Selfish Pups: Weaning Conflict and Milk Theft in Free-Ranging Dogs

TL;DR

This study investigates weaning conflict and milk theft in free-ranging dogs, revealing a specific conflict period and documenting pups' milk theft behavior facilitated by multiple lactating females, highlighting adaptive strategies.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical evidence of weaning conflict and milk theft in canids, identifying the conflict period and behavior dynamics in free-ranging dogs.

Findings

Weaning conflict peaks between 7th and 13th week of pup age.

Pups steal milk by exploiting multiple lactating females.

Conflict behaviors decrease as pups age beyond 13 weeks.

Abstract

Parent-offspring conflict theory predicts the emergence of weaning conflict between a mother and her offspring arising from skewed relatedness benefits. Empirical observations of weaning conflict has not been carried out in canids. In a field-based study on free-ranging dogs we observed that suckling bout durations reduce, proportion of mother-initiated suckling bouts reduce and mother-initiated suckling terminations increase, with pup age. We identified the 7th - 13th week period of pup age as the zone of conflict between the mother and her pups, beyond which suckling solicitations cease, and before which suckling refusals are few. We also report for the first time milk theft by pups who take advantage of the presence of multiple lactating females, due to the promiscuous mating system of the dogs. This behaviour, though apparently disadvantageous for the mothers, is perhaps adaptive for the dogs in the face of high mortality and competition for resources.