Social relationships in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) : the effect of learning and breed on behaviour within status relationships
Social relationships in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) : the effect of learning and breed on behaviour within status relationships
The main goals of this study were 1) to determine whether groups of domestic dog possessed any structure to their social interactions which reduced aggression, and 2) whether the process of domestication had affected the behavioural repertoire of different breeds of dog.
Six established, and four newly formed, groups of dogs were studied to answer these questions. Within both sorts of groups the level of aggression shown during interactions was found to be reduced if the dogs were familiar with each other. A structured network of relationships was constructed for the groups based upon the net direction in which displacements, threats and/or submissive patterns of behaviour were exchanged during social interactions and competitions for resources. The direction of asymmetry within some relationships in the established dog groups was found to change significantly according to the resource that the dogs were competing for. The models of conventional dominance and learnt assessment strategy were tested using these findings; only the latter was able rigorously and parsimoniously to explain all the data. This is because learnt assessment strategy predicts that an animal's resource holding potential and the value it attaches to the resource being competed for should both influence the outcome of competitions. The advantages of using learnt assessment strategy to explain the findings of other studies is also outlined, in particular its ability to explain the social behaviour of wolves.
When the range of agonistic behaviours performed by the established groups of dogs were compared distinct differences were found between breeds; breeds of dogs which possessed adult wolf-like morphology were found to perform a wider range of agonistic behaviours than breeds which exhibited extreme neoteny of their physical morphology. Less distinct differences were found between breeds in the newly formed groups. It is argued that this differentiation is the result of domestication, both affecting the cost associated with the performance of agonistic visual signals and differentially altering a breed's ability to perform these signals efficiently.
University of Southampton
1993
Wickens, Stephen Michael
(1993)
Social relationships in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) : the effect of learning and breed on behaviour within status relationships.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The main goals of this study were 1) to determine whether groups of domestic dog possessed any structure to their social interactions which reduced aggression, and 2) whether the process of domestication had affected the behavioural repertoire of different breeds of dog.
Six established, and four newly formed, groups of dogs were studied to answer these questions. Within both sorts of groups the level of aggression shown during interactions was found to be reduced if the dogs were familiar with each other. A structured network of relationships was constructed for the groups based upon the net direction in which displacements, threats and/or submissive patterns of behaviour were exchanged during social interactions and competitions for resources. The direction of asymmetry within some relationships in the established dog groups was found to change significantly according to the resource that the dogs were competing for. The models of conventional dominance and learnt assessment strategy were tested using these findings; only the latter was able rigorously and parsimoniously to explain all the data. This is because learnt assessment strategy predicts that an animal's resource holding potential and the value it attaches to the resource being competed for should both influence the outcome of competitions. The advantages of using learnt assessment strategy to explain the findings of other studies is also outlined, in particular its ability to explain the social behaviour of wolves.
When the range of agonistic behaviours performed by the established groups of dogs were compared distinct differences were found between breeds; breeds of dogs which possessed adult wolf-like morphology were found to perform a wider range of agonistic behaviours than breeds which exhibited extreme neoteny of their physical morphology. Less distinct differences were found between breeds in the newly formed groups. It is argued that this differentiation is the result of domestication, both affecting the cost associated with the performance of agonistic visual signals and differentially altering a breed's ability to perform these signals efficiently.
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Published date: 1993
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Local EPrints ID: 462433
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/462433
PURE UUID: 53acd301-a636-4424-8726-af5d217423ef
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 19:08
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 19:08
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Author:
Stephen Michael Wickens
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