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Classification / Natural History
Biology
Behavior
Feeding
Diseases



CLASSIFICATION
phylum : chordata
class : mammalia
order : carnivora
family : canidae
subspecies : canis lupus familiaris

NATURAL HISTORY
origin : first mammals appear 200 million years ago.
the origin of dogs seems to be a zoological enigma ; according to K. Lorenz wolves and jackals could have been its ancestors.
domestication : about 10 000-5 000 before J.-C.
now : almost 300 pedigrees



BIOLOGY
sexual maturity : 180-360 days
mating age : 12 months
females fecundity : every 6-8 months
females are in heat during about 20 days :
after 10 days they accept males during about 5 days
gestation : 53-71 days
litter : 4-8 babies
weaning : 6-8 weeks

body T° : 38.2°C (±0.6°)
longevity : 10-15 years
weight : from less than 1kg to 80kg depending the pedigree
cardiac rhythm : 150 (±23) beat/min.
respiratory rhythm : 20-28 breath/min.

senses
smell : + + +
hearing : + +
eyesight : +



BEHAVIOR
Socialization
The puppies socialization period is between 35-50 days after birth : at this moment the first contacts with humans are imprinted (even a short meeting is enough) ; forward social experience of a dog can determinate if it will be social/extravert or shy/fearful.
Early social experiences - as contacts with other dogs or humans - are essential factors for a suitable social development ; nevertheless socialization can be modified by later experiences.

Social organization
As for most of wild canine the primitive social oraganization in dogs is the pack of hounds : lost animals - back to wild - rapidly form flexible associations close relatives to the wolves ones ; near to 20 dogs can join these groups, but most of time only 2 or 3 dogs (without relationship) associate : this kind of band is more permanent than the big groups.
Canine society rules are domination/subordination interactions : the dominant dog has priority for food, he decides for activities in the group.

Communication
Attitudes rule relations : face and eyes expressions, tail and body positions, indicate the domination relation between 2 dogs.
A subordinate dog wags his tail down, his ears are down, he licks the dominant mouth, rolls on the ground (offering his throat and his genitals).
A dominant dog has ears up, bristled back fur, stiffened paws, up still tail, can put his head or a paw on the neck or the back of the submissive dog, can sometimes take the dominated nose in his mouth.
Dogs owners often tend to have an anthropomorphic point of view of the behavior of their animal :
example : a dog that licks his master's mouth doesn't try to kiss him and show him his love but to show him his submission at this moment (frequently observed after punishment).

Conditioning
The animal associates a fact with another ; this learning process is not specific to dogs : conditioning is rife in the animal world.
Dogs owners sometimes misunderstand this logic and can do some mistakes during the dog education :
example : calling the dog to punish him : after a few days the animal will be afraid when his master calls him.

Intelligence
Variations between pedigrees as to learning capacities have often been suggested but experiences show that character and temper are the principal factors.
It's considered that a dog with an average intelligence is able to learn about 50 words.



FEEDING
Food is usually given once a day, but twice a day can be useful to minimize the gastric torsion in big dogs.
Industrial food
A lot of aliments found in petshops or to the vets are now adapted to each animal (activity level, disease).
Homemade food
The problem of the homemade food is that it often contains too much proteins and calories, a nonadaptative calcium/phosphore rate (it must be between 1:1 and 2:1) and is deficient in Ca, Cu, iodin and vitamins.
Quantities of homemade food (/kg of dog) :
10g of green vegetables (spinach, green beans) + 10g of rice or pasta + 10g of meat.
can be added : a little spoon of sunflower oil (vitamin E, essential fatty acids) and some nutritional complements (vitamins, minerals).



DISEASES
Dogs can develop a lot of diseases (infections, tumors, renal, respiratory or cardiac problems...).
Here are some symptoms of an ill dog :
water consumption increasing, vomiting, diarrheas, anorexia, frequent or abnormal urine, cough, respiratory problems, quick breathlessness, apathy, skin lesions, sparse fur...