looking forward to it He will give a lecture in Madison on April 5th.th On a comparison of dogs and wolves (along with a highly anticipated talk by Adrian Wideven of Exconsin on wolves in Wisconsin). While I was thinking about what to say, the picture above came to mind.
It’s me and Ira Wolf Park In Indiana. It’s pretty clear that I was ecstatic about being next to the wolf. It’s also pretty clear that I wasn’t sitting next to the Golden Retriever, based on her eyes and posture. Before giving me permission to enter her wolf pen, I was told, “Never look at her, and if she holds your pants, I’ll push her head off right away.” (The instructions were more detailed, but this is irrelevant.)
I didn’t do that. I felt a light touch on my feet and as I decided, was it a nip? Should I do something? – The Keeper swepts instantly and did what she suggested. But why did the caretakers feel so worried about the wolves’ reaction? After all, wolves are our dog’s closest living relatives, sharing much of their behavior with their dogs. Wolves, like dogs, are very social and very surprising. They feed and care for other young people, which is rare in the mammal world. They are very family oriented, they hunt together strategically, are extremely playful as adults, and are rare in the animal world.
But here it is: If you come to visit, Skip will jump on the couch and hug you. (He’s a player, especially if you were a woman.) But Ira clearly wasn’t holding her. But if I owned a wolf that I could hug myself, I would never let the visitors along with him on the couch. I’ll drive Wolfi away and pull you away.
Similarity between dogs and wolves It may be deep, but there are differences too. One of the most obvious reactions to strangers. Of course, many of these differences are due to “artificial choice.” (I hate that term. Humans are animals, not artificial Christmas trees.) But why did they end up with the extreme types of shapes and sizes that pet dogs currently have? We had plenty of time to create a very different form of cats, but we compare the physical changes in cats to dogs.
You can see this in the development of the skull, For example, dogs and cats. Puppies and dogs have very different skull ratios (think puppy faces and grown greyhound faces). On the other hand, cats have roughly the same proportion as when they were born and fully grown. This is a good thing. Imagine having to evacuate cats of as many different sizes as Mastiffs and Chihuahuas.
Now, genetics When we first started to influence genetics, it gave us a lot of fun. Canis Lupus. (This is not to reduce the effectiveness of the wolves’ own actions; I’m likely hanging around humans.) But again, there are wolves in the couch.
of course, There was a certain amount that probably happened organically, but there were many “artificial choices.” We know that obedience is a hereditary trait – see the work of Belyayev &Trut, Who grew a furry fox, and became several generations with a tail-waving fox, greeted strangers with enthusiastic strangers rather than hiding on their backs, groaning or biting. (Note that some people have it I challenged his hypothesis It is called “livestock syndrome,” but the hereditary nature of obedience is robust. )
But there’s more to it. in 2017 vonholdt et alpublished a study found in dogs alone, on why dogs are much more friendly than wolves who have the same developmental experience as people. Williams Beren syndrome. These mutations, along with some physical changes, cause “hypersensitivity,” indicating an individual’s extreme trust and affection for strangers. I met a girl with this syndrome, and before we knew the above, we lovingly called her a human golden retriever.
Thank you for the increased research There are some other fascinating differences we have discovered between dogs and wolves in dog behavior over the past decades (Yay!). This is another of many things I’ll talk on April 5th: (Just for your reference, there are limited seats and ticket sales are approaching March 25th.
It’s about eye contact. How long we encounter other people’s gazes is important in our own relationships, both in our humans and in our dogs. Think about how often you see your dog, and your dog will see you. You can see that dogs begin eye contact with people much more frequently than wolves. (When I make these comparisons, it always comes into contact with the same amount of people between dogs and wolves raised in the same situation.) One study compared Australian dingo wolves. This can be between a wolf and dog, and the dog has discovered that the dog has started eye contact with the most people. But perhaps my favorite study found this:
Mutual gazes had a deep effect For both the dog and its owner. Of the duo who spent the most time looking into each other’s eyes, both male and female dogs experienced a 130% increase in oxytocin levels, with both male and female owners increasing by 300%. From the article:
Mutual gazes had a major impact on both the dog and its owner. Of the duo who spent the most time looking into each other’s eyes, both male and female dogs experienced a 130% increase in oxytocin levels, with both male and female owners increasing by 300%. (Kikusui was one of them and took part in the experiment with his two standard poodles, Anita and Jasmine.) The scientists saw no increase in oxytocin in the duo of dogs, owners, or wolf owners who were not staring at each other.
In the second experiment, the team repeated the same important steps, but this time they gave the dog a nose spray with oxytocin before interacting with the owner. There were no wolves this time either. “It’s extremely dangerous to give wolves nose spray,” chuckles Kikusui. Female dogs given nose spray spent 150% increased time in their owner’s eyes. No effects were observed in male or dogs fed nasal spray containing only saline.
Nagasaki et al., Science 2015
It’s been speculated This oxytocin feed back loop is the same as seen between mothers and babies, and may explain much of the deep bond with the dog.
“I’m sure oxytocin was involved in domestication,” says PhD Jessica Oliva. A student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, whose work recently showed it Hormones enhance dogs’ ability to understand human pointing. Still, she says that mutual gazes don’t occur in a vacuum. Most of these dogs probably associate behavior with food and play, both of which can increase oxytocin levels. So, we may consider dogs as babies, but we do not necessarily see us as mothers. We may be cool friends who sometimes give massages. ”
Something fun, hey? If you have a direct experience with wolves and dog behavior, jump in! I can’t wait to hear more. And then you’re in the Madison area on April 5th, come and speak to us and say hello!
Meanwhile, return to the farm: Here is the perfect image for me that symbolizes this period. Winter is almost dying, spring is spring.
But wait, there are flowers outside too– Check out these little snow drops in the sunny garden by your house:
Nevertheless, it’s still the sea Here it is brown and gray. We missed a huge storm that cleaned the country (we needed rain, not all destruction), so the mud was gone, but too early for any colour. (I usually call the mud in March at this time of year.)
I was planning to take a photo Avoid Maggie and your favorite skip play toys. However, Maggie gets in the way and decides to pee instead. Very atypical. It became clear when she left the toy with a slight limp. Something hurts so there’s no play. My Maggie, a clever girl. (I turned 12 a few weeks ago!) PAWS is a minor one.
This is your friend. Drop your toys only when you’re peeing.
