CDT Canine Behavior & Psychology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A dog shows intense excitement at the sight of the leash but freezes and refuses to walk once outside. Which concept best explains this pattern?
- Approach-avoidance conflict (Correct answer)
- Learned irrelevance
- Operant blocking
- Stimulus discrimination
Correct answer: Approach-avoidance conflict
Approach-avoidance conflict occurs when the same stimulus elicits both desire and fear, causing ambivalent behavior like excitement followed by freezing.
Question 2: According to the Ladder of Aggression model, which behavior typically appears EARLIEST as a warning sign?
- Snapping
- Stiffening and staring
- Yawning and blinking (Correct answer)
- Growling
Correct answer: Yawning and blinking
Yawning, blinking, and lip licking are among the earliest, most subtle displacement and stress signals on the Ladder of Aggression.
Question 3: Which type of aggression is most likely when a dog bites a child who approaches its food bowl and then immediately retreats and wags its tail?
- Fear aggression
- Redirected aggression
- Resource guarding aggression (Correct answer)
- Predatory aggression
Correct answer: Resource guarding aggression
Guarding a food bowl and biting when approached is classic resource guarding; tail wagging afterward reflects conflict, not friendliness.
Question 4: The concept of 'learned irrelevance' in dogs refers to:
- A dog ignoring cues due to overuse without reinforcement
- Reduced responsiveness to a stimulus after it has been repeatedly presented without consequence before training begins (Correct answer)
- Extinction of a previously reinforced behavior
- Failure to generalize across contexts
Correct answer: Reduced responsiveness to a stimulus after it has been repeatedly presented without consequence before training begins
Learned irrelevance occurs when a stimulus is pre-exposed without significance, making it harder to later use that stimulus as an effective cue.
Question 5: A certified dog trainer notices a dog constantly licking its paws, spinning, and chasing its tail despite no medical cause. These are most consistent with:
- Normal play behavior
- Compulsive/stereotypic behaviors (Correct answer)
- Predatory drift
- Extinction bursts
Correct answer: Compulsive/stereotypic behaviors
Repetitive, seemingly functionless behaviors with no medical cause are classified as canine compulsive or stereotypic behaviors, often stress-related.
Question 6: Which social structure best describes feral dog groups based on current scientific research?
- Rigid linear dominance hierarchies like wolves
- Loose, fluid social groups without fixed alpha roles (Correct answer)
- Matriarchal packs with a single breeding female
- Solitary territorial animals that only meet to breed
Correct answer: Loose, fluid social groups without fixed alpha roles
Research on feral dogs shows loose, opportunistic social groupings rather than the rigid dominance hierarchies once assumed from captive wolf studies.
Question 7: When a previously housetrained dog begins eliminating indoors after a new baby arrives, the most likely explanation is:
- Spiteful behavior directed at the owners
- Stress-induced behavioral regression (Correct answer)
- A urinary tract infection
- Loss of stimulus control over the elimination cue
Correct answer: Stress-induced behavioral regression
Behavioral regression under stress — reverting to earlier, less reliable behaviors — is a common canine response to major environmental changes.
CDT Canine Behavior & Psychology 3
A dog shows intense excitement at the sight of the leash but freezes and refuses to walk once outside.
Which concept best explains this pattern?