What Pets Actually Want & Need | Dr. Karolina Westlund
Summary
Dr. Karolina Westlund, a professor of ethology at the University of Stockholm, joins Andrew Huberman to discuss the science-based needs of domesticated animals—primarily dogs and cats. The conversation covers how animals evolved behaviors that shape what they need today, how humans frequently misread animal signals, and what owners can do to genuinely improve their pets’ physical and emotional well-being. Many common assumptions about animal behavior—from dominance to gifting prey—are examined and often corrected through an ethological lens.
Key Takeaways
- Dog breeds were selectively bred to express specific parts of the wolf predatory sequence—understanding your dog’s breed predispositions tells you what kind of stimulation it genuinely needs.
- Slow, deliberate stroking is preferred by most dogs over fast patting; rapid patting can be aversive.
- Offering a “consent test” before petting (extend your hand, pause, see if the animal re-initiates contact) respects the animal’s preferences and builds trust.
- Dominance in animals is specifically about priority of access to resources—not about who walks in front or who eats first. Most “dominance” framing in dog training is a misapplication of the concept.
- Cats are solitary hunters; their food should be placed away from their litter box, and if you have multiple cats, feed them in separate locations to reduce conflict.
- A cat rubbing its head on you is scent marking—a social bonding behavior, not a sign of ownership over you.
- Tail direction in dogs signals emotional valence: wagging predominantly to the dog’s right is associated with positive states; wagging to the left is associated with negative states.
- Early handling of kittens (at least 1 hour/day between 2–8 weeks) produces highly social adult cats; less than ~15 minutes/day produces more aloof but not fearful adults.
- Horses suffer from early weaning, single housing, and restricted foraging time—in the wild they forage up to 16 hours a day, and housing that prevents this can lead to problem behaviors.
- Dogs likely domesticated themselves by self-selecting to live near human habitation—the least fearful and most exploratory wolves gradually formed a symbiotic relationship with humans.
Detailed Notes
The Predatory Sequence and Dog Breeds
The wolf predatory sequence runs: orient → eye/stalk → chase → grab bite → kill bite → dissect → eat. During domestication, specific segments of this sequence were selectively amplified in different breeds:
- Scent hounds: enhanced orient/sniffing phase
- Pointers: enhanced eyeing/stalking; sequence typically stops before chase
- Border collies: eyeing, stalking, and some chasing; grab bite suppressed
- Greyhounds: pure chasers
- Retrievers: grab bite emphasized
- Terriers: kill bite emphasized (bred to exterminate rodents)
- Livestock guardian dogs: primarily retain sniffing; predatory sequence largely absent
- Toy/lap breeds: minimal predatory behavior
Practical implication: Provide enrichment activities that match your dog’s breed-specific predispositions (e.g., nose work for scent hounds, herding or chasing games for border collies, digging/hunting games for terriers).
The Core Affect Space: Understanding Animal Emotions
Dr. Westlund uses the core affect model to assess and improve animal welfare. It plots:
- X-axis: Valence (pleasant → unpleasant)
- Y-axis: Arousal (low → high)
Four quadrants:
- High arousal / pleasant – seeking, foraging, exploration, play, sex
- Low arousal / pleasant – calm, safe, socially at ease (target state for welfare)
- Low arousal / unpleasant – boredom, depression
- High arousal / unpleasant – fear, aggression
To move animals toward Quadrant 2:
- Reduce fear and aversive experiences
- Provide stimulating, enriching environments
- Offer appropriate tactile contact
How to Pet Your Dog (and When Not To)
- Most dogs dislike being patted on top of the head; prefer scratching on the neck, upper chest, rump, or areas they cannot self-groom
- Slow, deliberate strokes cause relaxation (eyelids droop, tension decreases); fast patting is often aversive
- Polyvagal theory and co-regulation: a calm human sends physiological cues that can genuinely calm a dog
- Use a consent test: touch briefly, then remove your hand—if the dog moves toward you, continue; if it moves away, stop
- Primates (humans) are huggers; to many animals, being embraced feels like restraint, not affection
Dominance: What It Actually Means
- Ethological definition: priority of access to a resource within a stable social group—reduces risk of costly aggression
- Sociological definition (commonly misapplied to pets): hierarchy of control, power, leadership
- Behaviors often labeled as dominance (dog walking ahead on leash, jumping up, moving into your space) are better explained through learning and emotional states, not dominance
- Dogs understand humans as distinct from other dogs; humans do not hold a position in canine dominance hierarchies
- Dominance hierarchies are more pronounced in captivity because animals cannot disperse to find alternative resources
Reading Dog Communication Signals
- Tail wag direction: left-biased = negative emotional state; right-biased = positive emotional state
- Eye lateralization: dogs (and cats) tend to view fear-inducing stimuli with the left eye and positive stimuli with the right eye
- Tail position and speed also communicate emotional state (low and fast vs. high and stiff)
- Humans read body language more accurately than facial expressions in dogs—partly because dogs use different facial muscles than humans for emotional expression
- Exposure to dogs (even passive cultural exposure) improves human ability to read dog signals
Play Behavior: The MARS Framework
Play can be distinguished from aggression using the MARS framework:
- M – Meta signals (e.g., the play bow: front legs extended, rear elevated)
- A – Activity shifts (varied behaviors not in the fixed order of real fighting)
- R – Role reversals (larger/stronger animal allows the smaller one to “win”)
- S – Self-handicapping (stronger animal deliberately limits itself to maintain play)
Cat Behavior and Needs
- Cats evolved as solitary hunters that aggregate loosely in social groups
- Optimal weaning age: up to 14 weeks for proper socialization
- Cats retain the full predatory sequence; bringing prey home is not a gift—it is bringing food to a place where the cat feels safe
- Head bunting/rubbing: mutual scent marking—a social bonding behavior within the group
- Urine location mapping: territorial urination occurs at windows/doors; elimination outside the litter box near the box may signal pain association
- Litter box placement: keep it far from food; cats naturally avoid eliminating near feeding areas
- Early socialization: kittens handled ≥1 hour/day between 2–8 weeks become highly social adults; <15 min/day produces aloof but not fearful adults
Anthropomorphism vs. Anthropodenial
- Anthropomorphism: treating animals as essentially human
- Anthropodenial (term from Frans de Waal): refusing to acknowledge commonalities between humans and other animals
- Dr. Westlund argues the field has overcorrected toward anthropodenial
- Emotional processing and mood regulation are likely shared across species, even when the triggering stimuli differ
- Evidence for animal fairness: capuchin monkeys reject previously acceptable rewards when they observe others receiving better ones (de Waal et al.)
- Evidence for animal empathy: social animals in cohesive groups are motivated to buffer negative emotional states in group members
Horse Welfare Concerns
- Horses are prey animals and herd animals—vigilant by default with wide visual fields
- Key welfare problems in captive horses:
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