Genetics

Developmental experiences

Health

Learning at any age

Physical and morphological changes

Reproductive changes

behavioral changes

Hunting

Protection

Companionship

Scavengers

Sheep Herding

Nutrition

Increased barking

Increased scent marking

Avoidance of fecal shedding

Adult passes through fewer growth stages

Resembles juvenile stage of its ancestors such as:

-smaller body size

-retained juvenile head:body ratio

-behavioral and physical paedomorphism

• Don't usually form packs
• May consider their owners as members of their pack
• Nature of human-animal relationship depends on type of bond established. Inappropriate bonds can lead to undesired behaviors

It means they will eat whenever given the oppurtunity

Unless food is restricted, they will eat continuously

• Prefer cooked food over raw meat
• Meat over cereal foods
• Beef> pork> lamb> chicken 

• Females in groups will synchronize estrus
• Estrus is typically 21 days
• Deposites attractive odors
• Increased aggression
• Bloody discharge
• Ready to mate when tail is on one side of vulva 

They are diurnal

Sleeps when owner does

Polyphasic sleeper

REM and NREM sleep

1.5 hours per sleep episode

• Males are always ready but only show interest when female is in heat
• Male sprays urine on the female's urine
• Licking of ears and vulva
• Play-fighting behavior with female 

• Female becomes restless, finds dark, sheltered space, prepares nest
• Refuses food, pants day before 

• Each pup takes few minutes to come out
• Interval between pups is 20min-2hrs 

• Female active afterwards
• licks pups, severs cord, dries pups, encourages them to nurse 

Its when:

• Eyes and ears open
• Puppy is ielf reliant for excretory functions
• Advancement of motor movements
• Puppies start to interact with each other

Its when:

• Teeth start to come in
• Weaning is complete
• Most critical period for social development

• It's from conception to parturition
• Pups learn olfactory cues and tastes 

• Its when pup nurses from mother
• Eyes and ears are closed and nonfunctional
• Pup starts to vocalize 

What is:

• The most sensitive period for developing normal behavior
• Social bonds and exposure to different stimuli are necessary
• Mistakes made at this stage may not be overcome

• Rapid growth
• Adult teeth replace temporary teeth
• Male dogs show raised leg urination
• Males attempt to mate around 7-8 months
• Female puberty occurs between 6-12 months 

1. Tactile is an example of what?
2. Auditory is an example of what?
3. Olfactory is an example of what?
4. Visual is an example of what?

All in social communication of dogs..

1. Licking
2. Barking
3. Excellent sense of smell
4. Stare down 

• Vomeronasal organ
• Affects behavior of some species 

• Dogs can determine identity by smelling urine
• Sexual signal and readiness to mate 

Long lasting

Allows avoidance

• Used to convey likelihood of conflict
• Offers a chance to avoid conflict
• Avoiding fights is adaptive 

• Look-aways
• Lip licking
• Yawning
• Panting
• Lip retraction 

• This is one way dogs learn right from wrong
• Dogs will look guilty when owner looks upset 

Bigger

Ex: stands upright, high head, intent stare

Smaller

Ex: Crouched, ears are low, tail is tucked, avoids eye contact

Immediate

Consistent

Effective

• Cats attracted to human settlements because of prey source
• Humans grateful of controlled rodent population

Mediterranean

medieval England

Lions, cheetahs

domestic cats

• May be territorial
• Have several core groups may form a colony
• May divide into 2 social classes based on competition for resources.

• Central females: higher reproduction success, healthy
• Peripheral females

 In males:

• Central Males: may be associated with colonies
• Peripheral males: roam widely

Similar to humans and dogs

Can taste acidity, bitterness, salt, and sweet

It's..

• Extensive
• Highly developed at birth
• Important for complex, social hierarchies

• Kittens sense warm objects and root into it
• Helps with thermoregulation
• Very sensitive to petting

• Sense amplitude, direction, and rate of displacement
• On cheeks and side of face, above eyes, on carpus

• Eyes, ears, mouth, tail, coat, posture (body, head carriage, back position, leg posturing)
• Facial signs change faster than body postures

• Crying when awakened, hungry, cold, trapped
• Purr while nursing
• which starts as early as 2 days
• Grunts
• Common at birth
• Ultrasonic call given if distressed
• Assists mother in location of kittens 

Vertical is greeting

Lower is aggression

• Spraying used for scent marking includes anal glad secretions
• Mostly done by males but females can spray too
• Mostly done in core area
• Communicate estrus 

•  From sebaceous glands on tail, forehead, lips, chin, pads, associated with whiskers.
• From saliva

• Rub mouth, chin, flank, or tail on stuff.
• Scratch with claws 

• Bunting
• Maybe display of social status or dominance
• Which could develop common group odor and signal social bonds
• Licking 

• Can pick up ultrasonic signals from mice
• Seeing small, moving object signals predatory behavior 

• Will wait patiently in ambush
• Stalk with slow approach
• Then sudden, fast, short gallop 

• Using inhibited bites
• Prey may move again stimulating a new attack 

Eat frequent small meals (9-16/day)

Females spend 24-46% of day hunting

• Most sleep states are slow wave
• Not truly nocturnal
• Same positions as dogs 

• Maintain healthy hair, skin
• Remove ectoparasites
• Remove loose hair
• Evaporative cooling
• Diffuse static electricity build up
• Stimulate kittens to eliminate 

• Sexual maturity at 9-12 months
• Courtship may be long, but copulation takes only few seconds 

Female reproductive behaviors 

• Females seasonally polyestrous
• Can cycle every 3 weeks for several months
• Estrus lasts 9-10 days if no copulation or 4 days if copulation occurs
• The difference is a function of induced ovulation
• Females prefer familiar males to unfamiliar. 

• Rubbing, rolling, purring, rhythmic opening/closing of claws, squirming, stretching
• "Heat Cry" unique to proestrus and estrus
• Monotone howling 

• Assumes crouching lordosis position
• Elevated perineum signals readiness
• Tail laterally displaced
• Pupils dilate
• Copulatory cry 

• Turn aggressively on male
• Rolls, stretches, licks her vulva 

• Primarily occurs at night
• Caterwauling- loud, harsh vocalizations
• warns other males
• advertises males availability
• Flehmen response to females urine
• Softer mating call- response to females heat cry 

• Male grips females neck
• Male mounts and treads with rear limbs to get into position
• Ejaculation occurs with pelvic lunge
• Neck grip is released 

• Male dismounts
• Male jumps away from females after reaction
• males exhibits refractory period 

• Licking herself
• Restlessness: squatting, stretching, rubbing, rolling, circling, rearranging bedding

• Typically occurs at night
• Braces herself during contractions 

• Female is active afterwards
• licks kittens, severs cord, eats placenta, dries kitten, encourages it to nurse
• Queen stimulates kittens to eliminate, then cleans
• Females cares for young (sometimes communal)
• Maternal aggression
• Nests moved if soiled or disturbed 

• Back nipples are preferred
• Established by 1-3 days
• 80% of kittens develop preference
• Olfaction used to locate preferred nipple 

• Rhythmic kneading during nursing
• Both queen and kitten purr
• Suckling 

• Both nursing and eating solid food
• Queen brings prey (1st dead, then alive)

• Weaned from 30-60 days
• If weaned early:
• develop predatory behavior sooner (better mouser)
• develop abnormal play behavior
• Males- more fighting/aggression
• Females- more running, less climbing 

• Newborns are blind, deaf, completely dependent on mother.
• Sensory abilities slowly mature during 1st 3-4 weeks

• at day 9
• Eye opening dependent on environment and genetics
• Kittens from young mothers open eyes earlier

• Inappropriate scratching
• Inappropriate elimination
• Aggression 

• Free-ranging cows and calves plus young males
• Sub-groups of juvenile males associate
• Juvenile females associate with adult females 

• Resources are abundant: separate home ranges
• Resources are scarce: share home range 

• Males stay close to female but may occupy different home range
• Groups tend to be small 3-10 young males
• Less cohesive than female herd
• Hierarchy is very linear
• Adult males may become solitary except during breeding season
• More agonistic interactions
• Less affiliative relationships 

• Range 8000-21000 Hz
• Lesser ability to localize sound
• Yelling, high pitched noise, intermittent sound increases heart-rate (stressor)
• Rapid motion greater affect on amygdala response: (predators strike quickly) 

• Posture of body language
• Position of the head realative to the body (submission, sick)
• High vs. low and swinging of the head
• Tail position: cows in heat, calving but little role socially
• Mounting behavior of females attract males
• Few facial signals (unlike horses) 

• Researchers have identified eleven different calls: mostly indicative of level of excitement
• Bull bellows, roars, low moo 

• Threat: stare, head toss toward another
• Butt: body contact
• Pushing at shoulder or side
• Rear or mount
• Fight do not typically last long
• Frontal attack, head to head; side attacks
• Clinch: head into the flank 

• Zebu- Drought tolerant: water conservation
• Taurus- Developed further north: water intensive 

• Cows are attractive to bulls 

• Increased agitation and movement in groups of females in estrus
• Heightened senses
• Mounting behavior: Cow-Cow
• Increased urination, tail lifting 

• Assume a braced stance for male to mount 

• Court female: guarding behavior
• Investigate the female: Flehmen response 

• Mounting, intromission, ejaculation
• Learn how to mount during juvenile play sequences
• May service more than once before moving on to another female 

• Female separates from herd
• Finds nesting site
• Favor dry area with cover
• Loss of appetite; raised tail
• Calving typically takes place in early morning 

• Female cleans calf
• Stimulates calf
• Circulation, breathing, urination, defecation
• Grooms calf (similar to horses)
• Calf up and suckling withing .5 to 1 hour 

• Teat seeking: follow hair pattern and body shape
• Bump udder and suckle to cause milk release
• Causes hormonal cascade that sustains maternal behavior (oxytocin release)
• Calves are precocial 

• Sold for dairy beef and raised on calf raisers facilities
• Kept or sold for veal
• Euthanized after birth (non- Holstein breeds) 

• Reduces disease transmission
• Identify sick calves
• Monitor individual feed intake 

• Early as 4 weeks, but most calf raisers begin weaning at 8 weeks.
• Abrupt or Step-down methods used 

• A high quality grain (starter) and fresh water should be offered starting at <1 week.
• Calf grain intake should be monitored daily
• Once calves consume about 1lb/day, weaning can begin
• Abrupt
• Step-down