Canine History and Evolution PDF

**Canine history and evolution** The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the Gray wolf a member of the Kennedy family of the order carnivora the term is used for both feral and pet varieties the dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated an has been the most widely kept working huntin...

**Canine history and evolution** The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the Gray wolf a member of the Kennedy family of the order carnivora the term is used for both feral and pet varieties the dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated an has been the most widely kept working hunting an companion animal in history the word dog also may mean the male of a key 9 species as opposed to the word Bitch for the female of the species Dogs were domesticated from grey wolves about 15,000 years ago dogs perform many roles for people such as hunting herding pulling loads protection assisting police and military companionship and more recently aiding handicapped individuals today there estimated to be 900 million dogs in the world approximately 75% of those are free range over the 15,000 year span in which the dog has been domesticated it has diverged into only a handful of land races groups of similar animals who morphology and behavior have been sharpened by environmental and factors and functional roles. through selective breeding by humans the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal for example height measured to the Withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Irish wolfhound colour varies from white through Grays usually called blue to black and Brown's from like 10 to dark red or chocolate in a wide variation of patterns coats can be short or long coarse haired 2 will like straight curly or smooth it is common for most Breeds to shed this coat **Dogs are no longer wolves** Physical comparisons: compared to equally sized wolves dogs tend to have 20% smaller skulls 30% smaller brains as well as proportionately smaller teeth than other key need species dogs require fewer calories to function in the limp ears are thought to be the result of atrophy of the jaw muscles and the skin of domestic dogs tends to be thicker than that of wolves Behavioral comparisons: dogs tend to be poorer than wolves at observation elearning being more responsive to operant conditioning feral dogs show little of the complex social structure or dominance hierarchy present in wolf packs there is no hierarchy in feral packs when it comes to eating and the other dogs don\'t help in locating food items and are more like competitors feral dogs are primarily scavengers unlike their wild cousins and they\'re poor hunters having little impact on wildlife populations domestic dogs can be monogamists male dogs are unusual among canids by the fact that they mostly seem to play no role in raising their puppies and do not kill the young of other females and the females do not regurgitate food for their young Trainability comparisons: dogs display much greater manageability than team wolves in are in general much more responsive to coercive techniques involving fear aversive stimuli and force than wolves which are most responsive toward positive conditioning and rewards as they do not tolerate forceful methods that are most commonly used on dogs **Evolution** Wolves and their dog descendants would have derived significant benefits from living in human camps -- more safety more reliable food less caloric needs and more chance to breed they would have benefited from humans upright gait that gives them larger range over which to see potential predators and prey as well as colour vision that at least by day gives humans better visual discrimination camp dogs would also have benefited from human tool use as in bringing down larger prey and controlling fire for a range of purposes humans would also have derived enormous benefit from the dogs associated with their camps for instance dogs would have improved sanitation by cleaning up food scraps dogs provide warmth at night when it\'s cold would have alerted the camp to the presence of predators or strangers using their acute hearing to provide early warning and anthropologists believe the most significant benefit would be the dog sensitive sense of smell to assist with the hunt **Domestication** Dmitri Belyaev A Russian scientist an academic in the 50s spent many years breeding the silver fox and selecting only individuals that showed the least fear of humans those that showed the most positive response to humans ended up with a population of foxs whose behavior an appearance was significantly changed after about 10 generations of controlled breeding these domesticated silver fox is no longer showed any fear of humans and often wag their tails and lick their human caretakers to show affection they also started to have spotted coats floppy ears and curled tails they also found that the adrenaline levels were significantly lower than normal and scientists theorize that adrenaline shares a biochemical pathway with melanin which controls pigment production an experiment was conducted by scientists who were interested in the topic of domestication and the process by which wolves became team domesticated dogs they saw some retention of juvenile traits by adult dogs both morphological ones such as skulls that were unusually broad for their length and behavioral ones such as whining barking and submission Dmitri believe the key factor selected for in the domestication of dogs was not size or reproduction but behavior so specifically how easy there were to domesticate or team ability he selected for low flight distance that is the distance one can approach the animal before it runs away and selecting this behavior mimics the natural selection that must have occured in the ancestral past of dogs because behavior is rooted in biology selecting for teamless and against aggression means selecting for physiological changes in the systems that govern the body's hormones and neurochemicals **Canine development stages in relation to training** **Neonatal period** Birth to 12 days During this first period puppies are often described as fetuses out of the womb as they cannot hear see or regulate their own temperature or climate without stimulation and are totally dependent on their mother no emotional development social attachment or learning takes place during this. They will pile up together for warmth or spread out to cool down **Transition sub period** 13 to 21 days at this age puppies eyes and ears open and they begin to respond to light movement and sound puppies become more mobile as they gain awareness of their surroundings mother litter mates and objects they may also alert to human presence it is beneficial at this time to introduce novel items into their environment for them to interact with in claim over to help develop their spatial awareness **Awareness period** 21 to 23 days This is the most important period with rapid sensory development puppies are fully alert to their environment will startle easily at 7 sounds and movements able to recognize people by smell sight and sound and negative events can easily imprint basic behavior during this. Rapid changes in their environment must be avoided at this time social bonding begins to occur during this week and it\'s a time of rapid physical change and changes to brain waves as they are now able to learn from experience and retain what they\'ve learned it is good to introduce them to new surfaces such as concrete linoleum wood carpet etc **Canine socialization** Primary three to five weeks secondary 6 to 12 weeks Social awareness is the theme of this. During this stage they're learning to become dogs play fighting behavior becomes more intense developing problem solving abilities physical coordination and bite inhibition puppies start to learn behaviors such as biting barking chasing and posturing mother dog will begin to initiate discipline leaving the litter before 7 weeks can affect the puppy\'s ability to get along with other dogs later and they will likely have trouble learning to inhibit the force of their bites puppies must learn to inhibit the force of their biting before they are taught to stop biting and mouthing altogether the narrow time window for developing a soft mouth begins to close at 4 1/2 months of age this. Is especially important for the development of a stable emotional temperament many social and emotional deficits observed in adult dogs are believed to result from removing puppies too early from their mom and litter mates this is the prime socialization. Introduced new people especially children pups should meet other kinds of adult dogs introduced situations that will stimulate problem solving behaviors such as tunnels boxes stairs etc house training can begin it is recommended to start positive training sessions at 5 weeks of age **Human socialization period** 7 to 12 weeks Pups are now enlarging social awareness and bonding outside their litter mental abilities are fully formed but they are lacking experience this is the optimal time to teach new things and is the period of fastest learning training during this time will actually increase the capacity to learn by increasing brain cells in the appropriate regions of the brain puppies should be occasionally isolated from their litter or family group to help them deal with being left alone as they mature putting them in a crate during this time will help with house training pups at this age can be introduced to short car rides as well from now to the 16th week of puppies life their basic character is set by what they're taught especially attitudes towards people an ability to serve them the very best he can this is the critical time in which puppies should be socialized puppies must be socialized to people especially men and children before they're three months old important to make sure that all puppies interactions with people in other dogs and new environments are positive **Fear imprint period** 8 to 11 weeks Experience is a puppy perceives as traumatic during this time or generalized in may affect them all their life and it is a fact that a dog is most likely develop an avoidance response if subjected to physical or psychological trauma during these four weeks avoid overwhelming experiences such as grooming airplanes and other potentially scary circumstances since this. Falls into the human socialization. It is important to ensure that all pups meets and training are set up for success and not overwhelming or frightening they should be fun and the puppy should be clearly enjoying himself keep training fun and short sessions and all positive **Seniority classification period** 10 to 16 weeks This is when the puppy is learning to cope and compete they will start to test their place in the world at this time attempting to clarify it and resolve questions of leadership they tend to become bolder and it is a time of very fast physical growth **Flight instinct period** 4 to 8 months This stage can last from a few days to several weeks and can occur anytime during this. This. Corresponds with teething so pups can be quite uncomfortable provide appropriate 2 toys will help to alleviate discomfort during this stage they may appear to forgotten everything they\'ve learned previously This is the time when dog training schools get their most calls and puppies that have not been socialized and worked with take a different path in life than pups that have **Second fear period** 6 to 14 months - may last longer than 14 months in large breeds This. Corresponds with growth spurts and sexual maturity males will begin to lift their legs to urinate females will come into their first heat cycle they may suddenly be apprehensive about new things or shy or timid of new people or situations most of the height growing is over but pups will start to fill out over the next year many dogs will show a rise in their level of aggression or reactivity they may become protective and territorial incidents of teenage flakiness may recur some dogs will pass through this. Faster than others often with no noticeable problems others may display marked changes in behavior in strange situations the fear of new situations is best handled with the utmost patients and dogs should be encouraged to work it out on their own where safe to do so an never forced to interact with something there in comfortable with if anything it\'s better to ignore the whole situation than to reinforce the fear by praising or petting them while they\'re afraid if you reassure them you're telling them it's OK to be frightened and you're creating a potential problem avoid potentially overwhelming circumstances that an owner cannot oversee build confidence through training **Health considerations** Important to remember during the puppy stage their attention span is short so keep training sessions short and don\'t ask too much exercise should be restricted to little and often as they are still growing and take the puppy home when they're showing signs of being tired **Maturity** one to four years The maturity stage refers to a sexual maturity as opposed to being full grown small dogs mature earlier larger dogs leader if owners are lax in their work early on they will now be seeing things that were missed such as object guarding lack of impulse control unfavorable reactions towards unfamiliar people animals or things their dog missed during the socialization stage like the owners training efforts which continue on into adulthood they're never done with socialization they still need to meet and greet people go places and continue to see the world and have positive experiences for them to continue being well adjusted **Under socialized dogs** Puppies provided with poor socialization or deprived of environmental exposure often developed lifelong deficits and dysfunctional behaviors a puppy isolated early in life from other puppies in humans will not only fail to establish satisfying social contact with other animals or enjoy companionship with people later in life such puppies are extremely fearful of any social contact they will exhibit widespread and behavioral and cognitive disabilities as well poor learning and problem solving abilities extremely hyperactive and rigidly inhibited are emotionally overreactive in an unable to encounter novel social or environmental situations without extreme fear and avoidance **Dog breed groups in common training challenges** **Hound group** Hounds were bred for hunting and tracking people or game ranging from Badgers foxes and rabbits to wolves and lions using eyesight and sense of smell homes are independent characters used to working alone easily distracted by movement or interesting sense they may be a training challenge as they are keen hunters sight hounds follow their prey by sight and can run like the wind scent hounds use their noses to track they range in size from the tiny dash hound to the massive Irish wolfhound Afghan, basenji, Bassett, Beagle, Bloodhound, borzoi, coonhound, dash and commandeer hound, finish spits, foxhound, greyhound, Irish wolfhound, Norwegian elkhound, rhodesian ridgeback, saluki, whippet [Common training challenges] [Scent hounds:] These dogs often have their nose to the ground attention work and remaining focused on the owner is always more time consuming using smelly treats will sometimes help more time will need to be spent on attention playing scent games Can help redirect attention to the owner and help release some of their natural talents [Sight hounds:] These breeds can often be described as distant from their owners and stubborn when it comes to training finding the right motivation an reward is important and give lots of quick positive feedback to keep them focused **sporting group** Sporting dogs were originally bred to find flush out and retrieve game birds on land and in water this group moves mostly made-up of the pointer setter spaniel and retrieve are they are intelligent hunting companions willing trainable playful and very energetic some have been used as Guide Dogs they vary in size with spaniels being the smallest popular with children as pets they require a lot of exercise and human companionship Pyrenees, griffin, pointer, retrieve are, setter, spaniel, Vizsla, Weimaraner [Common training challenges] High energy requirements if not met over arousal and frustration is a result channel these behaviors through training and incorporating brain games will help reduce frustration they are very keen to learn and will require good timing from the handler for reinforcement they pick up behaviors quickly both good and bad **working group** They are the garden draft workers originally bred to work alongside their humans used as sled dogs guarding and protection dogs for livestock and people and guiding and rescue dogs they are territorial strong and confident and require a similarly confident owner they are happiest when they have a job to do many large and giant breeds make excellent pets being fiercely loyal and intelligent Akita, malamute, bernese mountain dog, boxer, bullmastiff, Canadian Eskimo dog, Doberman Pinscher, Great Dane, great pyrenees, greater Swiss mountain dog, komondor leonberger, mastiff, Newfoundland, Portuguese water dog, rottweiler, saint bernard, Samoyed, schnauzer, Siberian Husky [Common training challenges] The most stereotyped as dominant and stubborn and needs to be shown who\'s boss they benefit from socialization an preventative training brain games as well as life rewards program such as premack principle they have poor impulse control And are overly confident **Terrier group** independent spunky tough and determined bread to hunt rats and other vermin as they go into their Burrows after them they're tenacious have you been used for guarding pit fighting and hunting small predators such as Badgers foxes and rabbits they are relentless no No Fear or pain when on the job and are considered to have a big dog personality and they love to dig Airedale Terrier, Stafford Shire terrier, Australian terrier, border terrier, bull terrier, Karen terrier, fox terrier, Kerry blue terrier, Norfolk terrier, norwitch terrier, miniature schnauzer, Scottish terrier, wheaten terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier West highland white terrier [common training challenges] high energy requirements leads to over arousal and frustration channel these behaviors through training an brain games they lack impulse control early socialization and training are key **toy group** miniature dogs were bred to be pets and companions and lap dogs they're sensitive to extreme heat and cold minimal exercise long lived affectionate adaptable they are high strung and may not be suitable for households with boisterous young children