Orientation In Dogs And Other Animals

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-31 03:34

In the process of the centuries-old struggle of wild animals for existence, adapting to changing environmental conditions, they have developed numerous inherited skills that allow them to get food, escape from enemies, reproduce and raise offspring. On the basis of genetically determined skills (instincts) in animals during their upbringing by their parents and living in groups (herds, flocks, etc.), conditioned skills (reflexes) are developed that facilitate their daily life.

A specific manifestation of these instincts and conditioned reflexes is the ability of animals to orient themselves well in the environment, to use various signals (visual, olfactory, etc.).

Pets, including dogs, under the influence of human-created conditions, although they have undergone significant changes, have retained many of the skills inherent in their wild ancestors, and actively use them in the process of life.

On the basis of instincts and conditioned reflexes, the entire complex system of educational, general, special training of service dogs and their use for various types of service is built. That is why knowledge of the basics of dog behavior, their abilities for orientation and signaling, the development of conditioned reflexes is an indispensable condition for the rational, correct treatment of dogs, their successful rearing, education, training and use in the service. For dog breeders, it is not only useful, but also necessary to study, in parallel with the behavior of dogs, the behavior of other animals, including wild ones, since without this it is impossible to deeply learn the origin of the skills that dogs have from birth and are developed in the process of life, their genetic roots, conditioning certain specific actions (actions) of dogs when meeting with other animals. This knowledge is essential for dog handlers, trainers and amateur dog breeders. They are especially useful for young men preparing to serve with dogs in the border troops.

The ability of animals to navigate in space has long been the subject of human admiration. The ability of pigeons and other birds to find their home, returning to it from great distances, was amazing.

Not only adults, but also young birds traveling without the guidance of old experienced individuals unmistakably find wintering places, although they have never been there, and return to their homeland in the spring. They often do this in conditions of poor visibility, with a crosswind, flying over the seas and oceans, where there are no landmarks at all. Flight destinations are constant In New Zealand, a monument has been erected to the cuckoo, which, according to legend, showed the way to these islands with its flights over the Tasman Sea.

The famous traveler N. M. Przhevalsky described the fact when the dog returned home on the second day from a distance of 200 km. A cat from Ukraine was presented to Muscovites. After a year and a half, she came back. The silver-black fox that escaped during transportation from the train near Lake Baikal returned to the farm near the Borzya station, where she lived before, having traveled at least 1000 km. The ability to orientate is especially developed in wild animals. Households also have it. Travelers who got lost in the blizzard often remained alive, trusting the horse, which itself found its way to housing. There is a known case when a horse escaped from the Cossacks standing in Kiev, returned to the Urals, to its stud farm, where it was born and raised. Polar bears are sometimes carried out on floating ice from the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait to the south and they swim along the coast of Kamchatka. Leaving the melting icethe bear goes home not along the coast along which he swam, but in a straight line across the Anadyr Peninsula. Before giving birth, polar bears come to the islands of the Arctic Ocean over ice hundreds of kilometers away.

Sometimes animals make mistakes when navigating the terrain. For example, in different years in the Kirov region such birds as bustard, griffon vulture, little bustard and flamingos were hunted. There are cases when ptarmigan, migrating, fly into the sea, and then on the shore find a huge number of their corpses. There is a known case of a seal being found in a village 13 km from the sea. While the goals of bird migrations are mostly clear, mass mammalian migrations are often striking in their seeming senselessness.

Orientation is learned in various ways. The ringing method is very common. They also use external observation at night with the help of searchlights and radar installations of light aircraft. This method of studying orientation is also used: birds and animals are caught near the nest and released in an unfamiliar area, having previously marked them. Animals tend to come back. This ability of birds (in particular, pigeons) has long been used by man to send written messages. The results of the experiments are evaluated according to the direction of flight after release, the time spent on this, and the percentage of individuals returning.

Some of the analyzers are sometimes turned off in the released birds: by extirpation (complete removal by surgery) of individual organs, by putting on various lenses - cloudy, colored, etc. Experimentally, orientation behavior is studied using the method of a round cell with one central and many peripheral perches. During migratory disturbance, birds prefer to jump in the direction in which they would fly when released into the wild.