Epimeletic vomiting in female dogs during the rearing process of their puppies.
The epimeletic behavior consisting in vomiting the digested food in the presence of puppies was described in postpartum bitches. It begins at first month after the birth of puppies and may last up to five months. The main stimuli eliciting vomiting is the presence of the puppies close to the mother in the nest-pen, and their et-epimeletic behavior consisting of following the bitch, jumping upon her, and licking her mouth. When the puppies are removed from the nest-pen, the epimeletic vomiting of ingested food is stopped either immediately or after a few days. It is suggested that there exists a specific epimeletic drive whose consummatory response is vomiting. The biological role of this drive is to secure food to puppies before they are able to secure it by themselves.
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D014839:Vomiting