Dog Ethology

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来自 The University of Edinburgh 的课程

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

526 个评分

The University of Edinburgh

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

526 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

Hi everyone, we're here today to talk about dog behavior.

Applied ethology is the study of animal behavior.

But all too often, we only pay attention to our pets' behaviors

when they become a problem for us.

However, if we're serious about preventing behavior problems from occurring,

we really want to understand what motivates our pets to behave in the way

that they do, then we really need to understand

all of the different things that can influence dog and cat behavior.

So in this section, we're going to talk a little bit more about dog behavior.

One of the common misconceptions we have about dog behavior

relates to how we've traditionally viewed them as being similar to wolf behavior.

Many people are concerned that their dog is trying to take control and

to be top dog or the alpha because for many years we thought that the social

structure of dogs was arranged as a linear dominance hierarchy.

With one dog in charge and the other dogs below that dog in a pecking order.

But more recent science has shown that this is usually not the case.

How a dog behaves is instead influenced by a variety of different factors

which we'll now discuss.

The first and

most important thing to remember is that just like us, our pets are individuals.

How they behave will depend on their individual temperament,

genetic characteristics such as anxiety or

confidence that are present from birth, as well as their own individual personality.

That is their personal preferences, shaped by both their genetics and

also the learning experiences as they grow up.

Appropriate socialization before the age of 13 or 14 weeks can help

puppies in developing personalities that cope with the challenges of modern life.

Behavior is also influenced by motivation.

How important an activity or reward is to an animal.

And also by training, and the animal's previous learning experiences.

For many dog owners, training out strongly motivated behaviors,

such as food stealing or chasing, can be very difficult

because these activities are highly rewarding for many dogs.

This is because these behaviors have conferred survival and

success over many generations.

Dogs that are better at running down prey, hunting and

food finding are more likely to breed.

And so these traits are passed on or selected for through breeding by humans.

For some breeds, these highly motivated behaviors may be difficult to manage.

And this is important to consider when choosing your dog breed.

It's also important, as responsible dog owners, that we try and

limit our dogs opportunities to engage in behaviors

which may be socially unacceptable and potentially dangerous in some cases.

Our pets are learning all of the time and

they don't just learn in the training sessions that we give to them.

They are constantly learning from our interactions and

what they learn will affect how they behave.

For example, how often do we praise our pet dogs at home

when they're laying quietly in their beds?

In many cases, it's very rare for us to reinforce good, quiet, and calm behavior.

However, when our dogs bark, jump on the furniture, or even mouth, or

nip at us for attention, we often inadvertently reinforce these

undesirable behaviors with eye contact, or vocal responses.

This inadvertent reinforcement of undesirable behaviors

can lead to a repetition of those behaviors, and

this learning experience can lead to those behaviors becoming more and more common.

A dog's previous learning experiences are also important.

And for dogs with a history of deprivation, or

competition, we commonly see problem behaviors.

Such as dog dog aggression, or

the guarding of resources from other dogs or humans.

Again, these behaviors don't come from a dog feeling that he's in charge, but

instead, they come from feeling exactly the opposite.

Anxiety, fear of loss, and a desire to protect important resources

such as food, toys, and sometimes even their human owner.

So we can see that the behavior of our dogs is influenced

by many different things.

Their genetics, their personality, socialization, training, and environment.

And whilst at times we may assume that our dogs are being naughty or disruptive,

we must consider instead whether we are perhaps inadvertently rewarding these

undesirable behaviors by reacting to them.

Or whether we are setting our dogs up for success with responsible breeding,

socialization, exercise and training to encourage the behaviors that we want.

So it's really important that we remember that behavior is always communication.

Our dogs communicate very differently than we do.

But their ear positions, their tail positions, and

their body language can all give us indications of how our dogs are feeling.

It's really important that we understand dog behavior,

and we don't judge their behavior based on how we, as humans, are feeling.

Understanding dog behavior is really important to ensuring the good welfare

of our dogs, but also to ensuring really positive human dog relationships.

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