Post No.: 0351
Furrywisepuppy says:
Let’s continue on from Post No.: 0340 in our series of chats about cats and dogs.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
I think we should talk about a critical stage in a dog or cat’s life today – the socialisation.
I’ll let you start this time.
Furrywisepuppy says:
Thanks kitty. ‘Socialisation’ is the learning process that a young kitten or puppy must go through in order to learn key life skills that’ll ensure he/she will be calm, confident and happy as he/she grows up and lives in his/her environment. A successful socialisation will help reduce the chances of a cat or dog developing behavioural problems later in life and will help him/her be able to communicate well within his/her social group.
Therefore the socialisation of a puppy or kitten is momentous. The socialisation window for dogs is roughly between 3-14 weeks of age, which is often within the time when puppies are sold and taken away from their mothers and siblings hence their socialisation with being around other dogs and bite inhibition are not yet complete – but this does mean that the new owner can personally take responsibility for their pet’s socialisation and environmental habituation.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
During this time, any new experience that is introduced to them in a calm and positive manner will be accepted as normal. This is therefore the optimal time to introduce them to and build positive associations with various things that they’ll be expected to live with or amongst in the modern world.
Furrywisepuppy says:
If this stage of development goes well then a dog will become used to being around a variety of different people (e.g. young children, disabled people), other dogs or animals, places, traffic, crowds, vacuum cleaners, fireworks, being inside a car, carrier or being left alone for short periods of time, being handled, even quiet times, and any other potentially scary experiences (mainly sights, sounds or smells).
Socialisation is done by gradually exposing a puppy to mild versions of these potentially scary stimuli and the goal is for the puppy to have neither an automatic negative (e.g. fearful) or overly positive (e.g. excitement) association with them – so you may wish to reward your puppy for ignoring and not interacting with these stimuli.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
You can get hold of audio tracks that play sounds of fireworks, traffic and so forth. But like when humans learn things, cramming is not optimal – so remember to pace and space the learning nicely. Rest and sleep are when lessons are solidified in the brain and that’s the same for us creatures too.
Furrywisepuppy says:
That’s correct. To get a puppy used to being left alone for short periods of time, you could pair these short periods with a positive experience (e.g. when they’re eating their dinner or spending time with a special treat or toy) then build up the duration being separated gradually. Long periods of time left alone are not recommended for dogs!
Us puppies like to chew and bite. ‘Bite inhibition’ is usually learnt when a puppy bites another puppy too hard and that puppy yelps with feedback to say that it’s gone too far. To reduce the chances of a puppy growing up to bite humans – if a puppy nips your hand then give a firm but calm, “No” and withdraw your hand and all interaction. Redirect his/her attention onto toys or chews that are inanimate instead.
Dogs may also guard their food and other important resources aggressively, even against their owners. For a dog to learn to overcome this during socialisation – pair the presence of you as a human, next to your puppy’s food, with a reward of even better food (a special treat), so that a human hand reaching for their dog bowl is associated with good things rather than bad things. So spanning over a few days, throw small treats into their food bowl as they’re eating from it; gradually getting your hands closer to the bowl each time. This should always be done calmly, stroking the dog when he/she is calm about you being near his/her food while he/she’s eating from it.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
There are currently more cats than dogs in the world, with many cat owners owning more than one cat – but it’s crucial to understand that, unlike dogs, we are primarily solitary and selectively social animals.
If cats live together amongst other cats, it’ll normally be in colonies of mothers and daughters (matrilineal relationships), with selected males allowed in for breeding. The sustainability of this social structure will also hinge upon how plentiful food and other resources are within a given territory.
Cats have a chance of being social towards each other if they were raised together as kittens, whether they’re related or unrelated.
Furrywisepuppy says:
And that’s essentially how we are fur-iends and why Fluffystealthkitten is really comfortable around me. Even though we’re not the same animal, we’re basically growing up together.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
That’s true!
The socialisation window for (ordinary) cats is between 2-7 weeks of age, which is much earlier than dogs. This is the best window of opportunity to try to socialise two cats to live together harmoniously. Like for a dog, this socialisation stage is also important for raising a cat who’ll become more likely to cope with new situations and changes to her/his environment.
Individual personalities or temperaments play some role but cats who are forced to share living spaces with other cats will otherwise tend to find it stressful, and will have to compete for resources. Other cats in the neighbourhood are therefore a great source of stress, especially in densely-populated areas, as outdoor territory is contested amongst numerous cats – like some real-life multiplayer game of ‘King of the Hill’!
Cats who have formed a social grouping exhibit signs such as greeting nose-to-nose, grooming each other, sleeping curled up together and being comfortable in each other’s company. Signs that cats aren’t getting along with each other include obvious hostility, but aggression is usually a last resort so more commonly there’ll be a reluctance to hang around each other and increased hiding behaviours. We’re quite stealthy animals anyway.
Furrywisepuppy says:
I can vouch for that when it took me a long time to find you when we played hide and seek – cats are naturally masters at hiding!
Fluffystealthkitten says:
Yep! Bells on collars won’t help a cat though. No cat I personal know likes them but owners want to hear where their cats are and think it’ll protect other wildlife by warning them away. They’re quite controversial.
Anyway, subtle body language cues if a cat is not too comfortable around another are a tendency to place one’s back towards each other, or moving the ears to the side when the other cat comes nearby.
Adequate key resources must be provided according to the number of social groupings within a household (e.g. feeding stations, drinking stations and access to litter trays (all in separate rooms from each other), resting places, high hiding places, full-stretch-length scratching substrates, toys and owner attention). Cats usually don’t want to share so it’s important that enough resources are provided for each social group of cats living within a household, plus one extra; except food bowls, which need one per individual cat – these will not be shared even amongst best friends.
Furrywisepuppy says:
I’ve noticed(!) Well not that I personally like to share my food bowl either…
Fluffystealthkitten says:
Cats are predators but are also preyed upon. The more hiding place options there are in the house, the safer a cat will feel. A good tip is leaving the cat carrier open somewhere in the house with nice bedding so that a cat can use it as a hiding place if desired. This allows the cat to get comfortable with being inside the carrier when it comes to going to see the vet too.
Furrywisepuppy says:
That guy we met who kept talking about his experiences in the Gulf War?!
Fluffystealthkitten says:
No, the veterinarian!
Furrywisepuppy says:
Just jesting with you!
Overall, you’ve got to question things like why do you want to bring a new cat into the household when the existing cat(s) there is happy? It shouldn’t be a whimsical decision. If you do want to bring a new cat in then it must be carefully planned and you must provide enough space and resources for all of them.
Fluffystealthkitten says:
Yes. The scent profile of a cat’s environment is very important for a cat – cats will spread their scent (which is undetectable by humans) on everything that’s in their safe territory to ensure that everything in this environment smells familiar and therefore safe to them (e.g. rubbing their cheeks on visitors’ legs, new furniture and even their owners again). If there’s a lot of disruption to this scent profile – maybe due to the arrival of another pet, lots of visitors or redecoration – then a cat may start to urinate to mark areas with her/his own scent (spraying).
Redecoration might therefore need to be done gradually around cats (e.g. if you are going to move a litter tray then first keep the original in its original location and offer, as identical as possible, a tray in the new location until the cat gets used to using the one in the new location).
Regardless of whether we have access to the outdoors, cats are solitary hunters, and as such, territory is very important to us, and cats will defend and mark the boundary of their individual territory with urine and faeces. Our core territory is the sheltered area where we expect to feel safe to eat, drink, rest and play – the boundary of this area is not marked (unless breached and threatened, such as by an intruding cat) because it’s situated within our overall territory. Our overall territory is the area we will actively defend and demarcate. Beyond this territory is the home range, which is the entire area that a cat will roam and explore – this area will be shared with other cats (including that fat cat from down the road in my case).
Furrywisepuppy says:
Just like with humans, an older dog or cat can learn new tricks or habits but it generally progressively gets more difficult to retrain one out of any previously-reinforced undesired habits, hence why it’s best to raise them right in the very first place. And a bad early experience can have long-ranging consequences, such as a fearfulness of certain things, over-reactivity, slow learning and preventable behavioural problems, which can be hard to shift (just like when some children develop a fear of dogs themselves).
Fluffystealthkitten says:
How we are raised is vital in shaping our likely future behaviours. But get the socialisation stage right, continue to train them well, and cats and dogs will be unbeatable companions!
Furrywisepuppy says:
Unconditionally loving family members! Woof!
Fluffystealthkitten says:
The best-est beasts! Meow!
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