Breeds and their uses

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来自 The University of Edinburgh 的课程

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

472 个评分

The University of Edinburgh

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

472 个评分

What is your cat revealing to you when she purrs? What is your dog expressing when he yawns or wags his tail? Understanding your cat and dog’s behaviour and the way they communicate with you, will enable you to better understand their needs and strengthen your relationship with them. This MOOC is divided into five topics, the appliance of science; behaviour and body language, senses and perception; challenges for the human-animal relationship, including pet problem behaviour; and how to improve the quality of life for cats and dogs in our care. At the start of the course we ask you to consider what you feel is important to your cat/dog and what your cat/dog means to you? We explore the world of cats and dogs and how our relationships with them vary around the world and have changed over time. We ask if we can really know what our animals are thinking or trying to communicate through their facial expressions and behaviours. From our beloved pets to street dogs, shelter dogs/cats and welfare challenges, we explore the world from their perspective and examine how their genetic make-up may influence their behavioural responses and choices. We dispel common behavioural myths by looking through a scientific lens, asking questions about the function and development of their behaviour.. We explore how their senses help them to interact with their world and how they communicate with each other and us! Finally, we ask whether we impose unrealistic expectations on our cats and dogs and how this affects their ability to live alongside us. We ask, what can we do to be more responsible pet owners and to ensure the welfare of all cats and dogs in society? This MOOC explores different scientifically validated methods that can help you to better understand your pet, to enrich their lives and help you to be a more educated and confident pet owner. We hope you enjoy the course!

从本节课中

Ethology

In week 2, we will we explore ethology, which is the scientific and objective study of non-human animal behaviour, rather than human behaviour, and usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions. There will also be an opportunity to look at different breeds of cats and dogs and some of the possible issues that arise from breeding. At the end of the week, you will be able to complete the second of the graded quizzes.

Dog domestication13:53

Dog Ethology5:38

Breeds and their uses6:52

与讲师见面

Miss Hayley Walters, RVN

Welfare and Anaesthesia
Dr Heather Bacon
Veterinary welfare edcuation and outreach
Jeanne Marchig International Centre of Animal Welfare Education
Professor Nat Waran
Professor of One Welfare
Eastern Institute of Technology, Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Dr Amy Miele
Lecturer in Clinical Animal Behaviour
Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education

Dogs have been selectively bred for thousands of years.

And this has resulted in a huge variety of different physical characteristics and

also some differences in temperament between different breeds.

Humans have selectively breed dogs to fulfill a range of roles in society.

From guarding, herding, companionship to pest control.

And this selective breeding has resulted in a variety of dogs,

some of which have some incredible characteristics.

For example, the Norwegian Lundehund or

puffin hound has six fully functional toes to help it grip to cliff faces and

is also incredibly flexible, allowing it to squeeze into puffin burrows.

This is ideal for its traditional puffin hunting role.

More familiar breeds such as the iconic dalmatian or

beautiful poodle are, nowadays, not often considered to be working dogs.

But, of course, they were bred for a particular jobs.

The dalmatian was bred to be both a beautiful ornament but

also to have great stamina required for it's role as a carriage dog.

Trotting along side horse drawn carriages for miles at a time.

And anyone with modern day dalmatian will still be familiar with the ferocious

exercise requirements of this breed.

The beautiful standard poodle is actually a working dog.

Breed to work as a cold water retriever with it's curly coat cut into the iconic

style to protect it's joints from cold water as it retrieved fallen game.

Nowadays, the poodle is more often considered an ornamental breed, but

poodle owners will be familiar with the true lively nature and

intelligence of this working breed.

When choosing a breed of dog, it is important to consider the role of

a particular breed in order to decide if it may truly suit your lifestyle.

Unfortunately, we increasingly see expensive pedigree breed such as huskies,

or even labradors, and even cross breeds such as labradoodles

Relinquish to shelters, when these popular and beautiful dogs are bought on impulse

by owners who are then unable to meet their extensive physical and

psychological needs.

For example, poodle crosses have become incredibly popular over recent years.

And if we consider the fluffy coats and gentle temperaments of poodles,

we can see why cross breads from poodles are so popular.

But we also know that because poodles are traditionally a cold water

retrieving breed, and therefore a working dog.

They also have very significant physical and mental stimulation requirements.

And these needs can be challenging to meet in the modern home.

Many misconceptions about breeds also occur.

For example, bull breeds such as pit bulls,

are often portrayed in the media as highly aggressive.

But the reality is these breeds, which originated from crossing bulldogs with

terriers, were originally bred for bull and bear baiting.

Sports which require stamina, strength, and tenacity.

Their position in many countries as banned breeds

doesn't actually relate to their capacity for aggression, but

actually simply to the fact their bite power is higher than many other breeds.

A necessary feature of a breed traditionally used to pin down bears and

boars.

In fact, research has shown that bull breed types of dogs are actually

often under represented in bite statistics.

And that breeds such as the dachshund or chihuahua

may actually be more likely to display inappropriately aggressive behavior.

Overwhelmingly, research indicates that it is not

the breed of the dog which influences the likelihood of it biting a person.

But often other factors such as temperament, appropriate socialization,

active supervision of children when they interact with dogs, and

appropriate dog human interactions such as training.

A dogs breed may also influence it's behavior in other ways.

For example, when border collie's see things ahead of them that are of interest,

they will often tense their muscles and stalk towards those things.

This may appear to other dogs to be potentially a sign of an aggression.

But this stalking behavior is just actually a very normal

behavior from the collie that we have selectively bred for.

Similarly, breeds like Labradors and

Retrievers can often be very boisterous when they play.

And other breeds of dog may find this type of behavior a little bit overwhelming and

sometimes even threatening.

Terriers or herding breeds such as Corgis may sometimes be a little bit nippy.

And this relates to their breeding for jobs such as rat catchers and also herding

cattle, where they may nip at the ankles of cattle in order to hurry them along.

Different breeds of dogs may also respond differently in different situations.

For example, when training a dog to recall, breeds such as retrievers,

who have an innate capacity to want to come back

to the person that is calling them, because they have been bred for

many generations to retrieve and return, may be more easily trained at the recall.

Then other breeds such as sight hounds, for example, which are chasing breeds and

for many generations to run away from people and towards a prey item.

Moving away from pedigrees, we also need to think about mongrels and

cross breed dogs.

Characteristics for these types of dogs cannot be easily predicted.

For example, again if we look at the popular labradoodle,

they're often considered to be a hypoallergenic breed.

But this is actually often not the case.

If the labradoodle inherits the poodle's coat, which doesn't shed,

then they may be suitable for people who are allergic to dog hair.

But if they inherit the labrador's shedding coat, this won't be the case.

Additionally, many people are actually allergic to the dander or

shed skin cells from dogs.

So allergies may still be a problem regardless of whether

the Labradoodle inherits the poodle coat or the Labrador coat.

We also often assume that crossbred dogs may be healthier and display hybrid vigor.

Again, while this may be the case for some, some crossbreeds,

typically those bred from two pedigree breeds may

also be susceptible to the health problems that are common in their pedigree parents.

It's really important to remember that when choosing your dog,

it's breed may influence some aspects of its behavior and also its health. So

it's important that dogs are sourced either from a reputable rescue center, or

from a registered breeder who has done the necessary health checks.

Regardless of this, and whichever breed you decide to go with, socialization and

training is an essential component of responsible pet ownership, and

has been shown to improve all aspects of pet dog behavior.

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