When water is nearby, dholes drink frequently as they eat. If water is distant, they make for it soon after eating. Dholes will often lie in water even in the cool of the day. They do not cache food, but they often scavenge their own kills and those of leopards and tigers. A dhole pack is an extended family unit, usually of 5-12 animals, and rarely exceeding 20.
Dholes are sexually mature at about one year.
Whelping occurs between November and April and the average litter size is eight. Before giving birth the bitch prepares a den, usually in an existing hole or shelter on the banks of a streambed or among rocks. In the Bandipur pack more than three adults took part in feeding both the lactating mother and the pups, which eat regurgitated meat from the age of three weeks. The pack continues to care for the pups by regurgitating meat, providing escorts, and allowing pups priority of access at kills. At five months pups actively follow the pack and at eight months they participate in kills of even large prey such as sambar, a species of large deer.