What Pets Actually Want & Need | Dr. Karolina Westlund

Modern dog breeds were sculpted by selectively amplifying specific steps in the wolf hunting sequence: orient/sniff → eye/stalk → chase → grab/retrieve → kill → dissect → eat. Hounds are nose specialists, pointers freeze and point, border collies eye and stalk, greyhounds just chase, retrievers love grabbing and carrying, terriers are efficient killers/rats, livestock guardians mostly just sniff and watch, and many toy breeds skip most of the sequence. To improve welfare, match enrichment to where your dog sits on this spectrum: nose work and scent games for all; controlled chasing for sighthounds; tug and carry games for retrievers; shreddable objects for “dissectors” like poodles; and lower-intensity work for lap dogs that simply want proximity.

Dr. Westlund uses the core affect model (valence × arousal) to explain emotional life. The quadrant we want most often is low arousal + positive valence: relaxed, safe, socially engaged. To get there, first reduce negative high-arousal states (fear, aggression, constant vigilance) by removing or buffering threats, then reduce low-arousal negative states (boredom, depression) by adding meaningful stimulation that lets animals perform species-typical behavior, like foraging, problem-solving, and play. Think of exercise, nose work, and safe social contact as tools to nudge animals from fear or apathy into either exploratory joy (high-arousal positive) or contented rest (low-arousal positive).

Humans are primates and tend to hug and pat quickly, especially on the top of the head—many non-primates experience that as restraint or threat, not affection. Dr. Westlund advises using a simple ‘consent test’: offer gentle strokes in typically preferred areas (side of neck, upper chest, base of tail for many dogs; withers and rump for horses), then stop and see if the animal reinitiates contact (leans in, nudges, shifts the body part toward you) or moves away. Studies indicate most dogs dislike rapid, percussive patting and respond far better to slow, calm strokes, especially when the human themself is in a relaxed state (co-regulation through polyvagal mechanisms).

In ethology, dominance simply means priority of access to scarce resources within stable groups, not ‘being the boss’ or just walking in front. Many common training rules—dog must eat after you, walk behind you, never initiate contact—are framed as dominance but can be more accurately explained as learned contingencies (the dog avoids being yanked, etc.) or fear/avoidance, not status. Dogs do form linear dominance hierarchies with other dogs around specific resources, and there are distinct social roles like leaders (who know where to go) and controllers (who initiate activity changes), but humans are not neatly part of these dog–dog hierarchies. Focusing on clarity, predictability, and secure attachment is more productive than trying to ‘dominate’ your dog.

House cats evolved as solitary hunters that form loose aggregations, not tight, cooperative packs. They hunt and generally prefer to eat alone, which means multi-cat households should avoid feeding all cats side-by-side from a single station. Early-life handling is critical: kittens handled about an hour a day between weeks 2–8 tend to become very social lap cats; those handled less often become more aloof—but not necessarily fearful. Cat head-butting is mainly scent marking to blend group odor, and bringing prey home reflects bringing food to a safe base, not gifting. Litter boxes should be placed away from food, with urine marking around edges of a territory often signaling territorial/outer-boundary marking, while random indoor elimination may indicate medical or litter-box aversion issues.