Title: Definitions of Social Development
Course: Introduction to Wolf Ethology

At the end of this unit, you will be able to define five critical development periods in a wolf pups life.

When reviewing Scott and Fuller's work, it's important to start with some key definitions of behavior. The following are the major categories describing individual behavioral patterns.

A behavior pattern is a set of actions combined for a single purpose, such as grooming. There are twelve behavior patterns identified in the family Canidae to which the dog and the wolf belong.

Investigative behavior:
sniffing, listening and looking
Epimeletic behavior:
Care giving to oneself or others. Grooming, shelter building, feeding
Et-epimeletic behavior:
Care soliciting or attention getting. Whining, yelping, tail wagging, licking face or hands, touching with paws
Allelomimeitc behavior:
Group behaviors. Walking or running together, howling, lying down together
Agnostic behavior:
Conflict. Fighting and predation, chasing, biting, snapping teeth, snarling, barking, wagging tip of tail, herding
Defense and escape reactions:
sitting, crouching, running away, yelping, showing teeth, tail between the legs, rolling on back, pawing and extending legs
Attitudes of dominance:
forepaws on back, growling, tail erect (may bite neck); standing over dog on ground, growling; standing or walking stiff-legged with tail erect; head down, back arched, tail down; mounting, tail down, neck biting, without pelvic thrusts
Attitudes of subordination:
allowing dominant animal to place feet on back, tail erect; tail down; tail between legs, crouching, ears depressed; roll on back legs extended, tail between legs
Sexual behavior:
Mounting, clasping, licking
Eliminative behavior:
Urination, defecation, sniffing, wandering, nosing the ground, scratching the ground
Ingestive behavior:
Eating, lapping, chewing, gnawing
Miscellaneous motor activities:
twitching while asleep, stretching, yawning, rolling over (Scott & Fuller: P63)

Additionally, some behavior patterns are closely associated with others in loose relationships called behavioral systems. For example, the investigative behavior pattern is combined with agnostic and ingestive behavior patterns to form a behavioral system whose function is to capture and eat prey. We often call innate behavior, instinct. (reference John Rodriguez - Dog Behavior)