Article

Dogs for herding and guarding livestock

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Abstract

Dogs that perform best for guarding and herding livestock have different behavioural profiles, as stated by the authors: 'herding dogs are selected to show hunting behaviours, such as eye, stalk, grip or heel. Guarding dogs are selected to show more of the wild ancestor's puppy-like or juvenile behaviour, preferring to stay with the "litter" of livestock to which they are bonded, and to react to novelty by barking an alarm'. In addition, the chase and bite behaviours are absent in guarding dogs. Ranchers in the western USA have reported that cattle located in areas of high wolf predation learn to react to Border Collie herding dogs by attacking them and so they are no longer useful for herding. The guarding dog that does not perform threatening movements towards cattle is tolerated. Ranchers have observed that the reintroduction of wolves has made mother cows more aggressive towards domestic dogs. Previously, the presence of smaller coyotes did not cause mother cows to be aggressive towards herding dogs. The protection of sheep against wolves will require two to five guard dogs.

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... Dogs were domesticated 12,000 to 31,000 years ago, probably as help for hunters to find and capture large prey [1]; however, after the ascent of an agricultural and farming society (11,000-7,000 BC), dogs assumed a new role, becoming fundamental for the management of livestock [2]. Ancient writings suggest that the first shepherd dogs worked primarily as guardians, rather than herders, but it is likely that this distinction was not as clear as today [3]. In fact, at present, shepherd dogs can be distinguished into two main categories: livestock guardian (LGD) and herding shepherd (HSD) dogs. ...
... To handle the harsh climates that they can live in, they are provided with a thick coat [1,4]. Their attention, trustworthiness, and protectiveness are the result of early socialization with the herd rather than from actual training: around eight weeks of age, they are introduced to the herd, and will live with it full time, sometimes even being breastfed by sheep or goats, thus creating such a strong social bond that they are considered to be part of the flock [1,3,5,6]. Their main characteristic is that they never display predatory behaviour toward the livestock, probably as a consequence of a selection to mature at an early ontogenetic stage, before the emergence of predatory sequences [3,7]. ...
... Their attention, trustworthiness, and protectiveness are the result of early socialization with the herd rather than from actual training: around eight weeks of age, they are introduced to the herd, and will live with it full time, sometimes even being breastfed by sheep or goats, thus creating such a strong social bond that they are considered to be part of the flock [1,3,5,6]. Their main characteristic is that they never display predatory behaviour toward the livestock, probably as a consequence of a selection to mature at an early ontogenetic stage, before the emergence of predatory sequences [3,7]. ...
Article
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Livestock guardian (LGD) and herding shepherd (HSD) dogs have distinct morphological and behavioural characteristics, long selected by farmers and breeders, to accomplish different tasks. This study aimed to find the genomic regions that best differentiate and characterise Italian LGD and HSD. Genomic data of 158 dogs of four LGD and five HSD breeds, obtained with the 170K canine SNPchip, were collected. The two groups were compared using FST and XP-EHH analyses, identifying regions containing 29 genes. Moreover, 16 islands of runs of homozygosity were found in LGD, and 15 in HSD; 4 of them were partially shared. Among the genes found that better differentiated HSD and LGD, several were associated with dog domestication and behavioural aspects; particularly, MSRB3 and LLPH were linked to herding behaviour in previous studies. Others, DYSK, MAP2K5, and RYR, were related to body size and muscle development. Prick ears prevailed in sampled HSD, and drop ears in LGD; this explains the identification of WIF1 and MSRB3 genes. Unexpectedly, a number of genes were also associated with eye development and functionality. These results shed further light on the differences that human selection introduced in dogs aimed at different duties, even in a limited geographic area such as Italy.
... The utility of dogs in herding and protecting livestock has been widely demonstrated (see Landry et al. 2020;Rigg 2001) and modern dogs perform these tasks in virtually every known pastoral society (Black 1981;Coppinger and Coppinger 2007;Rigg 2001). Many dog breeds used in managing livestock have become physically and behaviorally specialized for these purposes (Coppinger and Coppinger 2007). ...
... The utility of dogs in herding and protecting livestock has been widely demonstrated (see Landry et al. 2020;Rigg 2001) and modern dogs perform these tasks in virtually every known pastoral society (Black 1981;Coppinger and Coppinger 2007;Rigg 2001). Many dog breeds used in managing livestock have become physically and behaviorally specialized for these purposes (Coppinger and Coppinger 2007). Despite the importance of dogs in livestock management throughout (pre)history, relatively little research has focused on identifying how and when dogs became an integral part of this practice. ...
... Modern dog breeds used in European livestock management frequently exhibit significantly different physical characteristics than other breeds. Herding dogs are commonly 10-20 kg in size, while those used in guarding livestock average 30-55 kg (Coppinger and Coppinger 2007). However, Coppinger and Coppinger (2001) assert that large size in livestock guardian dogs is not linked directly to their role in driving off large predators like bears, wolves, and lynx. ...
Article
Since their domestication, dogs have adapted to a diverse portfolio of roles within human societies, and changes in dog size, shape, and behavior are often key indicators of these changes. Among pastoral and agropastoral societies dogs are almost ubiquitous as livestock guardians and herding aids. Archaeological data demonstrate that incoming Neolithic farmers brought with them their own morphologically distinct dogs when they spread into Europe, and that these dogs became larger in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Using archaeological data from the eastern Adriatic region we suggest that changes in the morphology and treatment of dog remains by these societies reflect, in part, the significance of dogs in livestock management including guarding herds kept at distances from villages. Bronze and Iron Age increases in body size, in particular, may track the increasing importance of seasonal transhumance.
... Anon (1913, cité par Coppinger & Coppinger 1993) mentionne l'existence d'un traité sur la gestion des fermes romaines rédigé en 150 av. J.C. Le traité est si bien fourni en informations sur l'utilisation des chiens de protection que si aucun autre livre n'existait, il pourrait être encore utilisé de nos jours (Coppinger & Coppinger 1993). Les auteurs de ce traité mentionnent l'existence de deux types de chiens. ...
... Cependant, le territoire d'une meute de loups peut englober plusieurs troupeaux et ceux qui ne sont pas protégés peuvent alors être une cible privilégiée des prédateurs. Les bagarres entre le chien et le prédateur sont rares, parce que le premier instinct du prédateur n'est pas de se nourrir, mais d'éviter les situations hasardeuses (Coppinger & Coppinger 1993). ...
... Grâce à ces mêmes chiens, 82% des éleveurs ont réalisé une économie par rapport à la période où ils utilisaient (ou non) d'autres méthodes de protection (Grenn & Woodruff 1988). Actuellement, beaucoup d'éleveurs américains admettent que sans chiens de protection, ils ne pourraient pas continuer leur travail (Coppinger & Coppinger 1993). ...
... Moreover, the type of habitat and alternative resource availability are also likely to effect depredation pressure ( Khorozyan et al. 2017 ;Meuret at al. 2020). Studies on LGD-predator interactions ( Coppinger and Coppinger 1993 ;Coppinger and Coppinger 1995 ) suggest that the LGDs' presence, without direct interaction, should be enough to deter predators. This is in line with the Predation Risk Hypothesis, which determines that the first instinct of a predator is not to feed but rather to avoid danger ( Coppinger and Coppinger 1993 ). ...
... Studies on LGD-predator interactions ( Coppinger and Coppinger 1993 ;Coppinger and Coppinger 1995 ) suggest that the LGDs' presence, without direct interaction, should be enough to deter predators. This is in line with the Predation Risk Hypothesis, which determines that the first instinct of a predator is not to feed but rather to avoid danger ( Coppinger and Coppinger 1993 ). For example, despite dingoes not avoiding urine marks of Maremma LGDs, they are unlikely to prey on livestock because detection could lead to confrontation ( van Bommel and Johnson 2017 ). ...
Article
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The efficacy of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs; Canis familiaris) on modern ranches in the dense multiuse landscape of rural northern Israel is controversial. Minimal time is spent by the ranchers with the herd and LGDs, and the LGDs are known to wander to nearby army bases, homesteads, villages, and other facilities. Thirteen Akbash and six mixed-breed LGDs guarding cattle in a paddock were observed through direct observations and tracking with Global Positioning System collars. Predator presence and interaction with LGDs were recorded using telemetry and trail cameras. In addition, 10 local ranchers were interviewed to assess the effects of management and LGD use on depredation. We expected Akbash LGDs to exhibit behavioral traits consistent with depredation mitigation and that differing ranch-LGD management methods would impact depredation levels. At the study ranch, depredations were at a minimum despite the presence of three wolf packs (Canis lupus) and jackals (Canis aureus) in the vicinity of the observed ranch. The Akbash LGDs spatially displaced wolves and temporally displaced jackals, but they also regularly roamed away from the paddock and returned. In addition, Akbash LGDs were more likely to follow the herd than mixed-breed LGDs; the total number of LGDs in the paddock increased with the number of newborn calves; and LGD intra-aggression increased with the number of LGDs present in the paddock. In the survey, we found little relationship between ranch management type and depredation outcomes. In particular, the use of protective enclosures by some ranches did not mitigate depredation compared with ranches without enclosures. In modern multiuse landscapes, Akbash LGDs show potential for being an important component of depredation mitigation, but their relative contribution needs to be studied further. In addition, the use of protective enclosures, which are known to have negative ecological impacts, should be reconsidered. Several improvements to LGD management are suggested.
... LGDs are mostly large breed dogs, which are kept with livestock from an early age so that they develop a strong bond towards the livestock. This strong bond leads to constitution of "guarding dog behaviour" which has three basic and overlapping components: trustworthiness, attentiveness and protection (Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007;Coppinger et al., 1988bCoppinger et al., , 1983. The guarding behaviour of dogs is instinctive and its above mentioned basic components (namely, trustworthiness, attentiveness and protection) represent breed-specific variation (Andelt, 2004;Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007;Coppinger et al., 1988b) ...
... This strong bond leads to constitution of "guarding dog behaviour" which has three basic and overlapping components: trustworthiness, attentiveness and protection (Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007;Coppinger et al., 1988bCoppinger et al., , 1983. The guarding behaviour of dogs is instinctive and its above mentioned basic components (namely, trustworthiness, attentiveness and protection) represent breed-specific variation (Andelt, 2004;Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007;Coppinger et al., 1988b) ...
Article
Kangal Shepherd Dog is one of the endemic large dog breeds in Anatolia, Turkey. It is bred in different regions of Turkey as well as in different countries as a livestock guarding dog (LGD). Being one of the most popular and common LGD breeds, basic behavioural traits and the effectiveness of Kangals have been subjected to several studies. However, most of the behavioural data originate from surveys conducted with LGD users and there is a lack in the literature of studies which focus on direct observation and recording of guarding behaviours of Kangals. The present study investigated 10 sheep flocks guarded by Kangal dogs in their natural habitat, in Sivas, Turkey, by recording the movements of dogs, sheep and shepherd using GPS-receivers in the pasture. We collected instantaneous geographical position and speed data to assess to what extent the movement data overlaps with the behavioural data present in the literature about the livestock guarding behaviour of Kangals. The mean speeds of the sheep, the shepherd and dogs were lower in the night, compared to that in the daytime. The shepherd stayed, on average, closer to the herd in the night compared to the dogs. Both the shepherd and the dogs preferred to be closer to the herd at night, compared to the daytime. Dogs moved farther away from the herd than did the shepherd in the night. Our results indicating that Kangal dogs generally established a closer relationship with shepherd rather than the sheep may imply an anthropogenic disruption in one of the three behavioural components of LGDs, namely in the attentiveness of Kangals. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first one to collect geographical data regarding the livestock guarding behaviour of Kangal dogs in their native habitat. Hence, our results and any future studies on this matter will contribute to a better understanding of livestock guarding behaviour of Kangal dogs and lead to more efficient breeding practices and training programs in this respect.
... Such algorithms are appropriate for herding small groups (see [16] for a review), but herding of larger groups (more than 40 individuals) typically requires multiple shepherds [28]. However, single sheep dogs can successfully herd flocks of 80 or more sheep both in their everyday work and in competitive herding trials [29,30]. So, what are the sheepdogs doing that the agent shepherds (or the flocking agents) are not? ...
... The first is that the dog can estimate the space between the sheep, irrespective of their metric distance. This seems reasonable given the border collie, a classic sheepdog breed, is said to use a direct stare to herd the flock [29], and similar heuristics-based models have proved useful in understanding the behaviour of pedestrians in crowds [33]. Nevertheless, it would be useful to gather further evidence using, for example, eye-tracking systems to determine shifts in the dog's visual attention. ...
Article
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Herding of sheep by dogs is a powerful example of one individual causing many unwilling individuals to move in the same direction. Similar phenomena are central to crowd control, cleaning the environment and other engineering problems. Despite single dogs solving this 'shepherding problem' every day, it remains unknown which algorithm they employ or whether a general algorithm exists for shepherding. Here, we demonstrate such an algorithm, based on adaptive switching between collecting the agents when they are too dispersed and driving them once they are aggregated. Our algorithm reproduces key features of empirical data collected from sheep-dog interactions and suggests new ways in which robots can be designed to influence movements of living and artificial agents.
... In the literature, this type of guidance is studied under the name of shepherding, as it is inspired by dogs herding sheep to a desired location [10]. Sheepdogs are particularly skilled at shepherding, with a single dog capable of herding more than 80 sheep [11]. These dogs have learned to exploit the sheep's collective behavior of aggregating and together escaping from a threat [12]. ...
Article
Shepherding, the task of guiding a herd of autonomous individuals in a desired direction, is an essential skill to herd animals, enable crowd control and rescue from danger. Equipping robots with the capability of shepherding would allow performing such tasks with increased efficiency and reduced labour costs. So far, only single-robot or centralized multi-robot solutions have been proposed. The former is unable to observe dangers at any place surrounding the herd, and the latter does not generalize to unconstrained environments. Therefore, we propose a decentralized control algorithm for multi-robot shepherding, where the robots maintain a caging pattern around the herd to detect potential nearby dangers. When danger is detected, part of the robot swarm positions itself in order to repel the herd towards a safer region. We study the performance of our algorithm for different collective motion models of the herd. We task the robots to shepherd a herd to safety in two dynamic scenarios: (i) to avoid dangerous patches appearing over time and (ii) to remain inside a safe circular enclosure. Simulations show that the robots are always successful in shepherding when the herd remains cohesive, and enough robots are deployed.
... When dogs from the Iron Age in the southern Levant have identified to a breed, based on their body size, they were generally classed as pariah dogs (Horwitz 2015;Horwitz et al. 2017), similar to the dogs described by Wapnish and B. Hesse (1993) for the Persian period, with estimated weights of 10.5 to 19.6 kg. According to Coppinger and Coppinger (2007), this size range fits better with animals used for herding rather than guarding, which requires larger dogs. Still, their mere presence could be used as a means to guard livestock, without their requiring any special training or physical characteristics (Welker et al. 2022). ...
Article
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Studies of dog remains focused on the Iron Age southern Levant generally highlight their unique nature in the archaeological context, specifically in relation to their post‐mortem exploitation. Here we review the published archaeological and textual data to evaluate the current understanding of dogs’ roles in their Iron Age settings. The analysis reveals that dogs are relatively common in the archaeological record, having been reported at 66% of sites. This study further contextualizes this presence in light of their co‐occurrence with caprine and wild taxa. The significant number of dog remains indicates that they were part of the social matrix of a village. While dogs have been viewed as ‘unclean’ or pariah, based on certain textual references in the Hebrew Bible, we assert, on the basis of the archaeological record, that they were part of the life of the village, functioning as herders, guards and occasionally hunters.
... This is of course also true among the people in southern Siberia and Inner Asia. Dogs in this part of Eurasia have been bred to fit several purposes for human societies such as guarding, herding, hunting, pulling sledges and carrying loads (Coppinger and Coppinger 1993). Dogs have also provided other economic services, such as fur, skin, medicine, and even protein and fat (Strecker and Svanberg 2014). ...
Article
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t This study presents a brief inquiry into the human-canine relationship among the Tyvan pastoralists in the Altai�Sayan Mountainous region of Inner Asia. Their co-evolution is intimately bound together, and the inter-species relationship includes several aspects and roles. The authors investigate especially the dogs’ responsibilities in taiga and steppe habitats and how the language reveals these responsibilities by focusing on distinctions between hunting dogs (aŋčï ït) and camp guarding dogs (kodančï ït). Both names point at the main tasks—hunting and guarding the seasonal campsite territory. The third category is named xava dogs; the name traces its origin to Chinese languages. Similarly, the story of a small-sized xava dog sheds a light on the Altai-Sayan Mountain region’s historical and religious connections with China.
... Working dogs, in various forms and with various functions, have been part of human societies for thousands of years. Sled dogs were used in Eastern Siberia over 9,000 years ago (8,9), and ancient Romans had both livestock guarding dogs and hunting dogs (10,11). During this time, humans likely exerted postzygotic selection by favoring the highest performing dogs, increasing the prevalence of desirable traits among their offspring. ...
Article
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The ancient partnership between people and dogs is struggling to meet modern day needs, with demand exceeding our capacity to safely breed high-performing and healthy dogs. New statistical genetic approaches and genomic technology have the potential to revolutionize dog breeding, by transitioning from problematic phenotypic selection to methods that can preserve genetic diversity while increasing the proportion of successful dogs. To fully utilize this technology will require ultra large datasets, with hundreds of thousands of dogs. Today, dog breeders struggle to apply even the tools available now, stymied by the need for sophisticated data storage infrastructure and expertise in statistical genetics. Here, we review recent advances in animal breeding, and how a new approach to dog breeding would address the needs of working dog breeders today while also providing them with a path to realizing the next generation of technology. We provide a step-by-step guide for dog breeders to start implementing estimated breeding value selection in their programs now, and we describe how genotyping and DNA sequencing data, as it becomes more widely available, can be integrated into this approach. Finally, we call for data sharing among dog breeding programs as a path to achieving a future that can benefit all dogs, and their human partners too.
... baboons Papio spp.; Gehring et al. 2010). In Europe, they have been used for over 2,000 years to prevent livestock depredation from wolves (Coppinger & Coppinger 1993). ...
Article
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Thirty years after the return of grey wolves (Canis lupus) to the French Alps, the number of livestock losses is on the rise despite livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) being widely used. Their relevance is, therefore, questioned by some sheep owner associations. To date, no study has investigated how LGDs interact with wolves in pastures. We present the results of a 6-year study totalling 3,300 hours of direct night-time observations to record the nature, frequency and outcomes of LGD-wolf interactions in the southern French Alps. We recorded 476 wolf events in the presence of LGDs, including 175 interactions, 66% of which were agonistic. Most (65%) of the interactions occurred at a distance > 100 m from the flock and on average involved more LGDs than wolves. In the presence of LGDs, wolves approached the flocks 134 times resulting in no attack (65%), attacks with no sheep victim (24.6%), or attacks with ≥ 1 sheep victim (10.4%). Our results suggest that LGD-wolf interactions are complex and do not simply occur in the immediate vicinity of the flock. We recommend using groups > 6 LGDs and reinforcing the presence of LGDs in a wider radius around the flock to limit the presence of isolated groups of sheep and to improve protection against wolf attacks.
... We identified 69 dogs from settings where domestic herd animals were present, and their mean body mass was 15.9 kg (SD ¼ 4.03) ( Table 5). Modern livestock guarding dogs tend to be large-bodied animals, with body masses of 30e55 kg, while herding dogs are far lighter, from 10 to 20 kg (Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007). Guarding dogs need larger bodies to fend of predators such as wolves, while herding dogs require high levels of agility, favouring a smaller body sizes. ...
... The idea of using dogs to provide predator protection for livestock is an ancient concept (Smith et al., 2000). The actual techniques of using dogs as guardians are thoroughly described in a collection of papers written in 150 BC on Roman farm management (Coppinger & Coppinger, 1993). In contemporary society, livestock guardian dogs have been effectively used against bear, wolf and cheetah (Smith et al., 2000). ...
... Guardian dogs have been used as biocontrol tools for centuries, and can be very effective at reducing livestock predation in some contexts (Coppinger and Coppinger, 1993;van Bommel, 2010;Potgieter et al., 2013;Linnell and Lescureux, 2015). They typically work by defensively guarding livestock, frightening potential predators away and seldom seeking-out or hunting-down predators and other wildlife (e.g. ...
Conference Paper
Introducing consumptive and non-consumptive effects into food webs can have profound effects on individuals, populations and communities. Consequently, the deliberate use of predation and/or fear of predation is an emerging technique for controlling wildlife. Many now advocate for the intentional use of large carnivores and livestock guardian dogs as more desirable alternatives to traditional wildlife control approaches like fencing, shooting or trapping. However, there has been little consideration of the animal welfare implications of deliberately using predation as a wildlife management tool. We assess the animal welfare impacts of using dingoes, leopards and guardian dogs as biocontrol tools against wildlife in Australia and South Africa following the ‘Five Domains’ model commonly used to assess other wildlife management tools. Application of this model indicates that large carnivores and guardian dogs cause considerable lethal and non-lethal animal welfare impacts to the animals they are intended to control. These impacts are likely similar across different predator-prey systems, but are dependent on specific predator-prey combinations; combinations that result in short chases and quick kills will be rated as less harmful than those that result in long chases and protracted kills. Moreover, these impacts are typically rated greater than those caused by traditional wildlife control techniques. The intentional lethal and non-lethal harms caused by large carnivores and guardian dogs should not be ignored or assumed to be negligible. A greater understanding of the impacts they impose would benefit from empirical studies of the animal welfare outcomes arising from their use in different contexts.
... Many breeds of domestic dog, including the Dingo, are behaviourally quite distinct and their morphology reflects their different recent histories, including selection pressures for certain behaviours (Duffy et al. 2008;McGreevy et al. 2013). For example, livestock herding dogs have behaviours toward domestic prey animals that are diametrically opposed to livestock guarding breeds such as marremas, Grand Pyreneans and karabash types (Coppinger & Coppinger 1993;Coppinger & Schneider 1995). Importantly (from these citations), there is a relationship between skull morphology and a breed's purpose, with dogs bred for similar purposes having similar cephalic indices . ...
Article
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Adopting the name Canis dingo for the Dingo to explicitly denote a species-level taxon separate from other canids was suggested by Crowther et al. (2014) as a means to eliminate taxonomic instability and contention. However, Jackson et al. (2017), using standard taxonomic and nomenclatural approaches and principles, called instead for continued use of the nomen C. familiaris for all domestic dogs and their derivatives, including the Dingo. (This name, C. familiaris, is applied to all dogs that derive from the domesticated version of the Gray Wolf, Canis lupus, based on nomenclatural convention.) The primary reasons for this call by Jackson et al. (2017) were: (1) a lack of evidence to show that recognizing multiple species amongst the dog, including the Dingo and New Guinea Singing Dog, was necessary taxonomically, and (2) the principle of nomenclatural priority (the name familiaris Linnaeus, 1758, antedates dingo Meyer, 1793). Overwhelming current evidence from archaeology and genomics indicates that the Dingo is of recent origin in Australia and shares immediate ancestry with other domestic dogs as evidenced by patterns of genetic and morphological variation. Accordingly, for Smith et al. (2019) to recognise Canis dingo as a distinct species, the onus was on them to overturn current interpretations of available archaeological, genomic, and morphological datasets and instead show that Dingoes have a deeply divergent evolutionary history that distinguishes them from other named forms of Canis (including C. lupus and its domesticated version, C. familiaris). A recent paper by Koepfli et al. (2015) demonstrates exactly how this can be done in a compelling way within the genus Canis—by demonstrating deep evolutionary divergence between taxa, on the order of hundreds of thousands of years, using data from multiple genetic systems. Smith et al. (2019) have not done this; instead they have misrepresented the content and conclusions of Jackson et al. (2017), and contributed extraneous arguments that are not relevant to taxonomic decisions. Here we dissect Smith et al. (2019), identifying misrepresentations, to show that ecological, behavioural and morphological evidence is insufficient to recognise Dingoes as a separate species from other domestic dogs. We reiterate: the correct binomial name for the taxon derived from Gray Wolves (C. lupus) by passive and active domestication, including Dingoes and other domestic dogs, is Canis familiaris. We are strongly sympathetic to arguments about the historical, ecological, cultural, or other significance of the Dingo, but these are issues that will have to be considered outside of the more narrow scope of taxonomy and nomenclature.
... Guardian dogs have been used as biocontrol tools for centuries, and can be very effective at reducing livestock predation in some contexts (Coppinger and Coppinger, 1993;van Bommel, 2010;Potgieter et al., 2013;Linnell and Lescureux, 2015). They typically work by defensively guarding livestock, frightening potential predators away and seldom seeking-out or hunting-down predators and other wildlife (e.g. ...
Article
Introducing consumptive and non-consumptive effects into food webs can have profound effects on individuals, populations and communities. This knowledge has led to the deliberate use of predation and/or fear of predation as an emerging technique for controlling wildlife. Many now advocate for the intentional use of large carnivores and livestock guardian dogs as more desirable alternatives to traditional wildlife control approaches like fencing, shooting, trapping, or poisoning. However, there has been very little consideration of the animal welfare implications of deliberately using predation as a wildlife management tool. We assess the animal welfare impacts of using dingoes, leopards and guardian dogs as biocontrol tools against wildlife in Australia and South Africa following the 'Five Domains' model commonly used to assess other wildlife management tools. Application of this model indicates that large carnivores and guardian dogs cause considerable lethal and non-lethal animal welfare impacts to the individual animals they are intended to control. These impacts are likely similar across different predator-prey systems, but are dependent on specific predator-prey combinations; combinations that result in short chases and quick kills will be rated as less harmful than those that result in long chases and protracted kills. Moreover, these impacts are typically rated greater than those caused by traditional wildlife control techniques. The intentional lethal and non-lethal harms caused by large carnivores and guardian dogs should not be ignored or dismissively assumed to be negligible. A greater understanding of the impacts they impose would benefit from empirical studies of the animal welfare outcomes arising from their use in different contexts.
... The decision of including dogs D01 and D03 in the present study was reached because those breeds (i.e., golden retriever and border collie) are both abundant in most countries (Asher et al., 2011;Coppinger and Coppinger, 2014;Serpell and Duffy, 2014), and including these was thought to benefit generality of the study. To maximize control for the potentially confounding variable of the second dog being a competing reinforcer, the dogs were put into different rooms for the duration of the interventions to separate them from each other. ...
Article
Aggressive behaviors in companion dogs are a serious problem to owners, which often result in important physical and emotional damage on the victims. Aggressive incidents frequently happen during human-dog interactions (i.e., reaching toward the dog or petting it) while the dog is engaging with a preferred item (e.g., a toy, sock or shoe). The current study investigated whether a clicker-training approach, backward chaining, could decrease the frequency of category-II (e.g., ears flattened and/or hovering over object) and category-III (e.g., staring and/or stiffening up) behaviors by establishing an alternative target response of releasing preferred item on cue. Four dogs were exposed to the intervention using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline single-case experimental design. Each dog experienced a total of 14 conditions, including baseline condition (i.e., rate of preferred item release on request prior to any training), treatment conditions (i.e., different steps of the backward-chaining procedure, such as release or place, sit) and probe conditions (i.e., same procedure as baseline but conducted after varying steps during treatment condition). Success rates of the target response more than doubled in all dogs after implementation of the backward-chaining procedure, ranging from 2% to 85%. Rates for category-II responses showed an important reduction in three out of the four dogs ranging from 39% to 55%. In the case of category-III aggressive responses, there was a reduction in frequency relative to baseline rates ranging from 58% to 69% across all dogs. During follow-up probes conducted 3 months after the intervention ended average rates of category-II behaviors decreased by 23% for the dog in human-dog dyad 1 and 35% for the dog in dyad 2, while rates of category-III responses reverted back to baseline levels in dogs in dyads 1 (D01) and 2 (D02). Success rates during follow-up probes more than doubled for dog D01 from 2% to 45%, and reverted to baseline levels for D02. Overall, the current study showed that backward chaining is an effective procedure to teach dogs to release a highly preferred item on cue and to importantly reduce category-II and –III behaviors, at least short-term. Considering the scarcity of studies on the effectiveness of backward chaining in aggression-related behaviors, further research could extend these promising findings, including determining whether ongoing maintenance training would extend this effect, and addressing the current study’s limitations (e.g., utilizing a refined categorization of aggressive responses).
... In addition to these recessive mutations valuable for breeders, the study of the large number of progeny of reproducers showing mosaicism for dominant de novo mutations offers unprecedented opportunities to unravel the genetic aetiology of sporadic syndromes and to finely describe their clinical features Littlejohn et al. 2014). Finally, specific designs focusing on selection for quantitative traits have also been developed to better Coppinger & Coppinger (1993) understand their complex inheritance (e.g. divergent high-growth or low-growth lines in poultry (Siegel et al. 2006) or melanoma-bearing Libĕchov Minipig (Borovansk y et al. 2003)). ...
Article
Preservation of specific and inheritable phenotypes of current or potential future importance is one of the main purposes of conservation of animal genetic resources. In this review, we investigate the issues behind the characterisation, utilisation and conservation of rare phenotypes, considering their multiple paths of relevance, variable levels of complexity and mode of inheritance. Accurately assessing the rarity of a given phenotype, especially a complex one, is not a simple task, because it requires the phenotypic and genetic characterisation of a large number of animals and populations and remains dependent of the scale of the study. Once characterised, specific phenotypes may contribute to various purposes (adaptedness, production, biological model, aesthetics, etc.) with adequate introgression programmes, which justifies the consideration of (real or potential) existence of such characteristics in in situ or ex situ conservation strategies. Recent biotechnological developments (genomic and genetic engineering) will undoubtedly bring important changes to the way phenotypes are characterised, introgressed and managed.
... LGDs are raised with stock from an early age, so that they form a strong bond with them (Coppinger and Coppinger 2001;Coppinger and Coppinger 2007). As adults they remain continuously with their livestock and protect them from predators and thieves. ...
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Context Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs, Canis familiaris) can be highly effective in protecting livestock from predators; however, how they accomplish this, is poorly understood. Whereas it is clear that these dogs spend a high proportion of their time accompanying livestock, and confront predators that approach closely, it is unknown whether they also maintain territories around the areas used by their livestock and exclude predators from those territories. Aims We aimed to determine whether LGD behaviour towards predators is consistent with defence of a larger territory that encompasses the stock, or is based on repelling predators that closely approach livestock. Methods We used audio playbacks and scent placements to simulate incursions by dingoes (Canis dingo) at different locations with the LGD ranges, and used GPS tracking and automatic cameras to monitor responses to these incursions. Key results The LGD responses depended on location of the incursion. When simulated incursions were a significant distance inside the range (about the 50th kernel isopleth), they responded by vocalising, leaving their livestock, and travelling up to 570 m away from the stock to approach the incursion point and display challenging behaviour; when incursions were at the boundary of the range (at or beyond the 90th kernel isopleth), they vocalised but did not approach the incursion point, regardless of the location of the sheep. The LGDs in this study worked in groups. Group members responded differently to simulated incursions, some moving to challenge, whereas others remained close to the sheep. Conclusions Our results showed that protection by LGDs extends beyond the immediate vicinity of livestock, and is consistent with the defence of a larger territory. Implications If predators are excluded from this territory, LGDs enforce a spatial separation of predators and livestock. This would reduce risk of attack, but also prevents the disturbance and stress to livestock that would be caused by frequent approaches of predators. Where possible, training and management of LGDs should allow them to range freely over large areas so that they can develop and exhibit territorial behaviour, and they should be deployed in groups so that group members can assume complementary roles.
... Livestock guarding animals (dogs, llamas, alpacas and donkeys) have been commonplace in central Europe and the Mediterranean for centuries (Coppinger and Coppinger 1993) and are used there and in North America primarily to protect sheep from large native predators (Andelt and Hopper 2000;Jenkins 2003). Guarding dogs are the most frequently used animal for excluding free-ranging dogs, but llamas and donkeys have also been used (Jenkins 2003;van Bommel 2010;see Chapter XX). ...
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Wild canids are widespread across most of mainland Australia. They can have major impacts on livestock production and biodiversity values and often necessitate active management. The impacts of free-ranging dogs and foxes should be managed concurrently, as there is often substantial overlap in their impacts and because most available control methods do not discriminate between the two species. Effective management of the impacts of wild canids requires a strategic approach that is driven by participants and based on specific local issues and available knowledge. Strategic management programs, as undertaken, are a form of adaptive management, in which participants gain knowledge about the problems they are addressing by conducting quasi-experiments. These examine the effects of management actions on clearly defined objectives. Importantly, it is the specific local impacts of wild canids that define the management objectives in these approaches, not simply the numbers of animals. Adaptive management can be used to suppress or enhance populations of wild canids depending on the management objectives; that is, mitigation of damage to livestock and biodiversity, or conservation of dingoes. This chapter discusses a strategic approach to managing the impacts of wild canids. The nature of those impacts, including new density:damage functions, and the specific tools and methods that are available to counter them are also discussed.
... Most LGD breeds originated in Europe and Asia, where they have been used for centuries to protect livestock from predators and thieves. They are raised with stock from an early age, and as a result view livestock as their social companions and protect them from threats [1][2][3]. Experimental and anecdotal evidence shows that these dogs can be effective in protecting a range of livestock species from several types of predators (older studies reviewed in [4], see also [5][6][7][8][9]). In Australia, as in many other parts of the world outside their countries of origin, LGDs are a relatively new, and increasingly popular method to reduce predation on livestock [10,11]. ...
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In many parts of the world, livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) are a relatively new and increasingly popular method for controlling the impact of wild predators on livestock. On large grazing properties in Australia, LGDs are often allowed to range freely over large areas, with minimal supervision by their owners. How they behave in this situation is mostly unknown. We fitted free-ranging Maremma sheepdogs with GPS tracking collars on three properties in Victoria, Australia; on two properties, four sheep were also fitted with GPS collars. We investigated how much time the Maremmas spent with their livestock, how far they moved outside the ranges of their stock, and tested whether they use their ranges sequentially, which is an effective way of maintaining a presence over a large area. The 95% kernel isopleth of the Maremmas ranged between 31 and 1161 ha, the 50% kernel isopleth ranged between 4 and 252 ha. Maremmas spent on average 90% of their time in sheep paddocks. Movements away from sheep occurred mostly at night, and were characterised by high-speed travel on relatively straight paths, similar to the change in activity at the edge of their range. Maremmas used different parts of their range sequentially, similar to sheep, and had a distinct early morning and late afternoon peak in activity. Our results show that while free-ranging LGDs spend the majority of their time with livestock, movements away from stock do occur. These movements could be important in allowing the dogs to maintain large territories, and could increase the effectiveness of livestock protection. Allowing LGDs to range freely can therefore be a useful management decision, but property size has to be large enough to accommodate the large areas that the dogs use.
... We identified 69 dogs from settings where domestic herd animals were present, and their mean body mass was 15.9 kg (SD ¼ 4.03) ( Table 5). Modern livestock guarding dogs tend to be large-bodied animals, with body masses of 30e55 kg, while herding dogs are far lighter, from 10 to 20 kg (Coppinger and Coppinger, 2007). Guarding dogs need larger bodies to fend of predators such as wolves, while herding dogs require high levels of agility, favouring a smaller body sizes. ...
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Eastern Siberia's Lake Baikal and its tributaries are productive fisheries, and the region's Holocene archaeological sites confirm that this is a long-standing phenomenon. Recent zooarchaeological investigations of sites here allow Holocene fishing practices to be examined in more detail than was previously possible. Along much of the lake's coast, bathymetry is very steep and the water very cold; here fishing appears to have been supplemental to other subsistence practices such as sealing and ungulate hunting. In shallower areas, waters were warmer and supported very productive fisheries for littoral species, perhaps through the use of nets or traps. The region's rivers offered their own resident species but also were used as spawning grounds by some lake fishes. The lake's littoral fisheries, while productive, likely produced fish throughout the year and did not require complex labor organization to be effectively used. Some sections of the region's rivers, particularly those that were spawning grounds for some lake fishes, may have required more complex sociopolitical organization to be exploited efficiently. Such fish runs were short-lived and the best fishing places likely were spatially restricted. This potentially created the need for pools of labor, required organization of harvesting and processing, and generated surpluses that could be stored and manipulated.
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Several large "shepherd" or livestock guardian dog (LGD) breeds were historically selectively bred to protect sheep and goat flocks in the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus regions. Although these breeds exhibit similar behavior, their morphology is different. Yet, the fine characterization of the phenotypic differences remains to be analyzed. The aim of this study is to characterize cranial morphology in the specific Balkan and West Asian LGD breeds. We use a 3D geometric morphometric in order to assess morphological differences regarding both shape and size between LGD breeds and compare this phenotypic diversity to close relative wild canids. Our results indicate that Balkan and Anatolian LGDs form a distinct cluster within a relatively large dog cranial size and shape diversity. Most LGDs display a cranial morphology that could be described as intermediate to the mastiff breeds and large herding dogs, except for the Romanian Mioritic shepherd which has a more brachycephalic cranium strongly resembling the bully-type dog cranial morphotype. Although often considered to represent an ancient type of dog, the Balkan-West Asian LGDs are clearly distinguishable from wolves, dingoes, and most other primitive and spitz-type dogs and this group displays a surprising cranial diversity.
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During two retreats in 2017 and 2020, a group of international scientists convened to explore the Human-Animal Bond. The meetings, hosted by the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Leadership Institute, took a broad view of the human-dog relationship and how interactions between the two may benefit us medically, psychologically or through their service as working dogs (e.g. guide dogs, explosive detection, search and rescue, cancer detection). This Frontiers’ Special Topic has collated the presentations into a broad collection of 14 theoretical and review papers summarizing the latest research and practice in the historical development of our deepening bond with dogs, the physiological and psychological changes that occur during human-dog interactions (to both humans and dogs) as well as the selection, training and welfare of companion animals and working dogs. The overarching goals of this collection are to contribute to the current standard of understanding of human-animal interaction, suggest future directions in applied research, and to consider the interdisciplinary societal implications of the findings.
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Herding cattle across the landscape requires three species – horse, cattle, and human – to move together in a goal-orientated, albeit human-centered, activity. In this multispecies activity, they must synchronize through embodied communication and develop a shared understanding of moving conjointly. Together, all three species are socialized, or “zoocialized,” to learn to engage in a shared community of communication where they develop a sense of “timing” and “feel” of the others to enable their directed movement together. While not denying or downplaying the power and pain integral to cattle ranching, we explore and interpret the interspecies, multispecies communication, collaboration, and choreography. Based on a multispecies ethnographic methodology, we draw on experiences from cattle herding in the USA, Canada, and Sweden. What emerges are intricate relations of agency, shaped by meanings of species, where human and nonhuman social actors learn to meet and construct a vibrant multispecies community of communication.
Chapter
This chapter contextualizes the dog-human relationship in the dog's origin as a scavenger on the fringes of human settlements over 15,000 years ago. It then reviews the evidence for unique evolved cognitive structures in dogs that could explain their success in a human-dominated world. Failing to find evidence of unique human-like social-cognitive capacities I then review uncontroversial facts of dogs' basic behavioral biology, including reproductive and foraging behavior and, particularly, affiliative and attachment-related behaviors. This leads to consideration of dogs' social behavior, both conspecific and toward other species, especially humans. I draw attention to a seldom-noted apparent contradiction between dogs' stronger affectional bonds toward humans than toward members of their own species. Dogs' social groups also show steeper social hierarchies accompanied by more behaviors indicating formal dominance than do other canid species including wolves. I resolve this contradiction by proposing that dogs' intense sensitivity to social hierarchy contributes to their willingness to accept human leadership. People commonly control resources that dogs need and also unknowingly express behaviors which dogs perceive as formal signs of dominance. This may be what Darwin was referring to when he endorsed the idea that a dog looks on his master as on a god. Whatever the merits of this idea, if it serves to redirect behavioral research on dogs in human society more toward the social interactions of these species in their diverse forms of symbiosis it will have served a useful function.
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The notion that tool-use is unique to humans has long been refuted by the growing number of observations of animals using tools across various contexts. Yet, the mechanisms behind the emergence and sustenance of these tool-use repertoires are still heavily debated. We argue that the current animal behaviour literature is biased towards a social learning approach, in which animal, and in particular primate, tool-use repertoires are thought to require social learning mechanisms (copying variants of social learning are most often invoked). However, concrete evidence for a widespread dependency on social learning is still lacking. On the other hand, a growing body of observational and experimental data demonstrates that various animal species are capable of acquiring the forms of their tool-use behaviours via individual learning, with (non-copying) social learning regulating the frequencies of the behavioural forms within (and, indirectly, between) groups. As a first outline of the extent of the role of individual learning in animal tool-use, a literature review of reports of the spontaneous acquisition of animal tool-use behaviours was carried out across observational and experimental studies. The results of this review suggest that perhaps due to the pervasive focus on social learning in the literature, accounts of the individual learning of tool-use forms by naïve animals may have been largely overlooked, and their importance under-examined.
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In 1980, Green and Woodruff published an article entitled, “Is Predator Control Going to the Dogs?” At that time, the use of Livestock Guardian Dogs (hereafter LGDs) was a relatively new wildlife damage management tool in North America. Although this tool passed the test of time in its point of origin, early North American adopters stepped into a brave new world with little to guide them. In the modern world, knowledge of methods and means of wildlife damage management exists in written texts, films, and other guides. For LGDs, however, such materials did not exist 40 years ago. Over the last few decades, ecologists worldwide began a rigorous program to evaluate the use and effects of LGDs on livestock and natural systems. We now endeavor to update and evaluate the state of LGDs as a wildlife damage management tool in the course of this special issue, asking whether or not predator control "went to the dogs."
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The present thesis analyzes the study corresponding to the year 2010 of the experiment that evaluated the implementation of a biological protection system of an ovine herd. This system is based upon the presence of livestock-guarding dogs of the breed Pyrenean Mountain Dog, due to the urgent necessity of the local ranchers to reduce the mortality caused by predators. The study was carried out in San José de Maipo, specifically in Los Maitenes and El Alfalfal localities, which are located at the foothill of Región Metropolitana (Santiago, Chile). Four dogs of the breed previously mentioned and 2.408 sheep were used, they belong to “Quempo Turismo” Society. The study lasted three years (2009, 2010 and 2011), in which the performance of the dogs and the mortality of the herd were systematically studied. As a result, it was possible to gather information about ovine mortality caused by predators in presence of the livestock-guarding dogs at a transition age (juvenile to adult), this was compared with previous mortality rates (historical mortality rate), before the introduction of the livestock-guarding dogs, and with the mortality rate obtained the first year of study. At the same time, through surveys, it was possible to evaluate the behaviour of the breed Pyrenean Mountain Dog as a livestock-guarding dog. The results indicate that the mortality was reduced from 25% (historical value in the zone) to less than 7% in the year 2010, being the cougar (Puma concolor) the leading predator. Also, the behaviour demonstrated by the dogs was the optimum to achieve the protective effect. This shows that they are an efficient, effective and selective way to control predation.
Chapter
Sheep are especially vulnerable to predation due to their small size and weak anti-predator responses. Predatory attacks can lead to acute and chronic stress in sheep, with long-lasting impacts on health and welfare. Many different lethal and non-lethal predator control methods can be used to protect sheep from predation. The total impact of a predator control method on sheep welfare is a combination of its effectiveness in preventing predation and the direct impact of the method itself. Considering these aspects, it would seem that the method that does most to enhance sheep welfare is the use of livestock guardian animals, and perhaps sheepherders.
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This study assessed the economic value of using sheepdogs as livestock guardians in southeastern Brazil by implementing a semi-structured interview format divided into four main categories: maintenance costs of sheep production, selling prices of carcasses, annual rate of depredation, and sheepdog acquisition and maintenance costs. According to our results, producers perceive the “unproductive” costs of sheepdogs similarly to the way they view taxes. However, management using sheepdogs as herd guardians tends to be most profitable for herds above 483 head from the fourth year on, being possibly more stable and predictable over time. In contrast, management without sheepdogs shows stochastic dynamics with occasional, though unpredictable, episodes of sheep depredation. This means that sheep farmers follow a cyclical decision strategy, which basically depends on the purchase price of the sheepdog.
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Human-wildlife conflict is a growing concern issue. The overlapping of requirements of human and wildlife is a foremost cause of conflicts. The issue of crop depredation and subsequent conflicts arising between human-wildlife in recent times is a growing concern. The growing loss of habitats by land degradation is a major cause of increasing conflict between humans and wildlife in tropical region. As natural habitat of wildlife becomes more and more fragmented and they gets cramped into smaller pockets of suitable habitat, humans and wildlife are increasingly coming into contact and in conflict with each other. Due to expansion of ravines wildlife habitats as well as arable land is shrinking in semi-arid region of Chambal valley. Villages in lower Chambal valley reported crop and livestock depredation by wild carnivores including as nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra), wild boar (Sus scrofa), Indian gazelle (Gazella gazella), Indian porcupine (Hystrix indica), Sambar (Rusa unicolor). Conflicts are particularly serious, where rural people live in close association with protected areas. In the present study peasants' perception about encroachment of arable lands by wild-animals has been assessed. In all three surveyed villages 36.65% peasants reported wild-animal as a cause of low production. It is reported high (60% peasants) in the village inhabited nearby protected forest covers. Due to excess animal encroachment 45% peasants of all surveyed villages are reported to prevent growing some particular crops. About 84% peasant thinks wild-animal as one of the cause to stopped growing some particular crops, hence forced to bring a change in crop pattern. This paper discusses agricultural crop-raiding by locally overabundant populations of wild and the possible management strategies that can limit or reduce the conflict animal in a part of lower Chambal valley.
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The use of domestic animals to protect livestock was reviewed through visits to actual users, discussions with experts and a thorough literature search. Costs and benefits were analysed in terms of reduced livestock losses. The most common guardian animals are dogs, which have been shown to reduce predation (documented mostly for coyote) by 11?100%. Livestock guardian dogs have also been used effectively against bear, wolf and cheetah. Donkeys are also used as guardian animals, and their effectiveness lies in their natural herding behaviour and aggression, especially against canids. The effectiveness of donkeys varies considerably dependent upon the predator species and the temperament of the individual donkey. Llamas are also used as a guardian animal, with approximately the same characteristics as the donkeys, and will defend themselves against most predators. The use of guardian animals appears to be an effective tool for reducing livestock depredation and should be evaluated in areas with high predation losses against the cost of changing production systems.
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Different tests have been developed for evaluating the temperament of cattle, pigs, and sheep and some studies appear to have conflicting results. This may be due to confusion between the basic emotional systems of fear and separation distress (panic). Methods used for temperament tests can alter results such as how tightly an animal is restrained in a squeeze chute during temperament evaluation. Animals with a more reactive (fearful) temperament will exhibit greater agitated behavioral reactions when suddenly confronted with novel objects. Animals can be habituated to new things but learning is very specific. Habituation to one type of strange object may not transfer to other types of objects. Animals with smaller-diameter leg bones and slender bodies may be more reactive (fearful). Facial hair whorl position is related to a vigilant temperament and it may be more evident in populations with more diverse genetic backgrounds.
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The partnership between humans and domestic animals is natural. The human brain is hard-wired to emotionally respond to animals. Beginning with the domestication of wolves, this chapter covers the process of domestication and reviews the early work of behaviorists and ethologists who refused to accept emotional states in animals. Modern behavior research employs methods developed by behaviorists and ethologists combined with neuroscience and genetics. Emotional systems in the brain drive behavior. Confusion between different emotional systems may explain conflicting findings in the behavior literature. Behavior in an open-field test may be motivated either by fear, separation distress, or novelty seeking. Each emotion is controlled by separate subcorticol systems. A novel open-field arena can frighten a prey species, but it may activate seeking in a predator. Genetics affects the strength of fear, novelty seeking, and separation distress. Behavior is shaped by a complex interaction between genetics and experience.
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Dogs used to protect domestic sheep from predators are expected to be attentive to the animals they guard. However, 40% of the sheep producers cooperating in our experimental program to assess the potential of Old World dogs to deter predation in the United States have expressed dissatisfaction with their dog's attentiveness. In contrast, European shepherds appear satisfied with their dogs. In order to find the causes of this apparent difference, a series of measured observations was made in Italy, and data on 4 different strains of imported guarding dogs working in the U.S. were analyzed. The results indicate that the 4 strains are significantly different in attentiveness, although overall it was remarkably similar to the actual attentiveness of Italian dogs. The attentiveness of livestock guarding dogs can be maximized for U.S. sheep producers by (1) selecting strains for superior attentive behavior and (2) adjusting management systems slightly to take advantage of the dogs' capabilities.
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The use of domestic animals to protect livestock was reviewed through visits to actual users, discussions with experts and a thorough literature search. Costs and benefits were analysed in terms of reduced livestock losses. The most common guardian animals are dogs, which have been shown to reduce predation (documented mostly for coyote) by 11?100%. Livestock guardian dogs have also been used effectively against bear, wolf and cheetah. Donkeys are also used as guardian animals, and their effectiveness lies in their natural herding behaviour and aggression, especially against canids. The effectiveness of donkeys varies considerably dependent upon the predator species and the temperament of the individual donkey. Llamas are also used as a guardian animal, with approximately the same characteristics as the donkeys, and will defend themselves against most predators. The use of guardian animals appears to be an effective tool for reducing livestock depredation and should be evaluated in areas with high predation losses against the cost of changing production systems.
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Dog aggression to humans is a serious problem and it appears that fear-induced aggression in dogs is often implicated. Furthermore, it has been suggested that novel and startling stimuli may trigger fear-induced aggression. The aim of the present study was to study some possible behavioural and physiological measures of fear in the dog Canis familiaris in tests involving novel and startling stimuli. Dogs (n=108) of various breeds, sex and experience were observed in four tests previously reported to induce fear-related responses in various animal species. A range of behavioural and physiological variables was recorded, such as latencies to approach the stimulus, time spent near stimulus and heart rate changes. Data were examined using correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Moderate to high correlations were found between some of the variables within and between the tests and a number of variables were identified in three components determined by the PCA. These three components accounted for 48% of the total variation and components 1 and 3 contained high loadings for the latency to approach and time spent near the stimulus in a novel object test and a startling test, respectively. Component 2 contained variables measuring latencies and entries to areas in a light/dark test and an elevated plus maze test. It is suggested that component 1 may be a measure of a response to novelty and component 3 may be a measure of a response to startling stimuli, while component 2 may be a measure of exploration. Components 1 and 3 may thus be appropriate measures of different aspects of fear. The suitability of each test and its limitations in measuring fear of novel and startling stimuli in the dog are discussed.
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Summary Livestock protection dogs (LPDs) in the United States have helped to protect livestock herds from certain predators, but expanding large-carnivore populations pose new chal- lenges, and the number of LPDs killed by large predators is increasing. We conducted a literature review to identify LPD breeds that may be more suited for use around large carnivores, such as gray wolves. The use of spiked collars to increase the survivability for LPDs in areas of coexistence with large carni- vore populations is also discussed. This paper advances the adoption of techniques and LPD breeds used outside of the United States in areas where large carnivores exist with live- stock production.
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Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) have been for millennia an effective means of protecting rangeland, i.e. cattle or sheep, from predators in Central and Southern Europe and Asia. In contrast, there is no LGD tradition or local breeds in the Nordic countries. The objective of this study was to collect descriptive information about the experiences of LGDs in Finland acquired by early farm adopters through semi-structured interviews, narratives, and on-site visits to farms. The experiences were encouraging: no predation was observed since LGD(s) presence. The presence of LGDs had multifunctional character by increasing the feeling of security. Unlike in Norway the farmers in Finland did not describe high costs or serious difficulties in relationships with guarded animals, herding dogs, other animals, or village neighbourhoods.
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and Summary Visual displays from dog to sheep and acoustic signals from shepherd to dog were analyzed during cooperative herding by human shepherds and Border collie dogs. Unlike other breeds, Border collies herded livestock by approaching it in the stalking posture of a hunting mammalian predator. Data on mature trained and immature untrained Border collies showed that the posture was innate, but was refined by training and experience. Selection for behavioral rather than morphological traits has resulted in stereotyped breed‐specific behavior but considerable morphologic variation. The whistle signal repertoires of 14 shepherd/dog herding teams showed a strong correlation between acoustic structures and messages of whistles that intended to stimulate or inhibit the dog's activity toward stock. No correlation was found between acoustic structures used for directional messages. Stimulating signals were short, rapidly repeated notes, with a tendency to rise in frequency. Inhibiting signals were prolonged, descending single notes. Comparable acoustic structures in non‐human primate and avian repertoires suggest that the observed correlation is found in similar contexts in those groups. We hypothesize that the appropriate use of these acoustic structures increases the probability of the desired response from the canid receivers.
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As with juvenile wolves or coyotes, adult livestock conducting dogs displayed the first-half segment of a functional predatory system of motor patterns and did not express play or social bonding toward sheep; whereas, like wolf or coyote pups, adult livestock protecting dogs displayed sequences of mixed social, submissive, play and investigatory motor patterns and rarely expressed during ontogeny (even when fully adult) predatory behaviors. The most parsimonious explanation of our findings is that behavioral differences in the two types of livestock dogs are a case of selected differential retardation (neoteny) of ancestral motor pattern development.
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In many areas, livestock are grazed within wolf (Canis lupus) range. Predation and harassment of livestock by wolves creates conflict and is a significant challenge for wolf conservation. Wild prey, such as elk (Cervus elaphus), perform anti-predator behaviors. Artificial selection of cattle (Bos taurus) might have resulted in attenuation or absence of anti-predator responses, or in erratic and inconsistent responses. Regardless, such responses might have implications on stress and fitness. We compared elk and cattle anti-predator responses to wolves in southwest Alberta, Canada within home ranges and livestock pastures, respectively. We deployed satellite- and GPS-telemetry collars on wolves, elk, and cattle (n = 16, 10 and 78, respectively) and measured seven prey response variables during periods of wolf presence and absence (speed, path sinuosity, time spent head-up, distance to neighboring animals, terrain ruggedness, slope and distance to forest). During independent periods of wolf presence (n = 72), individual elk increased path sinuosity (Z = -2.720, P = 0.007) and used more rugged terrain (Z = -2.856, P = 0.004) and steeper slopes (Z = -3.065, P = 0.002). For cattle, individual as well as group behavioral analyses were feasible and these indicated increased path sinuosity (Z = -2.720, P = 0.007) and decreased distance to neighbors (Z = -2.551, P = 0.011). In addition, cattle groups showed a number of behavioral changes concomitant to wolf visits, with variable direction in changes. Our results suggest both elk and cattle modify their behavior in relation to wolf presence, with potential energetic costs. Our study does not allow evaluating the efficacy of anti-predator behaviors, but indicates that artificial selection did not result in their absence in cattle. The costs of wolf predation on livestock are often compensated considering just the market value of the animal killed. However, society might consider refunding some additional costs (e.g., weight loss and reduced reproduction) that might be associated with the changes in cattle behaviors that we documented.
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Pilot programs in several states have shown that livestock guarding dogs are 70-80% effective in reducing predation on livestock by wildlife, primarily coyotes. In order to increase that percentage, ineffective dogs were studied and new techniques tested that had the potential of turning problems into successes. From the population of over 1,000 dogs that has been placed on farms and ranches nationwide during the past ten years under the auspices of the Livestock Dog Project at Hampshire College, data was analyzed for each of the three basic behaviors (trustworthy, attentive, protective) that a good guardian needs to exhibit. A wide range of scores was found within each behavior. Studies were then focused on transferring dogs with extremes of behavior to a specific livestock operation where the "defect" could be used to advantage. In Oregon, dogs that had failed in at least one category were transferred to new ranches, resulting in 66* success. Results from field trials in Minnesota showed that inattentive and/or overprotective dogs could be used to test dogs' effectiveness against wolves. In New York, an over-protective, inattentive dog was placed on an emergency basis with a flock of experimental sheep, using the dog's travel trailer and a new tool, "invisible fencing," to situate it in an unfamiliar environment. Results showed that the transfer strategy increased the number of successful guarding dogs, with minimal changes in livestock management. Other evidence indicated that the new techniques described here could also be used for wider applications of guarding dogs in agriculture.
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Results from a ten-year study of livestock guarding dogs show that the dogs are an effective tool for reducing predation. Average reduction attained by five strains of dogs (Anatolian Shepherds, Maremmas, Shar Planinetz, Anatolian/ Shars, Maremma/Shars) was 64%, with predation reduced to zero for 53% of reporting producers in 1986. Variations in trustworthy, attentive and protective behavior of the dogs were breed-specific, and offer mechanisms for improving the system.
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Intra- and interspecific association of cattle and bonded or non-bonded sheep was observed under free-ranging conditions preceding, during and following the approach of a trained border collie dog. A bonded sheep is one which consistently stays in close proximity to cattle as a result of a continuous close association between the two species, which began when the sheep was a young lamb. The dog treatment provided insight into the response of livestock to an aggressive, threatening canine. Sheep bonded to cattle remained together as one interspecific group when threatened by the dog. Interspecific space decreased and the sheep positioned themselves among the cattle and away from the dog. Cattle aggression, i.e. kicking and charging the dog, was only observed when the dog approached the heifers. Non-bonded sheep and cattle reacted as two distinctly independent intraspecific groups. The non-bonded sheep reduced their intraspecific space and moved away from the cattle when threatened by the dog. The protection that bonded sheep receive from cattle appears to result from the close association with the cattle, which poses a threat to predators.
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We assessed causes of pre-senile mortality among working guarding dogs, and its effects on their management and cost. A population of 449 livestock guarding dogs in 31 states showed no differences in mortality due to breed or sex, but dogs working on open rangelands died more frequently (p<.001) than those working on farms or fenced ranches. Half of the farm dogs died before they reached 38 months of age, by which time nearly three-quarters of the open rangelands dogs had succumbed. Accidents accounted for over half the deaths, culling for inappropriate behavior accounted for one-third, and diseases for 9%. High accident and culling rates in young dogs substantially increased the cost of this predator control technique. However, we found 2 main areas where corrective measures can be applied: (1) increasing the awareness among producers that accidents are a main cause of deaths especially during the dogs' first 30 months of age; and (2) reducing the number of culls by improving the genetics of the dogs and by training producers to manage them.
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We documented behaviors of Great Pyrenees livestock-guarding dogs toward people, livestock, dogs, horses, reindeer, and bear to determine if they might be suitable for protecting livestock in Norway. None out of 13 dogs showed aggressive behavior towards unfamiliar people, and aggressiveness towards dogs and livestock was also low. However, 91% of the dogs tested chased reindeer. A willingness to chase bears was apparent in all 3 dogs tested. Although the Norwegian strains of the Great Pyrenees are bred mainly for exhibition, they obviously have retained some behavioral patterns important for the livestock-guarding function. Their nonaggressive behavior towards people, dogs, and livestock, and their active reaction towards bears suggest that this breed could be suitable for use as livestock-guardians in Norway. However, the dogs' tendency to chase reindeer is a trait that may cause conflicts in reindeer-herding areas. /// Documentamos el comportamiento de los perros guardianes de ganado de raza "Great Pyrenees" hacia la gente, ganado, perros, caballos, renos y osos para determinar si ellos pudieran ser apropiados para proteger el ganado en Noruega. Ninguno de los 13 perros mostraron comportamiento agresivo hacia la gente desconocida y la agresividad hacia perros y ganado también fue baja. Sin embargo, 91% de los perros bajo prueba persiguieron los renos. La disponibilidad para perseguir osos fue aparente en los 3 perros probados. Aunque la líneas noruegas de la raza "Great Pyrenees" son criados para exhibición, ellos obviamente han retenido algunos patrones de comportamiento importantes para la función de proteger el ganado. Su comportamiento no agresivo hacia la gente, perros y ganado y su reacción hacia los osos suguieren que esta raza pudiera ser apropiada para usarla en Noruega como perros guardianes de ganado. Sin embargo, la tendencia de los perros a perseguir renos es una característica que pudiera causar conflicto en áreas donde hay manadas de renos.
Article
Four Komondor dogs were trained to attack captive coyotes and to stay within fenced sheep pastures. The dogs, used in pairs, were then evaluated on three ranches (65 to 330-ha pastures) to determine their potential in protecting sheep from coyote pre. dation. Daily checks of sheep losses were made on each ranch for three consecutive ZO-day periods: preceding placement of the dogs, during their time in pastures, and after their removal. Sheep kills by coyotes decreased significantly during and following use of the dogs, suggesting some potential for the deterrence of coyote predation-at least under fenced-grazing conditions.
Article
Research has shown that dogs can protect livestock from coyotes (Canis latrans), but information is lacking on comparative effectiveness of dog breeds and on how successfully dogs are being used by livestock producers. We mailed questionnaires to 948 livestock producers in the U.S. and Canada who were likely to be users of livestock guarding dogs. Three hundred ninety-nine written responses were received reporting data on 763 dogs, almost all recognized guarding breeds. Respondents were livestock producers from 47 states and 7 provinces. Producers rated their dogs as very effective (71%), somewhat effective (21%), or not effective (8%) in deterring predation; the majority (82%) said dogs were an economic asset. No particular breed was rated more highly, and the rate of success between males and females was not different. Fifty nonrespondents were telephoned, and although fewer of them had dogs than respondents, their rating of the dogs they used was not significantly different from that of respondents. The data indicate that, when used by producers, livestock guarding dogs are an effective method to manage predation.
Article
A total of 24 dogs (11 Komondorok, 9 Great Pyrenees and 4 Akbash Dogs) were placed with rangeland sheep to test their effectiveness in reducing losses of sheep to predators. All but 1 of the dogs (Komondor) had been reared from puppyhood with lambs. Seven of the dogs (4 Komondorok, 1 Great Pyrenees and 2 Akbash Dogs) were determined to be unsuitable for rangeland use after a relatively short period (1–6 weeks), primarily because of their rambunctious behavior and their lack of attentiveness to the sheep. Three of the 24 dogs (2 Komondorok and 1 Akbash Dog) died before their performance could be adequately evaluated. Two of the dogs (Komondorok) were relatively unsuccessful, but details of their performance were not available. The paper focuses on 12 trials with the remaining 12 dogs (3 Komondorok, 8 Great Pyrenees and 1 Akbash Dog). In 7 of the 12 trials, a pair of dogs or a single dog appeared to be influential in reducing the loss of sheep to predators. The effectiveness of the dogs in 2 trials was questionable, and in 3 of the trials, the dogs had little apparent influence on the number of sheep killed by predators. The dogs that appeared most effective barked at night, patrolled the area around the flock, and were aggressive to animals that came near the sheep. A variety of problems occurred when using the dogs, and benefits other than a reduction in predation, such as facilitating trailing and keeping the flock together, were noted in several of the trials. The use of dogs to protect rangeland sheep appears to be a practical technique, however, as with other forms of control, dogs will probably not eliminate predation. Not all dogs will be successful, and their use may be impractical in some situations.
Article
Seventy-two Navajo ranchers were questioned about the role of mixed-breed dogs with their flocks. Navajos call their dogs "sheep dogs" but, unlike sheep dogs used by other ranchers to assist in herding and moving the flocks, Navajo dogs function primarily as guardians of sheep and goats to whom they have developed social bonds. This attraction is a result of raising dogs essentially from birth in visual, olfactory, auditory, and tactile association with sheep and goats. A minimum of handling of pups reduces the likelihood that they will bond strongly to humans. Mixed-breed dogs of the Navajo appear to exhibit all behavioral traits believed to be important in protecting flocks from predators, especially coyotes: they are attentive, defensive, and trustworthy. If ranchers choose to employ dogs, the rather simple Navajo recipe for training may serve them well. Mixed-breed dogs could be quickly deployed in a variety of ranching situations to help reduce predation on livestock.
Article
Spurred by theoretical and applied goals, the study of dog temperament has begun to garner considerable research attention. The researchers studying temperament in dogs come from varied backgrounds, bringing with them diverse perspectives, and publishing in a broad range of journals. This paper reviews and evaluates the disparate work on canine temperament. We begin by summarizing general trends in research on canine temperament. To identify specific patterns, we propose several frameworks for organizing the literature based on the methods of assessment, the breeds examined, the purpose of the studies, the age at which the dogs were tested, the breeding and rearing environment, and the sexual status of the dogs. Next, an expert-sorting study shows that the enormous number of temperament traits examined can be usefully classified into seven broad dimensions. Meta-analyses of the findings pertaining to inter-rater agreement, test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity generally support the reliability and validity of canine temperament tests but more studies are needed to support these preliminary findings. Studies examining discriminant validity are needed, as preliminary findings on discriminant validity are mixed. We close by drawing 18 conclusions about the field, identifying the major theoretical and empirical questions that remain to be addressed. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Article
Dogs were initially trained to respond reliably to 'sit' and 'come' commands, when these were issued randomly in a variety of contexts. Then in a first experiment, the posture of the person giving the command, eye contact and the mode of delivery of the command were varied. Performance declined significantly when a tape-recorded version of the command was used and when the eyes of the experimental trainer were obscured with sunglasses when using the tape, but not when the sunglasses were used with the oral command. In a second experiment, the distance and position of the experimental trainer relative to an opaque screen were changed. Performance declined when the experimental trainer stood approximately 2.5 m away and was partially obscured by a screen. Response to the sit but not come command declined when the experimental trainer turned her back on the dog prior to issuing the command at this distance, but not when the experimental trainer subsequently stood behind the screen at this distance. The results suggest that non-verbal features moderate responsiveness to the command, and that this effect may depend partly on the dog's familiarity with the command possibly within a given context and the perceived proximity of the commander from the dog. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Article
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the heritability of defence capacity traits in the Belgian shepherd dog and to calculate the genetic correlations between traits and the role of particular environmental factors. The study used 15,772 competition results from defence dogs involving 2427 Belgian shepherd dogs in France from 1986 to 1996. A competition included 6–19 different tests and according to their difficulty five levels. The tests were grouped together in order to class the dogs in eight general ability measures: Jumping, Following at heel, Fetching an object, Attacking, Guarding, Obedience, Biting and Global success. The analysis was performed on the calculated scores after the dogs had been ranked within a competition. The scores were corrected according to the average level of the dogs participating in the competition. This method is used in horses, the “performance rate”. This was used to produce scores, which had a normal distribution. The genetic parameters were estimated using a mixed animal model using the Restricted Maximum Likelihood method (REML). The fixed effects of the model were estimated by the Best Linear Unbiased Estimation (BLUE) and their significance by an F-test. The heritability estimates are low for Following at heel (h2 = 0.07) and Global success (h2 = 0.07) but moderate for the other criteria (h2 = 0.13–0.18). The repeatability of results was relatively high (r = 0.39–0.59). The phenotypic correlations between abilities were low to moderate, however, the genetic correlations were moderate to high, except for Jumping which appears to be independent from the other abilities. The males performed better than the females. The Malinois was the best variety of dog. The effect of age was studied within each level of competition difficulty. The best results were obtained as early as 1.5 years-of-age for level 1 and between 3 and 7 years-of-age for levels 4 and 5.
Article
This study examines neurochemical and behavioral differences among three types of domestic dogs and F1 hybrids derived from them. Purebred dogs included Border Collies, representing herding dogs, Shar Plaininetz, representing livestock protecting dogs, and Siberian Huskies, representing Northern dogs. Composite behavioral scores were derived from frequency measures of various components of predatory behavior observed when the dogs were tested with mice. Catecholamine levels, including norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and epineprine (EPI), were determined in various brain regions by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. beta-endorphin levels were determined in the same regions by RIA. Collies showed the highest levels of non-consummatory behaviors and Huskies the highest levels of consummatory behaviors. Shars were found to have lower levels of NE and DA than Collies and Huskies in several brain regions, including those comprising the nigrostriatal DA system. Positive correlations between neurochemical and behavioral characteristics could be made between Shars and Collies. Comparisons of F1 hybrids with their respective parental breeds revealed no clear pattern of inheritance for these characteristics but suggested that multiple factors, both independent and epistatic, are involved. Based on previous studies on nigrostriatal DA and behavior, the levels of DA in this system may be causally related to the levels of predatory behavior expressed by Collies and Shars.
Article
Questionnaires concerning herd size, housing and management, and previous instances of predation were mailed to 124 goat owners in Louisiana. Postcards were mailed over a period of one year on a monthly basis, to the 84 individuals who responded to this questionnaire. Owners were asked to indicate whether they had seen predators on their property and whether any goats were injured or killed by the predators. Upon receipt of any postcard with a "yes" answer to either of these questions, a telephone interview was conducted to determine the exact circumstances of predator experience. The interview format included time, physical circumstances, and detailed questions about the actions of the predator and the goats. In 85% of the cases, the predators sighted were reported as dogs, and most of these were thought to be pets, rather than wild. Instances of attacks occurred most frequently during periods of reduced light. No clear seasonal pattern of attacks emerged. Four management factors were associated with a reduction in number of attacks; penning the goats at night, use of a night light, proximity of the herd to an occupied residence, and presence of a dog.
Article
Though social behavior has not been overlooked by behavior geneticists, the number of studies is small when compared to those on individual traits. One reason for the neglect may be the difficulty of making connections between genes and social behaviors, which by definition involve the interaction of two or more organisms. Fuller and Hahn (1976) addressed this issue and described three means of establishing social groups that would facilitate genetic analysis. We survey the literature on agonistic behavior in mice from 1976 through 1994 and describe interesting uses of those three methods. One of those methods (the standard tester design) often employs a "noninteractive" social partner. We present data showing that the standard tester design may be more valuable when using an evocative and interactive standard tester.
Article
Domestication and selective breeding have transformed wolves into the diversity of dogs we see today. The sequence of the genome of one breed adds to our understanding of mammalian biology and genome evolution.