What is applied canine behaviour ?
 

Put briefly, it is the study and understanding of canine psychology, behaviour and behaviour modification.

It is a common human trait to project one's own ignorance onto others and we often get the impression that people we talk to in the "animals and zoos etc." industry think that we, at the AWS, are a bunch of happy anoraks running on guesswork and luck plus a bit of breakfast-table expert hearsay.

Wrong!

As a group, we have one of the highest concentrations of practical, hands-on canine psychology knowledge and skills in Britain. We do not guess - we find out, we practise and then we teach ! Several of our core support members and quite a few of our general members are full or part time dog trainers and remedial behaviourists and we do not value pure academic knowledge above practical, hands-on expertise and can-do.

This article has a certain attitude behind it as you will see. That is because it was prompted by the appalling quality of information about wolves which some of our members have reported being given by various places who like to promote themselves as the standard-setters of wild animal care and understanding.

Part of our job is to change peoples' perception of wolves from the ancient stereotype of the blood-thirsty monster to something less likely to incite wholesale slaughter of the species. To achieve that, people have to see wolves producing a sizeable proportion of their natural behavioural repertoire which is mostly peaceable, social and immediately (and pleasantly) recognisable to any dog-owner. The exposure of this behaviour is something which cannot be achieved by zoo wolves - which are almost entirely non hand-raised and therefore instinctively and intensely afraid of humans; such animals will not produce more than a fraction of their normal behaviours whilst humans are around watching. It can only be achieved by hand-raised wolves which are kept socialised to human beings. In order to hand-raise wolves and interact with them in a way which keeps them sociable toward humans long-term and reliably it is necessary to understand how wolves learn, what they learn and what they don't need to learn and why. This knowledge - and much else besides - and the practical use of it come under the heading of "applied canine behaviour".

In most places where you can see wolves, you will be told how many there are in country x, what they eat and how many cubs they have and when they're born etc. but this kind of information, whilst kind of cute and conventional, is not telling you anything at all about the nature of the animal; Any zoo can give you that information and it is no better for dispelling misunderstanding of the wolf than than the news that minority religious group y "wears clothes, has an average 2.5 children and lives in houses" would be for dispelling hatred of that group.

To approach an understanding of the nature of wolves it is necessary to understand what they are compelled by nature to do, what they simply learn to do, how they communicate with each other (and what they communicate), how they interact socially with each other and what rules govern these interactions - plus much, much more. As dogs and wolves are closely related and near behaviourally identical, the study of the one is, in major part, also the study of the other and as a useful spin-off, we can learn much about the "wolves" we share our homes with by studying the raw, ancestral material at this level. Simply learning how many wolves there are in Abyssinia or how old cubs are when they leave the den won't tell us much about either dog or wolf and it certainly won't change minds; Most fur-trappers, sheep ranchers and big game hunters (the three main persecutors of wolves) are in possession of more or less accurate information of this type and it does not appear to be of much use in replacing ignorance, hatred and destruction by respect.

Questions such as what an animal eats, where it lives and how many young it has are part of the subjects broadly described as Biology and Ecology. Behaviour is something very different. Wolves have one of the richest behaviour sets in the animal kingdom and saying "I love wolves but I'm not interested in their behaviour" is a bit like saying I love Beethoven but I'm not interested in his music.

Do you understand wolves ? Can you answer these questions ? The word "exactly" in each implies that there is a major, over-riding factor which you'd get no points for omitting.
 

Why might a wolf growl at part of a carcass that has got stuck on a tree branch so that it can't get at it ? ("Um, well, I've only worked here since June and that one's always a bit growly" is NOT even an answer let alone the answer).
If a wolf pulled this face at me whilst I was in the pen with it (or a dog did it to me whilst I was on a consultation), what body language would I use in response to protect myself ? ("Um, well, just keep calm", won't save you). Exactly what is this wolf doing ? ("Um, well, he's just a bit angry about something", won't save your bacon). If I was standing three quarters behind/beside him, would it be safe for me to put my fingers in his mouth ? Exactly why/not ? ("Um, well, I know how many wolves there are in Abyssinia", won't ensure that you'll still be able to play Rachmaninov's 3'rd piano concerto afterwards).
Wolves are outstandingly intelligent and can learn almost anything at all much faster than dogs. If someone offered you £1 million to take a year to train a wolf not to chase a bolting rabbit, do you think that you could succeed and win the £1m (you're not allowed to use any gadgets) ? If yes, exactly why, if no, exactly why not. ("Um, well, I think so / I don't think so" won't be buying you any big cigars or Rolls Royces).
Do you think that a wolf pack can have more than one omega female animal - or even say, more than one alpha male ? If yes, exactly why, if no, exactly why not. ("Um, well, probably; they're a bit like us aren't they; Cor, that's a stiff one!" won't be winning you any friends in high places).
Is this wolf watching a rabbit or other prey animal or something else ? Would the thing it's watching be in any danger if the wolf could reach it ?
Do you know the difference between an instinct and an instinctive behaviour ? ("Well, it's sort of, I mean, well, I think...", doesn't go down well with a client when they're asking you to stop their dog producing some ghastly behaviour it started doing last year.)
Would you ever want something you say to a dog or a wolf to become a "conditioned reinforcer" ? Why ? Could something you say to a dog become one accidentally ?
Is it always / sometimes / never safe to introduce a hand-raised, adult Alpha male wolf to visitors ? Exactly why ? What factors are important in deciding ? ("Um, well, they're a bit temperamental, so probably not", isn't good enough).
Exactly what is going on here ? Why ? What does it tell you about the relationship between these two animals ? If I knew the animals well would it be safe for me to put my fingers in their mouths ? What factors would be important in deciding ?
In which three months does a lone wolf stand the best chance of succesfully joining another pack and exactly why those three months ? ("Um, well, I asked a chap whos had wolves for years and he said ... is the best time" doesn't get you in with a chance).
How do you know if a captive wolf is contented with life ? Get good advice from a zoo Apply your best morality to its keep Observe the animal and understand its body language My wolves are always contented so why the question ? Ask a PhD animal behaviourist for advice

Some of these questions have a "think about it" element and more than one slant on the answer.

Within a year of joining our core group, all our active handlers could answer all of these questions, not because they have simply been told the answers but because they have observed, analysed, learned and asked questions.

I'm not going to tell you the answers either. You'll find clues to most of them in various places on this website. The rest you'll only get by doing what we do - taking the time to research and learn.