(Serpell, J., 2002. The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. 2002 edited edition [Original publication date: 21st September 1995]. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.)
INTRODUCTION
Page 2: 'People's opinion about the domestic dog have a tendency to veer towards extremes. For an increasingly large sector of the population, the dog is now perceived as a dangerous and dirty animal with few redeeming qualities: a source of vicious and unprovoked assaults on children, fatal or debilitating disease risks, and unacceptable levels of organic pollution in our streets and public parks - a veritable menace to society.'
Page 2: 'Throughout the Western world, this anti-dog feeling has resulted recently in a spate of increasingly restrictive and draconian regulations to curv the activities of dogs and their owners, including legal bans on certain breeds, or even the compulsory execution of any dog of a particular type whose owner makes the mistake of allowing it to appear unmuzzled in a public place.'
Page 2: 'At the other end of the spectrum, an even larger constituency of dog lovers exists for whom this animal has become the archetype of affectionate fidelity and unconditional love. To the members of this group, dogs are more human than animal. They are given human-sounding names ... they are spoken to and treated like junior family members, and most of the time they are unconsciously assumed to have virtually the same thoughts, feelings and desires and people ... this overwhelming tendency to 'personify' dogs is an inevitable and natural consequence of the kinds of relationships we have with these animals.'
Page 4: 'To some extent, both of these polarized and misinformed attitudes continue to persist and cause problems because of a general shortage of objective and reliable scientific information about the domestic dog. When we consider how long dogs have been an integral part of human society, let alone the practical and emotional impact they have had on countless human lives, it is surprising how little we know about C. familiaris. The lives and loves of wolves, coyotes, jackals and most other wild canids have been studied in metaculous detail ... the domestic dog has been largely ignored by scientists, except when it has become a 'problem', or when it has been used as a substitute for humans in miomedical and psychological research. This apparent lack of basic scientific interest in dogs is partly due to the 'stigma' of domestication.'
Page 4: 'most modern biologists and behavioural scientists seem to regard domestic animals as 'unnatural' and therefore unworthy or unsuitable as subjects for serious scientific investigation (Clutton-Brock, 1994). According to this stereotype, the domestic dog is essentially a debased and corrupted wolf, an abnormal and therefore uninteresting artifact of human design, rather than a unique biological species'.
ORIGINS OF THE DOG: DOMESTICATION AND EARLY HISTORY (Juliet Clutton-Brock, 1988)
Page 8: 'The dog family or Canidae is a biologically cohesive group of carnivores that is divided into thirty-eight species, including the domestic dog ... All wild canids are terrestrial, fast-running and mostly nocturnal.' Page 8: 'The dog, Canis familiaris, is the only member of the Canidae that can be said to be fully domesticated'.
THE BIOLOGY OF DOMESTICATION
Page 15: 'Domestication is the result of two interwoven processes, one biological, the other cultural (Clutton-Brock, 1992). The biological process resembles natural evolution in that the parent animals become reproductively isolated from the wild population and form a small founder group, or deme, that will at first be very inbred, and which will then undergo a process of genetic drift. Over successive generations the domestic 'species' will multiply in numbers and will be genetically changed by natural selection in response to factors in the new, human environment.'
Page 15: 'The wolf became a dog; that is, it was no longer a wild carnivore but a part of human society with physical and behavioural characteristics adapted to its economic, aesthetic or ritual functions. In the latest phase of this cultural process, the individual ownership of the dog was enforced with a collar and leash, and like any other object, it could be brought, sold or exchanged at will.'
Page 15: 'Hemmer, in his book on domestication (1990), has argued that a principal factor in the process of domestication is suppression of the animal's Merkwelt, translated as 'perceptual world'. This means that, whereas a high degree of perception combined with quick reactions to stress are essential for the survival of an animal in the wild, the opposite characterisics of docility, lack of fear and tolerance of stress are the requirements for domestication.'
Page 15: 'Alterations in the animal's perception of its environment are brought about by hormonal changes, reduction in the size of the brain, less acute sight and hearing, and the retention of juvenile characteristics and behaviour into adult life.'
Page 18: 'Today, enhancement of status is achieved by the dog playing the role of acolyte to its owner. In this age of the nuclear family, however, the dog is even more important as an object of affection, and small dogs are becoming even more popular.' Page 18: 'At the present time, there are dogs in every part of the human-inhabited world. The relationship that began with commensal scavenging by tamed wolves and half-starved curs has evolved, over some 10,000 years, into a symbiosis that is indulged in by as many people deny it.'
The behavioral origin of domestic dogs [sic]
Page 35: 'the real difference between them is behavioral: dogs are tameable (Scott, 1954) and trainable, wild canids are not.' [sic]
Photograph located on Page 36 of:
(Serpell, J., 2002. The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. 2002 edited edition [Original publication date: 21st September 1995]. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.)
Page 39: 'Coppinger & Coppinger (1982) proposed that breed-specific behavior is linked closely with distinct stages of ancestral ontogeny and can be predicted on the basis of head shape.' [sic]
Page 39: 'Coppinger et al. (1987) further hypothesized that the low frequency of predatory behavior found in livestock guarding dogs is a result of farmers selecting for animals that were retarded in their ontogenetic development.' [sic] Page 39: 'Wild mammals pass through several distinct stages in their lives (ontogeny) ... They progress through the fetal stage, emerging as neonates, then go through adolescence and becoming adults.
PAGE 39 - DIAGRAM OF DOG NEONTENY
Page 40: 'The dog's stereotypic neonatal behavior begins to disappeatr, but the retardation of development prevents these animals from ever fully developing the ancestral adult's functional motor sequences. In many ways this provides a perfect description of the adult domestic dog with neonatal and adult behavior mixed. Here is an animal that solicits care, begs for food and sits around at a rendezvous point waiting for the 'parents' to show up with food, and at the same time will eye and chase a ball.' [sic]
Page 40: 'It is interesting to note that wolves have more rapid cognitive development, even though the dog excels at being taught (Frank & Frank, 1982).
Page 40: 'All the domesticated animals are thought to have been derived from their ancestors by some form of neotenic retardation simply because they exhibit morphology and behavior throughout life that appears in the juvenile stages of their wild relatives (Zeuner 1963; Ratner and Boice, 1975; Geist, 1978; Clutton-Brock, 1981; Price, 1984; Coppinger and Smith, 1989).' [sic]
DIAGRAM ON PAGE 41
Page 43: 'Hybridization has the same effect of behavior that it does on morphology. Hybridization in many ways mimics neoteny in its effects on behavior (Coppinger et al., 1985). Cross-breeds behave differently from their parents (Fox, 1978), theoretically producing phylogenetically novel combinations of onsets and offsets and sequencing of motor patterns.' [sic]
Page 44: 'Dogs are trainable for the same reasons that they are tameable. Trainability is not particularly characteristic of either the neonate or the adult in the wild species, but it is a feature of adolescents and juveniles. The species that continue to learn easily as adults, such as dogs and humans, are thought to be neotenic.'
II BEHAVIOUR AND BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS
M. B. WILLIS
Temperament
Page 59: 'Although most pedigree breeding stems from dogs exhibited in the show-ring the majority of dogs end up living as pets and this is true regardless of breed. The average owner requires an animal that is not nervous or aggressive but has a fairly easy-going and stable temperament. Clearly the character of a dog will be influenced by environmental features, in particular socialization. ' [sic]
Nervousness
Page 60: 'Nervousness is a series failing in most working dogs ... and Thorne (1944) put forward the suggestion that extreme shyness is a dominant trait.'
Aggression
Page 60-61: 'It is well established that males pose more problems that females (e.g. Beaver, 1983, Borchlet, 1983; Mugford, Chapter 10). Breed differences are claimed.'
Page 61: 'The degree to which aggression is acquired or inherited is both controversial and unclear. In the GSD, Wilsson (§985) has shown that social interactions between mothers and offspring during weaning have significant effects upon subsequent pup behaviour. Much trouble with aggression appears to stem from a failure to place aplha dogs in the right hands. Most inexperienced owners do not know how to handle such animals'
Page 61: 'There is a clear different between the dominant or assertive alpha dog and a fighting dog, such as the pit bull terrier. These animals have been deliberately selected for an ability and eagerness to fight , and to this degree are unlike most other breeds of dog in which, as with the wolf, intraspecific aggression tends to be more ritualized [sic] more often than serious.'
ANALYSING BREED AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOUR
Page 66: ‘The dog was the first animal apparently domesticated by humankind (see Clutton-Brock, Chapter 2), and it is the species that has been most profoundly altered through selective breeding … Over the centuries, as dogs have been bred for various physical attributes, they have also undergone a variety of changes in behavior.’ [sic] Page 66: ‘Some breeds have been selected for behavioral [sic] changes that are useful in hunting, such as pointing at game birds, chasing foxes while vocalizing [sic], or retrieving waterfowl shot by hunters. In other breeds, behavior [sic] associated with the performance of complex tasks, such as herding cattle or sheep, has been accentuated, while still others have been bred selectively to protect property … These particular behavior [sic] functions that have come to characterize [sic] the different breeds of dogs are the outcome of the suppression or enhancement of existing ‘native’ canine behavioral characteristics, rather than the new emergence of new behavior patterns. ‘ [sic] Page 66: ‘In modern Western societies, the practical function of dogs are gradually diminishing in importance, while the behavioral [sic] attributes associated with the dog’s companionship role in the human family are becoming increasingly relevant. Behavior [sic] of particular importance to people keeping dogs as pets includes expressions of dominance, territoriality, affection, sociability towards children and excitability. These characteristics are often very different from those that were selected for during the early histories of the different breeds, and there are obvious cases in which conflicts may arise between these two selective pressures. ‘ Page 66: ‘Dogs bred primarily for aggressive territorial protection seem to have become aggressive in an overall sense, acquiring a tendency to challenge their owners for dominance, especially when the latter are not sufficiently assertive.’ Page 66: ‘One previous approach to identifying breed differences in behavior [sic] is represented by the work of Scott & Fuller (1965), who conducted extensive laboratory experiments on six breeds of dogs (basenjis, beagles, cocker spaniels, Shetland sheepdogs and fox terriers) using tests that measured such traits as emotional reactivity, trainability and problem solving ability.’ Page 66: ‘Emotional reactivity … was indicated by physiological measures, such as heart rate and respiratory rate, as well as by behavioral signs, such as distress vocalizations or tail-wagging. Tests of emotional reactivity included dogs’ responses to experimenters who either approached them speaking softly, or who grabbed them by the muzzle and forced their heads from side to side. Using these sorts of tests, terriers, beagles and basenjis were judged significantly more reactive then shelties or cocker spaniels.’
EARLY EXPERIENCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIOUR (James Serpell and J. A. Jagoe)
Aggression Page 84: ‘Aggression is the most commonly reported category of behaviour problems in domestic dogs (Hart & Hart, 1985), and one that has received an inordinate amount of public and media attention in recent years (see Lockwood, Chapter 9; Serpell, Chapter 16). Despite the Lorenzian idea of aggressiveness being a single temperament trait (Lorenz, 1966), most modern ethologists would accept that canid aggression, like aggression in every other species, is likely to be context dependent, and that a dog which responds aggressively in one situation is not likely to do so in others. Unfortunately, wide disparities in methods of classifying aggressive behaviour problems now exist in the relevant literature … this has tended to hamper efforts to understand the ontogeny of this important category of problems.’
Territory aggression Page 84: ‘Many dogs, like wolves, display a tendency to react aggressively to unfamiliar intruders within their home ranges. In practice, this home range or territory usually comprises the immediate vicinity of the owner’s home, but may also include other areas where the dog is regularly walked or confined.’ Page 84: ‘As with most traits, there are marked individual and breed differences in the tendency to display territorial behaviour, and it would appear that elements of this behaviour have been amplified by human selection, particularly in certain guarding breeds.’ Page 84: ‘There appear to have been few, if any, studies of the development of territorial behaviour in either domestic dogs or wild canids … dogs with a behaviour problem are usually from 1-3 years of age … the first appearance of overt hostility towards unfamiliar intruders in wolf pups at around 16-20 weeks of age, coinciding with a sudden phase of heightened sensitivity to novel or fear-evoking stimuli … although Mech (1970) pointed out that this is about the age when young wolves start moving away from the familiar den and rendezvous sites, and when they are therefore more likely to encounter strange or hostile territorial intruders. It has not been established whether domestic dogs show a similar increase in reaction to either dog or human strangers at this age, or whether particular experiences at this time contribute in any way to the onset and intensity of adult territorial behaviour. Fears and phobias Page 87/88: ‘Nervous or fearful responses to strangers and unfamiliar situations are another common source of behaviour problems in dogs. Analysis of reasons for rejecting dogs from US Guide Dogs for the Blind programme revealed that, out of 600 animals, 19% were frightened of loud noises, 15% were afraid of cars or farm machinery and 12% evinced fear of other animals … one behavioural referral clinic suggests that roughly one-third of all behaviour consultations involve fear-related behaviour problems, although it is not clear whether this figure includes separation-related anxieties. ‘ Page 88: ‘Interpreting the available information on the development of canine fearfulness is rendered more difficult by the use of widely varying systems of classifying aversive or fearful behaviour. One the one hand, different fears and phobias are sometimes regarded as being more-or-less distinct … while on the other they may be lumped together with more generalized anxieties [sic] … or treated as symptomatic of some global temperament trait, such as ‘emotionality’ … or ‘stimulus reactivity’. Page 88: ‘In 1944, investigations into the high prevalence of abnormally shy or fearful dogs in one laboratory colony revealed that 52% of the nervous animals were directly descended from a single bassett hound bitch who was a notorious fear-biter. It was concluded that ‘shyness’ is a dominant characteristic in dogs that is normally strongly selected against in the pet dog population (Thorne, 1944). ‘ Page 88: ‘More recent evidence from guide dog breeding programmes demonstrates that the ‘fearfulness’ trait is moderately heritable (Goddard & Beilharz, 1982)’ Page 88: ‘Isolation effects are also thought to account for so-called ‘kennel dog syndrome’, i.e. the effect of leaving dogs in relatively restricted kennel environments beyond 12 weeks of age, resulting in animals that exhibit abnormal levels of timidity towards novel situations (Pfaffenburger & Scott, 1976). Similarly, pups reared with little or no human contact to develop a generalized fear of humans that is difficult, if not entirely impossible, to overcome subsequently. [sic]’ Page 89: ‘The results of unconditioned aversion experiments further suggest that there may be relatively narrow periods of maximum sensitivity to frightening stimuli within the socialization period [sic]. By training beagle pups to associate human contact with electric shocks at 5, 8 and 12 weeks of age, Fox & Stelzner (1966) were able to demonstrate a short period at approximately eight weeks when pups were hypersensitive to distressing psychological or physical stimuli, and during which a single unpleasant experience could produce long-term aversive or abnormal effects. They concluded from this that, below five weeks of age, the effects of conditioning were unstable and quickly ‘forgotten’, while at 12 weeks the aversive effects were completely over-ridden by positive affiliative [sic] tendencies towards human established during the socialization period [sic]. At around eight weeks, however, conditioning is stable and effective but strong social bonds are not yet fully established, hence the vulnerability of these puppies to psychological trauma at this time (Fox & Stelzner, 1966). Page 89: ‘Anecdotal evidence from observations of tame or captive wolves indicate that at least some individuals go through a second period of intense sensitivity to fear-evoking situations at around 4-5 months of age … It is not known, however, if an equivalent period exists in dogs or whether frightening events occurring at this age have stronger or more durable effects on subsequent behaviour’. Page 89: ‘Fearful behaviour in dogs may be relatively stimulus-specific. For example, although most dogs are wary of unfamiliar objects in their home environment … it is apparent that some animals are far more aversive in these contexts than others (Melzack, 1954; Voith & Borchelt, 1985a).’ Page 89: ‘Individual differences in response to fear-evoking stimuli may also exist in wild canids, such as wolves … The most plausible explanation for all of these observations would be that most dogs (and wolves) are born with a ‘biological “preparedness” to learn to fear certain evolutionarily relevant or prepotent stimuli [sic] … especially during the latter half of the socialization period (and possibly later), plays a major part in determining which fears are acquired and how strongly they are expressed in adult life.’ Separation-related problems Page 89: ‘Separation-related behaviour problems have a high prevalence in the pet dog population … Marked breed differences in prevalence have also been reported. Mugford (1985) mentions unusually high prevalence’s in Labrador retrievers, German shepherd dogs and English Cocker Spaniels, but also states that crossbreeds are far more prone to these problems than any pure breed. This statement is confirmed by the findings of McCrave (1991), who attributed the bias entirely to the fact that crossbred dogs are significantly more likely to be obtained from animal shelters. Page 90: ‘The most commonly reported predisposing factor in the etiology of separation-related problems in dogs is said to be sudden episode of enforced separation form the owner preceded by a period of prolonged and relatively constant and exclusive contact. ‘ Page 90: ‘This has been proposed as an explanation for the unusually high incidence of separation-problems in animals adopted from animal homes and shelters (McCrave, 1991).’ Page 90: ‘In general, this tendency of some dogs to react badly to separation from the owner has been interpreted as a side-effect of unconscious human selection for increasingly affectionate, socially-dependant and infantilized pets. [sic]’ Effects of source Page 91: ‘According to their owners, the dogs in the study originated from six different possible sources: breeders, animal shelters, pet shops, friends or relatives, found or rescued off the streets and home bred.’ Page 91: ‘In general, dogs obtained form pet shops, animal shelters and those rescued off the streets were over-represented in the ‘problem’ group.’ Page 91/92: ‘The fact that dogs acquired from pet shops rated poorly in terms of behaviour problems is of interest, since pet shop puppies are often the result of mass production in so-called puppy farms or puppy-mills with little regard for their temperamental characteristics (see Lockwood, Chapter 9). Such animals may also undergo inadequate early socialization and a range of abnormal or traumatic early experiences that could predispose them to develop inappropriate adult behaviour. The preponderance of shelter animals and unowned strays in the ‘problem’ group is more difficult to interpret since presumably many dogs are abandoned or disowned as a result of having developed behaviour problems.’ [sic] GRAPH PAGE 91 ******* 2 X GRAPH PAGE 92 ****** Page 98: ‘Certain events and experiences, occurring during the socialization period, can have long-term deleterious effects on the behaviour of domestic dogs … In emotional terms, puppies are more sensitive and impressionable at this age, and are therefore also abnormally vulnerable to psychological injury.’