Wolf Behavior Has Slowly Disappeared Within Dogs
from:Studies of free ranging dogs have documented the ways in which wolf behavior has been attenuated or extinguished over the course of evolution. In cities and villages, dogs that wander freely generally do not form packs, and while each dog has an identifiable home range that he sticks to, these ranges overlap almost completely with those of other dogs.
Free ranging dogs do engage in wolf like urine marking throughout their range, but they show almost no inclination to defend their territory against intruders. Even when feral dogs do form into packs, as they do sometimes in rural areas or in and around garbage dumps, these do not behave like wolf packs. Feral dog packs will sometimes more actively defend a
territory and kill dogs that intrude, but they lack many of the more developed cooperative behaviors of wolves, such as care of the young by all adult members of the group. Reproductive behavior is also much looser, or at least certainly much more variable.
Ray Coppinger, a researcher, observed a huge range of sexual behavior among village and feral dogs around the world. At one extreme, male New Guinea singing dogs are fiercely competitive, but in a very non wolf like way; they behave more like the males of species that occupy and defend individual territories, and the mere sight of another male provokes attack. At the other extreme, and perhaps much more typical of dogs, were the village dogs he encountered in Venezuela who 'were observed to line up and breed a female sequentially, with little aggression between them.'
There is certainly no simple explanation for all of these behavioral differences between wolf and dog. Changes in neurotransmitter and hormonal levels, disruptions of the juvenile stages of development in which behaviors are molded, and the persistence of juvenile traits into adulthood are all factors in the transformation. The overall picture that emerges is that dogs are less confrontational and fearful, and while they retain a capacity for asserting dominance (as well as for acquiescing in subordination), their social interactions lack the urgency or insistence that one sees in wolf society. There is simply less at stake.
The social pressure cooker of the wolf pack has been replaced with a tepid cauldron. Dogs have no need and no inclination for the packed and charged social world of their ancestors. That essentially all male dogs mark their home range with raised leg urinations (as do the relatively unsocial male coyotes), that no male or female dog is inhibited from breeding by other dogs, and that most free ranging dogs do not form coherent packs suggests that dog society has fragmented from a group of fiefdoms to a rather more democratic polity.
Interesting Comparison Study With Wolves and Poodles
Some instinctive social behaviors of the wolf may be left unexpressed in the dog simply because the opportunity never arises for them to be expressed in a new social setting But even when dogs range freely in wild or semi wild circumstances, they show distinct divergences from their wild ancestors As part of his behavioral study of the wolf, Erik Zimen raised a pack of poodles and a pack of wolv.....More on Articles Dog Psychology
The Importance Of Understanding Dog Behavior
In order to understand dog behavior, you must first consider the effects of the human contact that occurs from the day the domestic puppy is born until the end of his life These interactions are strong catalysts that add to the inherent differences between the wolf and dog Whereas the dog easily weaves into the family and social structure of humans, the wolf has failed to do so The integr.....More on Articles Dog Psychology
How Dogs Use Their Tails As Signals and Gestures Part 2
Tail position is an important indicator of social standing and mental state of a dog There will be some variations, of course, depending upon the natural tail position of the dog: a West Highland white terrier will carry its carrot shaped tail higher than a golden retriever its flowing, feathery tail, and a greyhoundand#39;s relaxed tail position is lower yet Almost horizontal, pointing away from.....More on Articles Dog Psychology
10 Dog Barking Moments What Your Dog Is Trying To Say
1 Continuous rapid barking, midrange pitch: and#39;Call the pack! There is a potential problem! Someone is coming into our territory!and#39; Continuous barking but a bit slower and pitched lower: and#39;The intruder [or danger] is very close Get ready to defend yourself!and#39; 2 Barking in rapid strings of three or four with pauses in between, midrange pitch: and#39;I suspect that there may be a problem or an intru.....More on Articles Dog Psychology
Milan Dog Psychology Specific links
Milan Dog Psychology
- Looking for Milan Dog Psychology?
-- http://www.shopica.org/
Blinkx Video Search
- World's largest video search engine. Over 26 million hours of video. Watch it all!
-- http://www.blinkx.com/
Write your own Self Improvement Review!
- Write and win! Help others while you help yourself.
-- http://www.peoplejam.com/
New Rap Music
- Search Emerging Artists & Help Vote Them Into Stardom. Join Today
-- http://www.ourstage.com/
A Mood Booster to Combat The Credit Crunch
- Forget about the credit crunch for a little while and be just mildly entertained for a few minutes...
-- http://www.kontraband.com/
Milan Dog Psychology News
No relevant info was found on this topic.