Companion Animal Behavior

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Behind Every Successful Dog is an Obedient Owner

• Companion Animal Behavior
• ANSC2003
• T. Tennessen

K. Harrigan, D. Hunter, T. Martin March 2005
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Introduction
Behaviour problems are one of the most common
reasons pet owners give up their dogs.

• 70 of surrendered dogs with behaviour related
  problems are euthanized
• the leading cause of mortality in dogs is due to
  behavioural problems (4)
• owners may inadvertently reinforce unwanted
  behaviour (5)

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Doggie See, Doggie Do

• Observational Learning Learning based on
  observing the response of another organism.
  (14)
• -indicator of higher mental abilities
• -requires animal to understand the structure of
  another animals behaviour (8)
• -involves learning by watching actions of the
  pack leader or human family (10)
• A child takes a toy from the toy box and plays
  with the dog. Doggie soon learns where to get
  play things. (12)
• When going to work or taking the dog for a walk,
  we proceed out the door, then leave the property.
  The door gets opened momentarily Doggie knows
  the routine. He runs out the door and up the
  street! (7)

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Imitative Reinforcers Stimuli arising from the
match between the behaviour of the imitator and
the behaviour of the model. (14)

• -involves recalling images of the owners
  activities
• -causes dog to interact with things that
  symbolize the owner and imitate the owners
  behaviour
• When we return home, we shower the dog with
  affection. We are generally very routine with our
  arrival. Sometimes we are late getting home.
  Doggie is anxious for us to arrive. He recalls
  pillow fluffing, books and magazines being put
  away, and the putting on of shoes before we left
  the house. The owner still hasnt returned
  pillows go on the floor magazines get chewed
  chair seats get dug up shoes come out of the
  closet. (2)

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Mimicry Imitation that involves copying the
actions, behaviours or physical appearance of one
species by another. (14)

• -involves mimicking daily routine activities
• Some dogs attempt to reproduce human situations
  and postures. Mimicry is involved in training
  service dogs to do laundry, turn on and off
  lights etc.
• We lay on the couch and watch TV. We get up and
  Doggie is soon in our spot.
• We take the dog for a drive in the car. We stop
  for a treat. Doggie jumps from his spot in the
  car to the driver seat. (9)

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Im waiting
Continuous reinforcement Schedule of
reinforcement in which every response is
reinforced. Usually used when first learning a
behaviour and particularly in shaping behaviour
(9) -inadvertently, we can reinforce a behaviour
every time it occurs (1)

• Puppy eats dinner every night at the same time.
  Its late. Puppy bangs his dish, and we jump at
  his command. (12)
• Sits by the dinner table and looks at us
  lovingly. We give him a scrap. Its cute now, but
  it wont be long before puppy will be able to lay
  his head on the table and drool over our meals.
  (10)

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• Contingency-shaped behaviour behaviour which has
  been learned by directly experiencing success or
  failure. (14)
• The dog has your shoe! The only way to get him to
  drop it is by presenting a treat.
• Doggie wins the game! (13)
• Playing tug of war, a dog can soon become
  agitated while trying to get the tug toy from the
  owner. Doggie growls and shakes the tug toy until
  it is free. He has won his battle. This play
  behaviour can lead to aggressive behaviour in
  future situations that are similar. (3)
• Chasing cars, bicycles and skateboards barking
  at trucks or other vehicles that pass by opening
  cupboards to sneak food holding out for a treat
  when called to come home can all be very
  satisfying.
• This behaviour is almost always self rewarding.
  Doggie knows the result, and the behaviour that
  makes it work! (10)

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I Thought you said
Discriminative stimuli Stimuli that have
acquired the function of setting the occasion for
a behaviour to occur. (14)

• -An animals behavioural expressions are often
• the result of his sensitivity to environmental
• stimulus.
• -can involve audio, visual, textural or touch (8)
• A signal or statement can acquire a different
• meaning depending on how it is presented. (9)
• The dog barks and we pat him to quiet him. He has
  not given us a desired behaviour but we reward
  his action. (4)
• We all love to sweet talk puppies and giggle at
  their puppy kisses. We let them know this is
  acceptable by cooing over them. When the pup is a
  mature dog, we are not so likely to appreciate it
  . (1)

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Look at me! Look at me!
Attention seeking Touch and physical contact are
primary reinforcers. (6) Nudging and mouthing
for attention are very common and instinctive
with dogs.

• -starts as a puppy with mother
• -there are degrees of reward the more valuable
  the reward, the faster the dog learns the
  behaviour
• -contact is a potential reward to be used wisely
  and carefully( 6)
• Gentle petting has a calming effect but lengthy
  sessions of petting can result in chronic
  attention seeking ( 6)
• without realizing, owners may pay more attention
  to the dog when it is misbehaving
• dogs who dont receive attention and
  reinforcement for appropriate behaviour may show
  undesirable behaviour to attract attention (3)

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I Didnt Mean to!

• Some times unwanted behaviour and/or aggression
  is not due to the dog misbehavin. It is because
  of physiological changes caused by injury or
  disease. Pain and disease can cause many changes
  in normal behaviour.
• Osteoarthritis
• Gum disease
• Gastrointestinal irritation
• Poor dietthe list goes on
• It is wise to have the dog seen by a veterinarian
  to check his health status before assuming there
  is a behavioural problem. (3)

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I feel the vibes

• Emotional Transfer
• We send messages to our pets without knowing.
  Dogs are capable of sensing our
• emotional state which can lead to excitatory
  behaviours.
• We can affect behaviour by changing the way we
  hold the leash in response to a
• situation. If the dog senses fear, his reaction
  may also be fearful or aggressive.
• The owner holds Doggie in the veterinarian office
  and is worried that the vaccine will be painful
  for him. The doctor arrives and Doggie begins to
  snarl and growl. The owner cant understand why
  he would act like this. (12)

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Conclusion

• Many times we send dogs mixed signals and
  inadvertently reinforce unwanted
• behaviours. If the behaviour becomes a problem
  for the owner, the human-animal
• bond may become weak.
• Some owners surrender their pets to shelters when
  they can no longer
• cope with the undesired behaviour. Others are
  willing to live with the problem.
• A few will seek out professional advice. Many of
  the owners who do find help,
• usually start the retraining process full of
  vigor but tend to taper off in
• enthusiasm. Soon they are back to the same old
  routine and the dog reverts to
• misbehaving. The owner says the treatment did not
  work.
• Environmental and social experiences play major
  roles in the behavioural
• development of dogs. We as owners need to
  understand and appreciate this. (4)
• Continued

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• Conclusion
• Dogs are intelligent. Most can think and do
  circles around their owners. They are able to
  accomplish this because most owners have never
  taken the opportunity to think like a dog. Most
  dogs are fairly well behaved, considering they
  have had to learn how to function in a society
  where some owners do not correctly identify what
  they want or expect from the dog. (2)
• It is sad to think that there are dogs that have
  had to suffer negative consequences for
  successfully establishing appropriate responses
  to our inadvertent behaviours.

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Citation List
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County Humane Association article online.
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Discrimination and observational learning in
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Postgate, M. 2002. Inadvertent aggression
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Rawlinson, S. 2005. Superb collection of tips for
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13. Ridgeway, G. 2004. But Ive tried everything
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