dogs and wolves DO follow paths!

I'm feeling pleased with myself for noticing Penny's path-following behaviour. As I said in my recent post on this topic, I had contacted the Wolf Education and Research Center to ask a question, and here is the answer that came a couple of days ago:

Absolutely, wolves nearly always use trails to navigate through their territory. The behavior is well documented among both wild and captive wolves, and wolves often mark trails (with urine and feces) we believe to assist in orientation to their territory. The behavior of using trails is likely to conserve energy as is takes far less energy to walk a path than to bushwhack. It also helps them conserve vital energy during the winter/snow months by using a beaten trail versus struggle through deep snow. I have personally witnessed captive packs break through deep fresh snow to use a trail after several feet of snow just dropped over the trail. In other words, they either have their common trails memorized, or can some how detect them under several feet of snow (possibly through olfaction--hence the urine and feces deposits?). Some breeds of dogs, such as bloodhounds, have been "trained" through husbandry to not do such trail use behavior so they can better scan the landscape for scent.
Hope this information helps. Let me know if you have any further questions. By the way, good observation on canine behavior!

Regards,
Jeremy

I'm really grateful to be able to ask questions of an expert like this. Isn't the internet wonderful and aren't people generous with their knowledge and time?

The Wolf Education and Research Center has a great site, with lots of interesting pages, but the one I've enjoyed most is Wolf Behavior 101. Now I know why Penny always shakes the water off after she has a swim. (I'm not going to reveal the answer. You'll have to go over there and find out for yourself, lol.)

following paths is serious business

Penny usually follows trails and paths rather thean setting out across grassy areas or pushing her way through shrubbery. She will wait a a junction of the path to see which way I'm intending to go, and then head along that track. She seems to perceive paths and tracks as serious business - going places, in other words.





Grassy areas, on the other hand, are for play. (So are puddles, of course.)



I wonder how much of this trail-following behaviour is instinctual and how much is training. After all, when she is on lead, we are usually walking on a path.



And when she's out with groups of dogs and humans, we usually follow paths.



Trying to find out a bit about this behaviour, I came across an interesting site called Wolf Behavior 101 where you can send in dog behaviours and get some information about how they relate to wolf behaviours. I've put in a query and now I'll wait and see whether I get a reply.

Martin McKenna and dogs

Here's a link to the most interesting interview I have ever heard with an animal behaviourist.

Martin McKenna, interviewed by Margaret Throsby, had me in tears as he recounted details of his unusual, harsh upbringing and explained why he is so attuned to the thinking of canines.

The interview is long - an hour - and has interludes of music chosen by Martin. Quite a bit of time is taken up in discussing his own life, also.

But I believe he has a lot to tell us about our dogs. For one thing, now I understand why Penny sits down facing away from us each evening after she has eaten!

At Dogz Online there's a short discussion of dog owners' reaction to reading his book. The general consensus seems to be that he has valuable insights but some of us aren't in a position to apply all his theories.

If you do a search of the Net, there's a lot of information about him, the most reported fact being that he lived with a pack of dogs for some time.

dogs CAN think!

I tried some free shaping the other day. I've read about it on other blogs and wondered what Penny would do if I sat down with a clicker and a pile of treats and placed an empty cardboard box on the floor near her.

Well, it was fascinating to see!

She pawed me (she never paws, but she's been taught to touch me with her left and right paw as a preliminary to learning to march);
she backed away (ditto knows how to back on command);
she looked at the box;
she sat;
she dropped;
she touched the box with her nose - click! treat!
she touched the box a couple more times and was rewarded, but then I stopped rewarding.

So she put one foot into the box - click! treat!
A few more of the same.

Then I raised the bar again.
So she put two feet into the box - click! treat!

As far as I'm concerned, that's thinking.

I was glad to see a philosopher, Dr. Michael LaBossiere from Florida A&M University, writing a blog post about canine cognition. We 'dog people' recognise the obvious truth that dogs think - and feel, but that's another story - so it's good to see this truth acknowledged in the wider world.

He writes about Descartes, famous for saying 'I think, therefore I am'. It was Descartes who did animals a terrible disservice when he argued that animals do not have true minds because they do not use true language.

old dog plays gently with puppy

The Other End of the Leash has a beautiful video clip of an older dog restraining itself to gently play tug with a puppy. Even more interestingly, the older dog tells the young one when it's time to stop the game.