I think it’s safe to say that whenever an animal experiences an unexpected and dramatic event—such as snow sliding off the roof, the sudden appearance of a stranger, blare of the smoke detector, an owner’s angry voice—it initially responds fearfully. For years, scientists have acknowledged that frightened animals respond in one of three ways: freeze, fight, or flee. However, research by neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux suggests that this isn’t an either/or phenomenon. His work revealed that threatened animals initially freeze, then opt for another response if that doesn’t work. This raises the possibility that the freeze response might actually serve more like a moment of choice.
Meanwhile other animal studies indicate that females may experience two additional responses to fear that researcher Shelley Taylor and her team refer to as “tend and befriend.” Rather than fighting or running, some females focus their energy on caring for any young when threatened. These same females as well as others also may band together at these times, and they often band together with female relatives. The tending behavior makes sense because the mother has the most energy invested in her young and thus the most to lose if something happens to them. If she abandons them to fight or run away, their chance of survival will greatly decrease. At the same time, friendships with other females who can help the mother protect and care for the young also increase the chance that both the adults and the youngsters will survive.
Even though most studies identify these behaviors as “male” or “female,” members of both sexes most likely possess the potential to express all of them. However, because the responses apparently are supported by hormone levels that are more common to one sex or the other, these displays are often described as sex-related.
As so often occurs, these studies are done on wild or laboratory animals so it’s difficult to say exactly how these options play out in the average neutered domestic pet. Nonetheless, the awareness that our pets could have five options—tend, befriend, freeze, fight, flee—from which to choose when stressed raises all kinds of interesting questions.
One that particularly interests me is the possibility that there actually might be two sets of these responses, one that occurs as a result of panic and another as the result of conscious choice. Admittedly, the idea that animals are capable of making such conscious choices still raises eyebrows in some scientific circles. On the other hand, when I think back on all the displays I’ve seen in dogs and cats and the descriptions of those owners have shared with me, this seems possible. For example, there are those frightened animals who freeze while drooling and those whose freeze response resembles more of a zen-like trance state. There are those who will run into solid objects in an attempt to escape and those who run a deliberately zig-zagged course that makes it almost impossible to catch them. There or those who will snarl and bite anything that gets in their way, and those who target their bites with the utmost calmness.
And what about at the tend and befriend end of the spectrum? Among the tenders, I think of those dogs and cats who suck and lick themselves when stressed versus those who pick up a favorite toy and play with it or take it into their beds or crates. Befrienders may either badger the owner incessantly for attention when stressed or sit or lie quietly next to that person for comfort.
Of course, once I start thinking about all the different ways animals use to handle stress, I can’t help but think of the different ways we respond when our pets’ behavior stresses us. But we’ll leave that discussion for another time…
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.
I think it’s safe to say that whenever an animal experiences an unexpected and dramatic event—such as snow sliding off the roof, the sudden appearance of a stranger, blare of the smoke detector, an owner’s angry voice—it initially responds fearfully. For years, scientists have acknowledged that frightened animals respond in one of three ways: freeze, fight, or flee. However, research by neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux suggests that this isn’t an either/or phenomenon. His work revealed that threatened animals initially freeze, then opt for another response if that doesn’t work. This raises the possibility that the freeze response might actually serve more like a moment of choice.
Meanwhile other animal studies indicate that females may experience two additional responses to fear that researcher Shelley Taylor and her team refer to as “tend and befriend.” Rather than fighting or running, some females focus their energy on caring for any young when threatened. These same females as well as others also may band together at these times, and they often band together with female relatives. The tending behavior makes sense because the mother has the most energy invested in her young and thus the most to lose if something happens to them. If she abandons them to fight or run away, their chance of survival will greatly decrease. At the same time, friendships with other females who can help the mother protect and care for the young also increase the chance that both the adults and the youngsters will survive.
Even though most studies identify these behaviors as “male” or “female,” members of both sexes most likely possess the potential to express all of them. However, because the responses apparently are supported by hormone levels that are more common to one sex or the other, these displays are often described as sex-related.
As so often occurs, these studies are done on wild or laboratory animals so it’s difficult to say exactly how these options play out in the average neutered domestic pet. Nonetheless, the awareness that our pets could have five options—tend, befriend, freeze, fight, flee—from which to choose when stressed raises all kinds of interesting questions.
One that particularly interests me is the possibility that there actually might be two sets of these responses, one that occurs as a result of panic and another as the result of conscious choice. Admittedly, the idea that animals are capable of making such conscious choices still raises eyebrows in some scientific circles. On the other hand, when I think back on all the displays I’ve seen in dogs and cats and the descriptions of those owners have shared with me, this seems possible. For example, there are those frightened animals who freeze while drooling and those whose freeze response resembles more of a zen-like trance state. There are those who will run into solid objects in an attempt to escape and those who run a deliberately zig-zagged course that makes it almost impossible to catch them. There or those who will snarl and bite anything that gets in their way, and those who target their bites with the utmost calmness.
And what about at the tend and befriend end of the spectrum? Among the tenders, I think of those dogs and cats who suck and lick themselves when stressed versus those who pick up a favorite toy and play with it or take it into their beds or crates. Befrienders may either badger the owner incessantly for attention when stressed or sit or lie quietly next to that person for comfort.
Of course, once I start thinking about all the different ways animals use to handle stress, I can’t help but think of the different ways we respond when our pets’ behavior stresses us. But we’ll leave that discussion for another time…
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.