Kimberly J. Workinger
A considerable amount of research has been done with dogs in particular around this notion of critical periods for development. Because dogs generally open their eyes by week 3, the development of social behaviors seems to begin then. Between the ages of 3 and 8 weeks, dogs are learning how to interact with other dogs, principally their litter mates. Between week 5 and 12 dogs are learning how to interact with humans and between 10 and 20 weeks they are learning about novel environments like the veterinary office. “If the dogs are deprived of these periods, they are at risk of developing inappropriate or abnormal behaviors associated with them”. (Overall, p. 13)
“Unlike instinctive behaviors, learned behaviors are shaped by experience. Animals would not survive in this world if they were unable to modify their behavior”. (Miller, Levine) Learning, in broad context, is separated into two different types: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, an animal learns that a stimulus, like the sound of a can opener, leads to a good or bad event. The stimulus is the can opener and the event is feeding time. Another example would be the jingle of the leash and a walk around the neighborhood. In the wild, the return of the mother wolf to the den signals to her young that a meal is about to be served. Operant conditioning involves trial and error for the animal to learn. The animal learns that certain behaviors will result in a reward or a punishment. Obedience training is often based on this type of learning. If the dog sits when a particular hand motion or word is spoken by the handler then he receives a treat. This is positive reinforcement. Contrast to this, if the dog barks incessantly and you go to him and yell, he learns that barking will get attention even if this in negative attention.
Behaviors, be they aggressive or non-aggressive, are learned over time and are physical manifestations of emotions experienced by the animal. Some of the aggressive behaviors are instinctual while some are learned. Understanding aggressive behaviors and all of the nuances of aggressive behavior is a key skill in the arsenal of a veterinary technician. When handling a domesticated animal whether it is a cat or a dog a veterinary technician is responsible for the safety of every one the room including the animal, the veterinarian, the owner and themselves. There are a number of factors to consider when evaluating aggressive behavior and animal communication. Animals do not have a spoken language with which to communicate. The body language of animals is the language that animal handlers need to understand. The words of this language are posture of the head, back and tail, position of the ears, activity of the tail, raised hairs, activity of the eyes, specifically the iris and the mouth including biting, snapping, nipping and baring teeth. Vocal signals such as growling and barking could also be present.