behavioural issues...

[claire_88]

from birth a pup needs to be touched either by mum or the new owner.

What i would like to know is what sort of behavioural problems can occur if this doesn't happen or if the mum is too aggressive with the pups.

Have any of you on here got or had a pup that has presented problems from lack of touch?

so far i have subordinate, fearful and withdrawn behaviour i need to find and research three more.

Any help or leads would be very much appreciated xx

[sami]

Claire might be worth pm'ing Pam (wildmoor) she will definitely be able to help but is not always on so if she doesnt pop on contact her and I am sure she will help if she can.

[claire_88]

ah yeh! nice one il do it now. Thanks sami

[kita]

They would be difficult to handle for vet examinations, grooming etc. and very hand shy.

It would be hard to 'train' them as it would be difficult (if not impossible) to find something they would work for. They would find it hard to accept a treat from your hand, they definitely would not want to work for praise and often don't know how to play.

They don't trust anyone, including other dogs and find it difficult to know how to behave around other dogs, they often play bite too hard (when they eventually try to play!) and have no sense of their own strength.

They do not want love and affection, so it would be difficult to form a normal bond with them.

House training would also be hard.

This article about puppy farms may help:

Puppy Mills

Sue

[claire_88]

what a read that was!
So apart from the original three i had wrote up on, i got some forms of aggression, attention seeking and Phobia's.
Still not 100% on those though.........Help me pam!!
Although these are not all related to the puppy farm article as it stated they are more fearful than aggressive.
Thank-you for your write up!

[kita]

Bite inhibition would be one very major behavioural problem, a pup learns most of its bite inhibition in the first 4 weeks of its life, both from its Mother and its siblings. If it has no interaction with other pups/Mum/people it will not be able to gauge the strength of its bite and will have no self control. As an adult dog it will then be far more serious if it does ever bite someone, as its bite will be much harder and will do far more damage.

Sue

[wildmoor]

Hi Claire

I presume this is for your studies?

If the dam constantly directs aggression to the pup/s then the pup/s tendancy to react aggressively is just as likely as the complete opposite of an extremely submissive pup/s. If the pup/s see the dam consistenly drive humans away using aggression the pup/s will also learn to use this method. So hence those raised by aggressive dams will be less social as adults, they will also less likely to engage in fetch games, as they are constantly in a state of anxiety their prey drives will be low - even as pups.
Has Sue states the sibblings also play a major part in a pups emotional, physical and social development, around 4-6 weeks they learn bite inhibition from playing with their sibblings and also when the dam mouths and threatens to bite during the weaning stage when they latch onto the teats.
This is one reason a pup should not leave the dam & sibblings at 6 week - they should be with dam at least to 7 1/2 week to 8 week, no earlier.

If a pup is totaly isolated from its own kind and humans for the first 12 weeks of life it will hae social development problems for the rest of its life (anti-social).

The pup needs to encounter social stressors from a young age - not totaly stressed out but enough to take the pup out of its comfort zone to enable it to function in adult life.

"Puppies between the ages of 4 and 16 weeks experience a crucial developmental period, whereby exposure to many different people, places, animals and environments will enable them to more readily accept changes in later life and be less fearful, defensive and aggressive (Voith and Borchelt, 1996)."

[wildmoor]

do you have access to a Uni library or other good library?

O'Farrell, V (1992) Manual of Canine Behaviour, Brittish Small Animal Veterinary Association

Bradshaw, J.W.S., & Nott, H.M.R. (1995) Social and communication behaviour of companion dogs. In: Serpell, L, The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and interactions with People. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 115–30.

Bradshaw J (1992) Behavioural Biology of the dog and cat, In: The Waltham Book of Dog and Cat Behaviour, Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 35–48

they have articles on here The APBC | Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors if you or someone you know is a member

[wildmoor]

Laboratory Animal Management: Dogs

Veterinary Clinical Ethology


An evolutionary approach

Canine Communication - Responsible Dog and Cat

Dog | Association of Animal Behavior Professionals

Adaptive emotional tension =
Active self-stimulation
Active defense (fight or flight)
Outward orientation
Exploratory behavior

Maladaptive emotional tension =
Freezing
Panic behavior
Stereotyped behavior

[kita]

Originally Posted by wildmoor

they have articles on here The APBC | Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors if you or someone you know is a member

You don't have to be a member (knew I had read these articles somewhere, just could not remember where!):

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 1) Why is it Necessary? | Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 2) How to go about it | Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors


Sue