Domestic mutt or coydog?

[zippski]

I agree.  dogs still have genetic ingrained qualities, like many hunting dogs that do it naturally.  some breeds are one man dogs.  they really only take correction from the alpha in a pinch.  pets need to be socialized and even then may place themselves above the children in the pack they have adopted.  Out German shepherd has a bark that tells me someone is in the yard and or drive.  I go see who it is.  some who do not know us hesitate to get out of their car, and that is fine with me.  I can call her back if she is at the front property line barking at a dog being walked.  If I get a shady guy trying to coat my driveway and his partner starts walking around and looking at my property, I tell them not to come in the yard cause if I was not home, they may get bit.  

Never, ever, never and then still don't tell someone that they may get bit, ever, never. You tell them that your dog is a guard or a working dog and it takes it's job seriously. If you tell someone or have signs that says your dog bites etc, you are admitting that your dog is dangerous and you made it much easier for the ambulance chasing lawyer to sue the local doctor....... Just my 74.392 cents worth.....

Yep, correct.  The newish ambulance-chasing list lawyer sez:
When I have a dog-bite client in my office (whether defending in provincial offences court or suing someone who's dog bit my client) the first question I ask them is "Did you have a "Beware of Dog" sign stapled somewhere on the premises?  If they answer "Yes", that's all the proof I need of the requisite foresight/knowledge that you own a dangerous dog. 
Actually, not am ambulance chasing lawyer, I do primarily high-end divorce law :D
..although some folks see that as the same thing...
...and yes, in Canada it's spelled "offences"
Leigh 
zippski

[Tom King]

Our Daughter has a rescue dog that looks like she could be a littermate.  This is Zilla.  She was also a bag of bones when she came home.  

Now, about 6 months later, she's a Great dog.

My Daughter had DNA done on her.  It came back mostly Lab, German Shephard, Australian Cattledog, and Pug.  Pug is either in everything, or everything is in a Pug.  Surprisingly, there was not a trace of Staffordshire Terrier.

I think yours, when she gets some meat on her bones, and a healthy gut, she'll be a great dog.  I'm not sure that she's not deaf though.

One rescue dog I had, when I was building my first house for sale, and I was a young man, was heard howling a pitiful howl a little ways off in the woods, from where I was working.  I found a young female, solid white.  She had chewed all the fur off her tail, and her drop ears were so full of fat ticks, that they stood out.

I wasn't sure she was going to make it.  I didn't have any money then, so didn't take her to a Vet, but did the best I could.  I pulled all the ticks out of her ears, and off her body, and filled her ears with Hydrogen Peroxide until it stopped boiling.

I fed her good, and she laid under the porch of the house I was building for at least a week.  I already had two other stray dogs.  She went with me to my Mother's house one day, and she asked me what I was going to name that extra dog.  I told her I didn't know if she was going to make it, so I didn't name her, but she just gave me an idea.  I named her Xtra.  She was a great dog, and lived a full life.

[Patrick NC]

Except for the ears, she has the same build as our mountain cur. Bay is a small dog with a thick neck and chest for her size. If I can get the wife to send me a picture, I'll post it. 

[mike_belben]

things are going good with pity, shes already turning into a good dog.  

[Corley5]

 8) 8)

[moodnacreek]

things are going good with pity, shes already turning into a good dog.  

Those mutts that come in from the woods often do. What really messes a dog up is having too many homes and dumped a couple of times. About the third time that happens they get possessive and dangerous and at that point must be put down. People can mess up an animal.   I am glad for your Pity, she came to the right home.

[Chuck White]

I'm going mostly by the shape of the head, I'd say it's part Pit!

Slick looking dog though!

[mike_belben]

Thanks guys.  

Doug ive been around a bunch of these little anxiety riddled psycho dogs and its always the owners who need fixing.  My grandparents created the worst little lapdog POS and it bit everyone, eventually running off my grandmothers caretakers.  I shoulda put on welding gloves and drowned it in a toilet.  Ive been trapped in the middle of two locked up pitbulls and got a complete fang buried in my index finger long ways once.  That ankle biter fufu was way more vicious.  


Americans are great at giving dogs human traits and the problems that come with it.


Anyways pity and bella have been introduced several times. Pity has tried to jump up on her and show dominance but got a swift smack on the head then slunk to my heels.  Im the big dog in this house, you two get in line and behave or i'll flash my teeth.

She submits to me as of yesterday, licked my hand once and today even frolicked and rolled around in the grass for a few seconds.. I guess she feels secure enough to let her guard down and play a bit.  The ticks and fleas are all dead, hopefully the scabs and dermatitis all the parasites have caused starts clearing up.  Shes got a good thick coat but very ashy, crusty, flaky skin.  And a skeleton directly under the skin.  Very bony.. Hope to see that fill in.


Its been almost freezing overnights and windy/cold today.. Shes bundled up on a cushion under a blanket and loving it. Soon i will collar her and when warm enough try giving a bath.  She lets me pick through her fur and pull stuff off so we are on track.. Putting a blanket on her the first time in cold drizzle made a big difference in trust.

Wife got some stuff at the co-op to start treating for lymes and i expect that to bring out a new dog, based on past experience.


Still never heard her make a sound, and never flashed any teeth.  Avoids the kids by a few extra feet but no agression.. Were taking that very slow.  She definitely sees and hears fine.

[moodnacreek]

Well Mike I see your a dog person from way back. Man's best friend out sees, out smells and out hears us and can be trusted. It's a shame they don't live longer.  Problem around here is the fools from the city get interested in dogs and get 2 when they have no idea how to control one, [like their kids]. If it gets to them they drop em off at the pet motel where they take credit cards. Quite the relationship.    Pity will enjoy you looking for ticks pretty soon. Keep being the big dog, they all came from wolfs and need their leader.

[mike_belben]

What brand of mutt am I rescuing here? - YouTube

[mike_belben]

Well.. After a few bowls of food, one monthly pill and one days worth of lymes antibiotics that dog is night and day.  She chased a rabbit at about 300mph.. And then took me all over the woods where i hunt but she knew crawl spots under fences id never seen before.. She could barely stay awake when i met her.. Was so hyper out in the hollars today and wanted me to follow her.. "Cmon cmon i gotta show you my place!" was how it felt.  


 No collar or leash and she doesnt obey me but she comes back to me every few minutes and she makes sure to be back in the gate before i shut it and lock her out.  Only had to do that once.  Today i left with the front gates open.. She had trotted off down the street.  Was on the porch when i got back.  "Home is where my bowl is."


Im quite confident now that she has been surviving fully wild and the probability of some coyote blood is pretty high, theres packs all over out there, a few thousand intact deepwoods acres with hardly an atv trail.  

[WV Sawmiller]

Mike,

   Does she bark like when she was after the rabbit? Someone suggested she might be deaf. Does she respond when you call or whistle or such or does she read lips like Deffinbaker on Due South? :D

   It sounds like a real rewarding experience so far and I trust you will continue to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

[mike_belben]

She has barked a few times with a startling command but is mostly stealthy.  No sound during the rabbit chase.  But my other dog didnt bark when she joined either.   

Pity can absoletely see and hear quite well.  Shes starting to get playfull with me and doesnt really know how to do it right.  Its peculiar. 

[moodnacreek]

It's all about trust when going in the woods. A big mistake many make is not being there when the dog comes back to check on you. It works both ways after the trust is built like when the dog doesn't come back to check the 'hunter' he knows there is an honest reason and waits. After a while the 2 can wonder but still find each other and even establish meeting places. Actions speak louder than words.              So Mike took Pity in and now Pity is taken Mike huntin. About as good as it gets. I'm jealous.

[mike_belben]

Ya know its really something.  One of those things you cant fully capture in words, nor on film.. You just have to live it.  Like when i was getting to learn the strengths, weakenesses and individual personalities of my 2 very different, pre-programmed kids who were raised the same but came out unique just to confound me and make me realize sometimes i need to reformat me for lack of being able to reformat them.  Its funny how growing up never ends for us.  


So as Pity's illness diminishes, her nature comes out.  And with the two dogs together i am seeing the clash of two worlds.  Bella the pampered pit teaching Pity how to be domesticated.. And Pity the honed hunting machine teaching bella how to be a stealth ninja survivalist.  Theyre outside playing right now, great for both of them i think.  And good for me because together theyre very intimidating dogs for a meth head out window shopping the fence line, which is constant for me.



This dog is a thing of intrigue for me.  I wont pay ancestry.com for my background but i'd pay for her DNA history.  I cannot capture it but in person you can just feel theres a coyote in there.  Bella is a bumbling clumsy idiot in comparison because shes never had to catch food.  Pity is an incredible tracker who absolutely freezes in place when a stimulus hits her.. Its not fear, its skill.  Shes in her very sharp brain, calculating.  Most of the time bella is just staring off being dumb without a thought or a care.  Its easy to catch bella off guard, not pity.



I'm calculating that Pity's starving is simply a case of tick borne lameness getting in the way of her succeeding at dinner, and some domestic blood instinct said, this is the end if i dont find food.. Submit to a human and live.  She could not stay awake when i met her and laid down to sleep at every chance.

A day and a half of antibiotics and its a new creature.


She barked in henry's face yesterday afternoon with authority so i had to make a decision.  First was the walk, if she wants to be wild then off you go. But she chooses us over and over.  If i lock her out she will dig back in.


Lack of submission is what makes a dog dangerous.  When they have an incorrect view of their position within the rank structure of a family unit.

My way to deal with dangerous dogs is to provoke it to give me the teeth so i have cause for clear and immediate correction. Dogs dont speak english but they all speak kapow. I train a pitbull by grabbing its tongue right out of its mouth in my fist.  When i have vividly coerced it to no longer give in to its instinct to chew on me, but instead use discipline and not chew on me, its safe.


Pity is very independant but quickly being domesticated.  It only took one slap across the face after nipping me,  for her to hunker down low - tail slack, ears flat - and put her head in my hands. She has surrendered authority and now im her daddy.

After that i just show each child that every child here is mine and none will be harmed by anyone.

I will have to get her a chain soon.












^ theres the coyote.  She heard me inside at the table clear my throat, from about 80 feet away. 

[mike_belben]

[...]Children move awkwardly; any dog of prey, even well trained can be lead astray by the very distinct movement of small children.  On top of that, most parents, let alone their kids, truly have no clue about what a dog is saying by it's posturing, and expressions.  The worst morons are the ones who lean in with their faces, or move in quickly for a quick, "good boy petting action'.  
Dogs are cute, and cuddly for cold weather, not to be handled like a teddy bear; people need to remember that, and also that they have those big teeth for tearing meat, and tissue apart.  [...]

Exactly this.  
I let sophia pet pity for the first time yesterday while i had a hand on the dogs neck scruff and naturally sophs first thought is aww sooo cute and starts to lean her face in.  I said soph you should expect this dog to lunge up and rip your face off.  You give her the wrist of your weak hand to sniff and be in her way, so your strong hand can block your face.  if she bites its the meat of your weak forearm which doesnt hurt as bad and leaves your strong hand to punch her eyes in or choke her out.  A forearm bite is easier to bandage and heal than a bunch of broken, punctured hand bones and severed tendons. 

[doc henderson]

Mike I am glad it is going well.  new member of the family. 

[moodnacreek]

The difference in the 2 dogs is that one struggled and one didn't.  No different than us. When the belly gets close to the backbone the brain starts to work. So simple.           So Mike she took a nip at you and got put in her place. Timing is everything and the sooner that happened the better.  Her job will be to protect the family. I wish everyone understood our best friend like you do.

[mike_belben]

If only a swat still worked to get obedience from my kids!  

[Tacotodd]

What's the latest word on Pity, as of today? I hope that Sophi's encounter with her went fine. I'm just really wanting to see how things turn out. I've had 1, and only 1 so far that nipped at me aggressively, and I had to do the deed. My friends got their panties in a wad over me doing that, but I'm like "you want me to put an aggressive dog in my vehicle to take it to the vet, pay stupid money to have him do the same thing when a lead aspirin is MUCH less expensive", I mean, really. They've gotten over it, but I think it's stupid.

She seems like the kind of good dog that people dream about, but time WILL tell!

[mike_belben]

Its going great.. I will try to tell some tails about her soon. But the plot has thickened.. She rolled over just now and i think i see a spaying tattoo!  

[moodnacreek]

Its going great.. I will try to tell some tails about her soon. But the plot has thickened.. She rolled over just now and i think i see a spaying tattoo!  

Yeah, they dumped her. Well at least she won't come in heat.

[mike_belben]

Soon i will be able to roll her over.. She submits to me a little more every day.  But she is also a vicious killing machine.. I will explain it all later, working on a bunch of stuff in this perfect weather.  no nothing bad has happened.  Anyways i need to see the marks longer to be sure but she may well have been domestic before becoming feral.. Definitely has survived a spell on her own. 


Only a fool would part with this dog and that fool better not come calling here for her. Shes home.  

[Bruno of NH]

Mike ,
Smiley was a rescue from the south , is a hunting and killing machine. I have lots of rabbits on the property,  they don't fair well that and birds.
She also doesn't know how to play. Loves the out doors.
Has a wild side unlike any dog I have had before.

[Bruno of NH]

Smiley feet are giant for her size.
My black lab Max was 100lbs and his feet weren't that big.
See runs faster than any dog I have seen.
She is super loyal to me .