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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Communication between Dogs- Interrelationships

Communication between Dogs- Interrelationships
playing Pictures, Images and Photos
Exact methods of communication between dogs have long since been a mystery. For example: properly socialized dogs meeting for the first time can soundlessly evaluate each other in a short time. They can do this through an exchange of glances which will also decide if they will be friends or enemies. Dogs do this without any sophistiated verbal language. Dogs use various body parts to communicate with each other: various postures, and facial expressions. In most cases facial expressions and body language complement the impact of vocals (i.e. barks and growls). Odor also plays a signifiicant part in dogs' recogniton and interaction.

Body Language.

Dogs communicate Dominance by:

Humping.
Looming Over.
Urinating by lifting leg.
Lifting Tail.
Resting head on another dog's back.
Placing paws on another's back

Dogs communicate Deferrence and Submission by:
Urinating by Squatting.
Rolling Over
Tilting (or turning away) neck/head.
Hanging head.
Tucking in tail

Other gestures inlude:

Caution: Wagging tail (slowly) in horizontal motion.
Fear: Tail is held low or tuked
Content: Tail is relaxed (and stationary).
Excitement: Randomly wagging tail .
Threat: Tensing muscles and raising hackles
Invitation to play: Head low with elevated rump.

Facial Expressions.
Dogs exhibit different kinds of facial expressions. These expressions can be understood by other dogs of thesame and different species. To intimidate another, a dog would stare with it's eyes wide open, ears pointing forward, and teeth bared. A dog in a relaxed mood will have its eyes in a more relaxed mood ears relaxed (flopped), having an expression somewhat like a smile: mouth open, lips slightly back, and tongue hanging flabbily from the side of the mouth. In an anxious state, the dog would glance away and its ears may fall to the side of the head or may be flopped. While clenching its teeth, the dog's lips will be rigidly drawn back. Its tongue may or may not be exposed (depending on if it is lip-liking). If afraid , a dog would either stare forward or away with widely dilated pupils and ears pressed (back close to the head). The dog may also pant or breath hard (mouth may be slightly open or tightly closed); meanwhile, the sinews show in the cheeks through tensing of its jaws. They communicate their moods and intentions through combinations of these. Dogs' expressions may often appear undecided. It may be a mixture of completely different expressions.

Odor.

Odor communiation between dogs is fairly ambiguous. Dogs have an exquisitely powerful sense of smell. There is a likelihood that they learn about other dogs from smell. This may acount for their random sniffing habit. It is unclear what sort of information passes between dogs via this medium. It is well known however, that intact male dogs typically smell "male” (because of male sex pheromones) and that neutered males do not have this characteristic smell. The neutering process involves changing the olfactory signals the dog emits and therefore other dog's perception of it. It is possible that the "non-male" smell of neutered dogs may be thesame as that of the interval between heat periods (diestrus) or that of a neutered female dog. Odor causes differences in interactions between dogs. For example a meeting between an intact and a neutral male may not be confrontational because the intat dog does not pereive a rival- he may believe the nutered dog is female!

Dog Pattern



BRISKET: The Chest of the dog

BACK: The mass body seperating the loin from the withers.

LOIN: :Located on both sides of the backbone; the loin is situated between the ribs and hips.

HIPS: Joint- at the uppermost part of the hind leg

WITHERS: Located behind the neck, the top of the shoulders

CARPALS: The wrist and all bones of the pastern joint.

DEWCLAW: The fifth claw, very small and placed above the others.

FLEWS: Part of the upper lip (which hangs).

THIGH: The upper part of the hindlegs, below the hip.

FOREFOOT: Dog's front feet

HINDFOOT: Dog's back feet

PASTERN: Located at the topmost part of the hind legs

STIFLE: The Dog's knee- located (as that of most mammals), above the ankle, on the hind leg

HOCK: Totality of bones that make up the dogs ankle and heel (behind the ankle).

NOSE: Olfactory- the sense of smell, located at the tip of the muzzle. Used (as in all animals)
to recognize smell.

STOP: The depressed part of the skull- located between the eyes.

TAIL: Located at the rearmost part of the backbone. It is set on the rump of the dog.

Behavior and Foods Habits of Dogs

Excluding the days of menstruation of our dear Askal “Cutie” she is like a normal dog as I could observe. She wags her tail every time we get home from work. She run with the motorcycles trying to chase the motorist. She crawl under the sofa and she eats whatever we eat. Many says she has a breed of a pig because she is I think overweight and slightly obese. But she still runs fast and jumps high about 3 feet tall. Her ears are upward which means she is a natural barker which I tried to tell myself during wee hours when people on the streets makes bragging noise. She sniffs food very fast. I notice that when I get home with some meriendas and her eyeballs are staring at it. From my research these are some additional informations:

Behavior
Domestic dogs are similar to their ancestors, wolves, in that they are both pack animals with a complex set of behaviors related to determining the dogs position in the social hierarchy and their mood. There is only one leader in a pack, and often there is a struggle between members of the pack to determine who the leader is. The struggle ends with one animal on top of the other, with the submissive animal lying on its back. The dominant animal places its paw on the chest of the submissive one, and until the submissive animal looks away from the eyes of the dominant animal, the struggle continues. As soon as the submissive animal averts his eyes, he has admitted defeat and the leader of the pack has been determined. Dogs exhibit characteristic postures that reveal their states of mind. The neutral position is when a dog is calmly observing things in the environment. The mouth of a dog in this position may be open or closed. In the alert position, the dog's mouth may be open or closed, depending on the excitement level and environmental temperature. The hairs along the back and shoulders may raise without any intent of the dog to attack. The dog has simply focused his attention on some object and is curious about it. Offensive threat posture: hair raised, teeth showing, nose wrinkled, and growling may be heard. The tail is upright, although it may be wagging. A dog in this stance is ready to attack. Defensive threat: although the dog may be growling and snarling, the ears are laid back, which is a sign of submission in normal dogs, and the tail is hanging down. Greetings: relaxed face, mouth slightly open, loosely pulled back ears, tail wagging. This is the posture dogs assume when playing with family members or other dogs. Play invitation: lowered front part of body while keeping the rear end up. A dog may bark in this invitation to play, but it does not growl excessivly. Submission: body low to the ground, as compact as possible. Ears are drawn back, tail is tucked tightly under body. Submissive dogs pull the corners of their mouths back but do not show their teeth (submissive grin). Some submissive dogs assume the most vulnerable position known to dogs, lying on the backs, exposing their undersides. This position admits ultimate defeat in the struggle of dominance between dogs.

Domestic dogs can be active at any time of the day or night. Feral domestic dogs maintain home ranges that they defend against others and may move around throughout the year.

Food Habits
Puppies have different feeding habits than older dogs. A puppy needs twice as much protein and 50% more calories per pound of body weight daily in order to meet its growth requirements. A rapid change in a puppy's diet may cause gastrointestinal upsets. Puppies must feed 4 times daily until the age of 3 months, 3 times daily until 6 months and twice daily for the rest of its life. Older dogs' feeding habits are different in a couple of ways. The average size dog requires about 30 calories per pound of body weight per day. Interestingly, larger breeds need only 20 calories per pound of weight, while smaller breeds need about 40 calories per pound of body weight. A dog's diet should consist of balanced porportions of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and, of course, water. A dog can go days without food and lose 30% to 40% of it's body weight without dying, but a 10% to 15% water loss could be fatal. All-meat diets are not recommended for dogs due to the lack of calcium and iron found in meat. Diet supplements should be avoided. Human foods that can be fatal to dogs include moldy cheese, onions, and chocolate. Feral domestic dogs will eat a variety of foods including animals and fruits.

reference:
Dewey, T. and S. Bhagat. 2002. "Canis lupus familiaris" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed September 14, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Canis_lupus_familiaris.html.

Reproduction of Dogs

Although our pet named “Cutie” is still a certified virgin (no joke!), she still have a working reproductive system which is evident when she has monthly menstruation. From my own observations, she is like a normal human female during her menstrual periods. My Titas normally notice her change in mood from very active and hyper from a ‘dalagang Filipina’ drama. She just sits under the sofa all day and she doesn’t even want to go out and bark at other people and try catching motorcycle riders which she usually does.

One thing that also amuses us is the also discharges red fluid from her vagina. We concluded that it’s her menstruation. When these times happen I could see my Titas looking very pity. They would normally say if only there are sanitary napkins for dogs they would surely buy some. The only things they could do is follow the tracks of red ‘blood’ from the floor Cutie left.

Well these are other important information about the reproduction of Dogs both male and female. I hope these would help some amateur people gain knowledge that would help them out in taking good care of their loved askals:

Reproduction

Breeding interval
Domestic dogs can reproduce at approximately six month intervals, though usually less frequently.

Breeding season
Breeding can occur throughout the year.

Number of offspring
1 (low); avg. 6

Gestation period
63 days (average)

Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
6 to 12 months

Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
6 to 12 months

Reproduction in domestic dogs is generally manipulated by humans. Feral males tend to compete amongst themselves for access to receptive females. Some feral domestic dog populations have reverted to ancestral habits where a single male and female pair (the alpha animals) dominate mating in a small, family group, or pack. Other pack members help to care for the offspring of the dominant pair.

Mating systems:
monogamous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous) ; cooperative breeder .

Domestic dogs have a gestation period of 9 weeks, after which anywhere from 1 to dozens of puppies can be born, depending on the breed and nutritional status of the mother. Average litter sizes are from 3 to 9 puppies. Male and female dogs usually reach puberty between 6 and 12 months of age; however, the time that a dog actually breeds depends on many social factors, ranging from size of breed (larger dogs need more time before they are ready to breed) and level of confidence a dog must attain before being ready to breed.

Most breeds are seasonally monocyclic, showing signs of heat every 6 months or so. The reproductive cycle has four stages: anestrus, proestrus, estrus, and diestrus. The anestrus period lasts about 2 to 4 months. Proestrus is the time when a bloody discharge first appears in a female. This is the beginning of "heat," a period that usually last 9 days but that can last up to 28 days. The end of this period is marked by the female's acceptance of a male partner. Estrus is the period when the female is sexually receptive and breeding can occur. Ovulation occurs about 24 hours after the acceptance of the male. Ova survive and are capable of being fertilized for about 4 days after ovulation; therefore it is possible for a female to mate with more that one male. Diestrus follows estrus in the nonpregnant cycle, characterized by a state of "pseudopregnancy", which is followed by a return of the uterus and ovaries to the anestrus, resting state.


Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous .

Females nurse and care for their puppies until they are weaned at about 8 to 10 weeks of age. In feral domestic dog packs, puppies are cared for by all members of the pack.

Parental investment:
altricial ; male parental care ; female parental care

reference: Dewey, T. and S. Bhagat. 2002. "Canis lupus familiaris" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed September 14, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Canis_lupus_familiaris.html.

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