Bloodthirsty pack of dogs take out 350-lb. llama
Local law enforcement officials in Northeast Washington state are worried about a pack of dogs that have attacked at least 100 animals since March. The pack, they fear, is now "killing for fun."
The wild dogs took out a 350-lb llama on Tuesday night, the latest in a string of attacks that have left more than 100 goats and other farm animals dead in the ranching community of Stevens County. The dogs, whose breeds are so far unknown, emerge only at night, but residents in their predatory range in the valleys and mountains near Spokane are afraid the canines may be getting bolder.
"I think they are capable of do anything at this point," Deputy Sheriff Keith Cochran told KXLY4, adding that he's worried the animals may just be preying on area creatures for the sport of it. Undersheriff Lavonne Webb told the AP the pack is " killing for the sake of killing."
"They are doing it to be cruel, they're bloodthirsty," resident Temma Davis told the station. "It's like 'Cujo.' "
Webb told the AP it's possible some of the four or five dogs in the pack aren't wild and go home to their owners during the day. One resident managed to snap a photograph of the pack, above.
(Dogs: Courtesy of the Stevens County Sheriff's Office/AP)
The wild dogs took out a 350-lb llama on Tuesday night, the latest in a string of attacks that have left more than 100 goats and other farm animals dead in the ranching community of Stevens County. The dogs, whose breeds are so far unknown, emerge only at night, but residents in their predatory range in the valleys and mountains near Spokane are afraid the canines may be getting bolder.
"I think they are capable of do anything at this point," Deputy Sheriff Keith Cochran told KXLY4, adding that he's worried the animals may just be preying on area creatures for the sport of it. Undersheriff Lavonne Webb told the AP the pack is " killing for the sake of killing."
"They are doing it to be cruel, they're bloodthirsty," resident Temma Davis told the station. "It's like 'Cujo.' "
Webb told the AP it's possible some of the four or five dogs in the pack aren't wild and go home to their owners during the day. One resident managed to snap a photograph of the pack, above.
(Dogs: Courtesy of the Stevens County Sheriff's Office/AP)
Russian stray dogs
"The second difference between stray dogs and wolves is that the dogs, on average, are much less aggressive and a good deal more tolerant of one another," says Poyarkov. Wolves stay strictly within their own pack, even if they share a territory with another. A pack of dogs, however, can hold a dominant position over other packs and their leader will often "patrol" the other packs by moving in and out of them. His observations have led Poyarkov to conclude that this leader is not necessarily the strongest or most dominant dog, but the most intelligent – and is acknowledged as such. The pack depends on him for its survival.
Moscow's strays sit somewhere between house pets and wolves, says Poyarkov, but are in the early stages of the shift from the domesticated back towards the wild. That said, there seems little chance of reversing this process. It is virtually impossible to domesticate a stray: many cannot stand being confined indoors.
"Genetically, wolves and dogs are almost identical," says Poyarkov. "What has changed significantly [with domestication] is a range of hormonal and behavioural parameters, because of the brutal natural selection that eliminated many aggressive animals." He recounts the work of Soviet biologist Dmitri Belyaev, exiled from Moscow in 1948 during the Stalin years for a commitment to classical genetics that ran counter to state scientific doctrine of the time.
Under the guise of studying animal physiology, Belyaev set up a Russian silver fox research centre in Novosibirsk, setting out to test his theory that the most important selected characteristic for the domestication of dogs was a lack of aggression. He began to select foxes that showed the least fear of humans and bred them. After 10-15 years, the foxes he bred showed affection to their keepers, even licking them. They barked, had floppy ears and wagged their tails. They also developed spotted coats – a surprising development that was connected with a decrease in their levels of adrenaline, which shares a biochemical pathway with melanin and controls pigment production.
"With stray dogs, we're witnessing a move backwards," explains Poyarkov. "That is, to a wilder and less domesticated state, to a more 'natural' state." As if to prove his point, strays do not have spotted coats, they rarely wag their tails and are wary of humans, showing no signs of affection towards them.
The dogs divide into four types, he says, which are determined by their character, how they forage for food, their level of socialisation to people and the ecological niche they inhabit.
Those that remain most comfortable with people Poyarkov calls "guard dogs". Their territories tend to be garages, warehouses, hospitals and other fenced-in institutions, and they develop ties to the security guards from whom they receive food and whom they regard as masters. I've seen them in my neighbourhood near the front gate to the Central Clinical Hospital for Civil Aviation. When I pass on the other side with my dog they cross the street towards us, barking loudly."The second stage of becoming wild is where the dog is socialised to people in general, but not personally," says Poyarkov. "These are the beggars and they are excellent psychologists." He gives as an example a dog that appears to be dozing as throngs of people walk past, but who rears his head when an easy target comes into view: "The dog will come to a little old lady, start smiling and wagging his tail, and sure enough, he'll get food." These dogs not only smell who is carrying something tasty, but sense who will stop and feed them.
The beggars live in relatively small packs and are subordinate to leaders. If a dog is intelligent but occupies a low rank and does not get enough to eat, he will separate from the pack frequently to look for food. If he sees other dogs begging, he will watch and learn.
The third group comprises dogs that are somewhat socialised to people, but whose social interaction is directed almost exclusively towards other strays. Their main strategy for acquiring food is gathering scraps from the streets and the many open rubbish bins. During the Soviet period, the pickings were slim, which limited their population (as did a government policy of catching and killing them). But as Russia began to prosper in the post-Soviet years, official efforts to cull them fell away and, at the same time, many more choice offerings appeared in the bins. The strays flourished.
The last of Poyarkov's groups are the wild dogs. "There are dogs living in the city that are not socialised to people. They know people, but view them as dangerous. Their range is extremely broad, and they are predators. They catch mice, rats and the occasional cat. They live in the city, but as a rule near industrial complexes, or in wooded parks. They are nocturnal and walk about when there are fewer people on the streets."
Moscow's strays sit somewhere between house pets and wolves, says Poyarkov, but are in the early stages of the shift from the domesticated back towards the wild. That said, there seems little chance of reversing this process. It is virtually impossible to domesticate a stray: many cannot stand being confined indoors.
"Genetically, wolves and dogs are almost identical," says Poyarkov. "What has changed significantly [with domestication] is a range of hormonal and behavioural parameters, because of the brutal natural selection that eliminated many aggressive animals." He recounts the work of Soviet biologist Dmitri Belyaev, exiled from Moscow in 1948 during the Stalin years for a commitment to classical genetics that ran counter to state scientific doctrine of the time.
Under the guise of studying animal physiology, Belyaev set up a Russian silver fox research centre in Novosibirsk, setting out to test his theory that the most important selected characteristic for the domestication of dogs was a lack of aggression. He began to select foxes that showed the least fear of humans and bred them. After 10-15 years, the foxes he bred showed affection to their keepers, even licking them. They barked, had floppy ears and wagged their tails. They also developed spotted coats – a surprising development that was connected with a decrease in their levels of adrenaline, which shares a biochemical pathway with melanin and controls pigment production.
"With stray dogs, we're witnessing a move backwards," explains Poyarkov. "That is, to a wilder and less domesticated state, to a more 'natural' state." As if to prove his point, strays do not have spotted coats, they rarely wag their tails and are wary of humans, showing no signs of affection towards them.
The dogs divide into four types, he says, which are determined by their character, how they forage for food, their level of socialisation to people and the ecological niche they inhabit.
Those that remain most comfortable with people Poyarkov calls "guard dogs". Their territories tend to be garages, warehouses, hospitals and other fenced-in institutions, and they develop ties to the security guards from whom they receive food and whom they regard as masters. I've seen them in my neighbourhood near the front gate to the Central Clinical Hospital for Civil Aviation. When I pass on the other side with my dog they cross the street towards us, barking loudly."The second stage of becoming wild is where the dog is socialised to people in general, but not personally," says Poyarkov. "These are the beggars and they are excellent psychologists." He gives as an example a dog that appears to be dozing as throngs of people walk past, but who rears his head when an easy target comes into view: "The dog will come to a little old lady, start smiling and wagging his tail, and sure enough, he'll get food." These dogs not only smell who is carrying something tasty, but sense who will stop and feed them.
The beggars live in relatively small packs and are subordinate to leaders. If a dog is intelligent but occupies a low rank and does not get enough to eat, he will separate from the pack frequently to look for food. If he sees other dogs begging, he will watch and learn.
The third group comprises dogs that are somewhat socialised to people, but whose social interaction is directed almost exclusively towards other strays. Their main strategy for acquiring food is gathering scraps from the streets and the many open rubbish bins. During the Soviet period, the pickings were slim, which limited their population (as did a government policy of catching and killing them). But as Russia began to prosper in the post-Soviet years, official efforts to cull them fell away and, at the same time, many more choice offerings appeared in the bins. The strays flourished.
The last of Poyarkov's groups are the wild dogs. "There are dogs living in the city that are not socialised to people. They know people, but view them as dangerous. Their range is extremely broad, and they are predators. They catch mice, rats and the occasional cat. They live in the city, but as a rule near industrial complexes, or in wooded parks. They are nocturnal and walk about when there are fewer people on the streets."
Dog Pack Attack: Hunting Humans
Avis, Simon P. M.D. F.R.C.P.C
http://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Abstract/1999/09000/Dog_Pack_Attack__Hunting_Humans.5.aspx
It's tough at the top for alpha males: study
AFP – Thu, Jul 14, 2011
If you're feeling envious of your boss's paycheck, a study out Thursday shows that success comes with high stress, possibly as much as faced by those who have to struggle to find a bite to eat.
The results of nine years of research on wild baboons, published in the journal Science, suggest that despite perks like easy access to mates and food, top-ranking males experience similar stress levels as their lowest-rung counterparts.
Those in the middle showed lower stress than either the top or bottom ranking males, according to measurements of testosterone and a stress hormone known as glucocorticoid.
"Alpha males exhibited much higher stress hormone levels than second-ranking (beta) males, suggesting that being at the top may be more costly than previously thought," said the study led by researchers at Princeton University.
Samples were taken from the feces of a wild male baboon population in Ambelosi, Kenya.
While the stress levels at the top and bottom were similar, they were likely caused by different problems.
Alpha baboons spent lots of energy fighting to stay on top and trying to mate with as many females as possible, while the low-ranking males expended lots of effort searching for food.
Meanwhile, there may be perks for not reaching quite so high.
The second-rate beta males received about the same amount of attention -- in the form of grooming -- from females, but did "slightly better than predicted" at reaching their "full reproductive potential," the study said.
It's tough at the top for alpha males: study
AFP – Thu, Jul 14, 2011
If you're feeling envious of your boss's paycheck, a study out Thursday shows that success comes with high stress, possibly as much as faced by those who have to struggle to find a bite to eat.
The results of nine years of research on wild baboons, published in the journal Science, suggest that despite perks like easy access to mates and food, top-ranking males experience similar stress levels as their lowest-rung counterparts.
Those in the middle showed lower stress than either the top or bottom ranking males, according to measurements of testosterone and a stress hormone known as glucocorticoid.
"Alpha males exhibited much higher stress hormone levels than second-ranking (beta) males, suggesting that being at the top may be more costly than previously thought," said the study led by researchers at Princeton University.
Samples were taken from the feces of a wild male baboon population in Ambelosi, Kenya.
While the stress levels at the top and bottom were similar, they were likely caused by different problems.
Alpha baboons spent lots of energy fighting to stay on top and trying to mate with as many females as possible, while the low-ranking males expended lots of effort searching for food.
Meanwhile, there may be perks for not reaching quite so high.
The second-rate beta males received about the same amount of attention -- in the form of grooming -- from females, but did "slightly better than predicted" at reaching their "full reproductive potential," the study said.
Stress Hormone Might Help Overcome Fear of Heights
By By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – Mon, Jul 11, 2011
MONDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Adding the stress hormone cortisol to more traditional exposure therapy may help anxious patients overcome their fear of heights, researchers say.
Exposure therapy involves gradually exposing people to the thing they fear -- be it height or spiders -- in order to reduce fear responses.
But while promising, this experimental treatment is not yet ready for prime time, said the authors of a study published online March 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"This is a first study -- a proof of concept, if you wish," said study lead author Dr. Dominique J.-F. de Quervain, director of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
"We now need more studies to explore the therapeutic potential of cortisol in combination with psychotherapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders," de Quervain said.
The study involved 40 people with clinically diagnosed acrophobia -- fear of heights -- all of whom took three "virtual" outdoor elevator rides.
An hour before experiencing each fear-inducing situation, half of the participants took 20 milligrams of cortisol, while the other half took an inactive placebo.
Their reactions were assessed three to five days and one month after the last elevator ride, or exposure session.
Those who took cortisol suffered less anxiety than those who took the dummy drug. This was evident in their answers to a standard acrophobia questionnaire and through skin conductance tests, which measure how well the skin conducts electricity. The skin is thought to be a better conductor when the body is aroused and producing sweat.
The authors also reported that cortisol could reduce social and spider phobias.
But why would adding a stress hormone actually reduce fear? Aren't these the hormones produced when people are in anxiety-provoking situations?
The answer to the latter question is yes, but cortisol plays a more complicated role in learning and memory, which might explain this benefit.
They are able to recall the incident, but their body remembers the way it felt to be fearful and those physical feelings are re-experienced when thinking about the incident, explained Keith Young, vice chair for research of psychiatry and behavioral science at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and core leader for neuroimaging and genetics at the Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans in Temple.
Rather, they're remembering subsequent episodes of fear, Young said.
And it's those memories that need to be overwritten and replaced with new, better ones. "Enough of the old memory is there to remember the incident, but not enough to remember and trigger the fearful feelings," Young said.
"Cortisol inhibits retrieval of the fear memory and promotes the storage of corrective experiences," said de Quervain.
Other researchers have had enough success that Young's group is starting to do clinical research on the idea.
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – Mon, Jul 11, 2011
MONDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Adding the stress hormone cortisol to more traditional exposure therapy may help anxious patients overcome their fear of heights, researchers say.
Exposure therapy involves gradually exposing people to the thing they fear -- be it height or spiders -- in order to reduce fear responses.
But while promising, this experimental treatment is not yet ready for prime time, said the authors of a study published online March 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"This is a first study -- a proof of concept, if you wish," said study lead author Dr. Dominique J.-F. de Quervain, director of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
"We now need more studies to explore the therapeutic potential of cortisol in combination with psychotherapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders," de Quervain said.
The study involved 40 people with clinically diagnosed acrophobia -- fear of heights -- all of whom took three "virtual" outdoor elevator rides.
An hour before experiencing each fear-inducing situation, half of the participants took 20 milligrams of cortisol, while the other half took an inactive placebo.
Their reactions were assessed three to five days and one month after the last elevator ride, or exposure session.
Those who took cortisol suffered less anxiety than those who took the dummy drug. This was evident in their answers to a standard acrophobia questionnaire and through skin conductance tests, which measure how well the skin conducts electricity. The skin is thought to be a better conductor when the body is aroused and producing sweat.
The authors also reported that cortisol could reduce social and spider phobias.
But why would adding a stress hormone actually reduce fear? Aren't these the hormones produced when people are in anxiety-provoking situations?
The answer to the latter question is yes, but cortisol plays a more complicated role in learning and memory, which might explain this benefit.
They are able to recall the incident, but their body remembers the way it felt to be fearful and those physical feelings are re-experienced when thinking about the incident, explained Keith Young, vice chair for research of psychiatry and behavioral science at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and core leader for neuroimaging and genetics at the Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans in Temple.
Rather, they're remembering subsequent episodes of fear, Young said.
And it's those memories that need to be overwritten and replaced with new, better ones. "Enough of the old memory is there to remember the incident, but not enough to remember and trigger the fearful feelings," Young said.
"Cortisol inhibits retrieval of the fear memory and promotes the storage of corrective experiences," said de Quervain.
Other researchers have had enough success that Young's group is starting to do clinical research on the idea.
Comparison of Stress and Learning Effects of Three Different
Training Methods:
Electronic Training Collar, Pinch Collar and Quitting Signal
This is the principal EVIDENCE that the proper use of tools in training deliver a more Reliable and Low stress performance from dogs...
Since these Pigeons followers of the Dogma of "purely positive" training, keep attacking other methods and trainers and claim that they have the "science" (Garbage science) on their side, well, science it's a sword of two edges...
- "Considering those results, SCHALKE et al. (2006)
concluded that: ‘’animals, which were able to clearly associate the electric shock with their
action - touching the prey - and consequently predict and control the stressor, did not show
consistent and persistent stress indicators’’.
- "High levels of electric stimulus, on the other hand, may activate C-fiber which produces sensation
of ‘burning’ (SANG et al. 2003). In other words, although no physical damage occurred,
... sensation of burning was perceived upon the administration of the high level of electrical
stimulus."
- "CHRISTIANSEN et al. (2001b) presented a subsequent study examining learning effects of
the electronic dog collar in the following year. Considering their findings in that study, they
cited that the use of electronic training collars is an efficient way to prevent the undesirable
hunting behavior in dogs. They also indicated that no adverse effect of this method was
observed."
In the present study, lowering of the body posture and maximum backward position of the
ears are more frequently exhibited as reactions to the pinch collars than to the electronic
training collars. Moreover, 2 dogs exhibited ‘’extreme ness of body posture’’ as a reaction to
the pinch collar, whilst the same reaction was observed in none of the dogs in response to the
electronic training collar.
The last finding is particularly important since BEERDA (1997) emphasized, that the lowered
posture of dogs may indicate a relatively severe state of stress, namely the distress. Here,
‘’distress’’ refers to the possibly adaptive, harmful and unpleasant level which is outwardly
expressed by behavior (EWBANK 1985). Overall, considering the body posture and ear
positions, pinch collars seem to induce more ‘’distress’’ in dogs than electronic training
collars.
The reasonable interpretation of these results is that since the dog does not link the handler
with receiving the electrical shock, it considers its handler as a ‘’safety point’’ near which it
can protect itself from the aversive situation. In other words, the dog perceives the
punishment by the electronic training collar as the punishment by the environment as a result
of not paying attention to the handler’s warning and, thus, to obey the handler is the only
solution to avoid the aversive situation (TORTORA 1982, LINDSAY 2005).
There was a high learning effect for the electronic training collar and the pinch collar and a
low learning effect for the quitting signal.
Only 4 out of 42 dogs abandoned the behavior after having been given the quitting signal
during the first session. Therefore, only the reactions of these 4 dogs to the quitting signal
could be tested. Consequently, it was observed that 2 dogs showed low ear positions, while
only one dog exhibited low body posture together with low tail position following the signal.
The joint reaction of this dog was, however, scored as “extreme ness of body posture” and
”crouching”.
------------------
So, one dog of 4 following the quitting signal showed "Fear"?!!
And 2 dogs from 42 trained with pinch collar showed "Fear"?!!
Some one, which is the rate of effectiveness?! Shocking!... Not Really!
Since these Pigeons followers of the Dogma of "purely positive" training, keep attacking other methods and trainers and claim that they have the "science" (Garbage science) on their side, well, science it's a sword of two edges...
- "Considering those results, SCHALKE et al. (2006)
concluded that: ‘’animals, which were able to clearly associate the electric shock with their
action - touching the prey - and consequently predict and control the stressor, did not show
consistent and persistent stress indicators’’.
- "High levels of electric stimulus, on the other hand, may activate C-fiber which produces sensation
of ‘burning’ (SANG et al. 2003). In other words, although no physical damage occurred,
... sensation of burning was perceived upon the administration of the high level of electrical
stimulus."
- "CHRISTIANSEN et al. (2001b) presented a subsequent study examining learning effects of
the electronic dog collar in the following year. Considering their findings in that study, they
cited that the use of electronic training collars is an efficient way to prevent the undesirable
hunting behavior in dogs. They also indicated that no adverse effect of this method was
observed."
In the present study, lowering of the body posture and maximum backward position of the
ears are more frequently exhibited as reactions to the pinch collars than to the electronic
training collars. Moreover, 2 dogs exhibited ‘’extreme ness of body posture’’ as a reaction to
the pinch collar, whilst the same reaction was observed in none of the dogs in response to the
electronic training collar.
The last finding is particularly important since BEERDA (1997) emphasized, that the lowered
posture of dogs may indicate a relatively severe state of stress, namely the distress. Here,
‘’distress’’ refers to the possibly adaptive, harmful and unpleasant level which is outwardly
expressed by behavior (EWBANK 1985). Overall, considering the body posture and ear
positions, pinch collars seem to induce more ‘’distress’’ in dogs than electronic training
collars.
The reasonable interpretation of these results is that since the dog does not link the handler
with receiving the electrical shock, it considers its handler as a ‘’safety point’’ near which it
can protect itself from the aversive situation. In other words, the dog perceives the
punishment by the electronic training collar as the punishment by the environment as a result
of not paying attention to the handler’s warning and, thus, to obey the handler is the only
solution to avoid the aversive situation (TORTORA 1982, LINDSAY 2005).
There was a high learning effect for the electronic training collar and the pinch collar and a
low learning effect for the quitting signal.
Only 4 out of 42 dogs abandoned the behavior after having been given the quitting signal
during the first session. Therefore, only the reactions of these 4 dogs to the quitting signal
could be tested. Consequently, it was observed that 2 dogs showed low ear positions, while
only one dog exhibited low body posture together with low tail position following the signal.
The joint reaction of this dog was, however, scored as “extreme ness of body posture” and
”crouching”.
------------------
So, one dog of 4 following the quitting signal showed "Fear"?!!
And 2 dogs from 42 trained with pinch collar showed "Fear"?!!
Some one, which is the rate of effectiveness?! Shocking!... Not Really!