From The Book Of Dogs – An Intimate Study Of Mankind’s Best Friend:
He was very affectionate and would smile and wag his tail to express his joy at meeting us, and throw himself on his back as an invitation to us to caress him. He was playful, too, and given one end of a rope or strap would do his best to pull it away from us. While in this playful mood he would catch up the skirt of a coat or dress and walk along with us. proudly smiling and wagging his tail. But he was very high-strung and nervous, and if we attempted to hold him in the presence of strangers he would bite and get away as quickly as possible. Once loose he was no longer afraid and would often run right in and tear the stranger’s clothing.
Most writers refer to the coyote as cowardly, but I have seen nothing which seems to justify this estimate of his character. He simply isn’t foolhardy. He’s like the Irishman who said he preferred to have his enemies call him a coward today to having his friends say “How natural he looks” tomorrow.
I will give an example of what I mean. One bitter winter day I was tramping on snow-shoes through a New Hampshire forest with a coyote at my heels. As we were passing a deserted cabin, three fox-hounds which had taken refuge from the recent storm came leaping out in full cry.
The coyote, outnumbered and taken by surprise, drifted away over the snow like a puff of gray smoke, the hounds in pursuit. But they were no match for him in speed, and after floundering along in his wake for less than half a mile they stopped, turned round, and started back. The coyote, who had been running easily only a few feet ahead of them, seemed to be completely in touch with the situation. No sooner had the tired dogs turned than he wheeled about, pitched into the rear guard of the enemy, and in a running counter attack decisively whipped all three of the hounds and finally drove them back yelping into the old house from which they had come.
Most writers refer to the coyote as cowardly, but I have seen nothing which seems to justify this estimate of his character. He simply isn’t foolhardy. He’s like the Irishman who said he preferred to have his enemies call him a coward today to having his friends say “How natural he looks” tomorrow.
I will give an example of what T mean. One bitter winter day I was tramping on snow-shoes through a New Hampshire forest with a coyote at my heels. As we were passing a deserted cabin, three fox-hounds which had taken refuge from the recent storm came leaping out in full cry.
The coyote, outnumbered and taken by surprise, drifted away over the snow like a puff of gray smoke, the hounds in pursuit. But they were no match for him in speed, and after floundering along in his wake for less than half a mile they stopped, turned round, and started back. The coyote, who had been running easily only a few feet ahead of them, seemed to be completely in touch with the situation. No sooner had the tired dogs turned than he wheeled about, pitched into the rear guard of the enemy, and in a running counter attack decisively whipped all three of the hounds and finally drove them back yelping into the old house from which they had come.
Before he “joined the army,” this dog of blooded lineage bore the name of “Bum.” Now he-answers to the more appropriate title of “Bullets”.
That didn’t look like cowardice: it looked like good generalship. And it isn’t cowardice for an animal the size of a coyote to run away from an animal the size of a man, especially when the little wolf knows that in some mysterious manner his enemy can kill him when he is still a quarter of a mile away. That’s a combination of common sense and good judgment.
Although coyotes are obviously more reactive and nervous than any domestic dog, this is a case of one that became relatively tame, but it is not nearly as tame as one would expect from dogs or even certain wolves.
The coyote has evolved to be paranoid. Paranoia keeps you out of traps. It keeps you from eating poison or biting into baits. In the face of intense persecution, the coyote has only expanded its range. It has been able to succeed mainly because of its high reproductive rates and this inherited paranoia.
***
I’m sure that many of my readers have checked out the Daily Coyote blog, where you can see various photos of Charlie, a “tame” coyote. However, I think one should read the “Q & A” on that website. Charlie trusts only a few people, one dog, and some cats.
I don’t think the average dog owner is prepared to deal with an animal with these tendencies. We take for granted that most dogs trust most people. That’s why we generally can take them into public places without too much fanfare. I can’t imagine putting on a muzzle and dragging a wild animal to the vet.
So although coyotes can be imprinted upon people, their exact nature makes them a quite a bit harder to handle than the average domestic dog. I can’t imagine why anyone would want one, but people are a little bit crazy.
Thanks for this, Retrieverman!
I just don’t understand why anyone would want a wild animal. Nature is a far harder task mistress than humans and that has led to shy, sharp predators. Not rushing in to greet the unknown keeps them safe.
i was very disappointed when the Daily Coyote author WAITED till her M-coyote began displaying perfectly predictable, absolutely normal adolescent-M behaviors, and then decided not to neuter him –
even then, after the testosterone-fueled behaviors began –
but to take a page from *cesar millan* the Dawg-Wrassler, and DOMINATE the coyote. :: thumb-down ::
as he was already thoroughly human-habituated, she was too late to turn him loose; desexing him at 5 to 6-MO would have been, IMO + IME, much more humane and less punitive than trying to force an intact-teen-M of a wild-species to accept human domineering as acceptable.
had she turned him loose at 12-WO he may have made it as a wildling – he would still have been deeply suspicious of human strangers.
but keeping him intact past puberty, then FORCING human power on him, was the worst of both worlds.
his RG, resistance to handling, etc, were a predictable social stage; pups are not dogs, kittens are not cats.
— terry
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
Holly, sometimes it’s not that someone WANTS a wild animal–circumstances occur that put one in a position to rescue one(or not), and some compassionate, animal-interested people do so, and if they have any animal sense, and have realistic expectations(i. e. NOT expecting a wild critter to act like a domestic one), they end up having a moving, amazing, and very educational relationship with said animal. Take it from someone who has raised numerous wild, rescued babies of various sorts over the years. You don’t do it because you selfishly want a PET……and leashed-for-life, the “Daily Coyote” lady DID neuter her animal–it is plainly and graphically described in her book…..
>> the “Daily Coyote” lady DID neuter her animal–
it is plainly and graphically described in her book… <<
i have not read her book, lane –
i read the blog for months, tho. :-) and before she got him desexed, and AFTER he began to act-out like any other adolescent wildling entering puberty, she + her boyfriend both used repeated dominance-displays in an effort to make him STOP…
biting, RG, growling, resisting, running away, etc. :-(
puberty in wild-creatures is a predictable stage – and has behavioral symptoms. no human-mother expects her infant son to spend his life in a bassinet; likewise, cute puppies become difficult teenagers.
i have had wild-animals as patients + orphans myself; they are amazing, and i would not have missed it for the world; RELEASING a healthy wild animal after rearing or nursing them, has got to be among the best emotional experiences.
its addictive ;-)
cheers,
— terry
What you’re saying is correct.
I got very close (60 feet) to a wild coyote this evening.
I had to get almost right next to one just to save it from getting mauled by my dogs. It was apparently trying to get one of my spaniels to follow it into the woods or drag it there….
But, after a yelp my big boys were all over it.
So I was actually out there calling my dogs and pulling them off of a coyote.
But they ran off into the woods before coming back about 30 minutes later. What happened to the Coyote??? I don’t know….. But my Spaniel gal was on the farm with me and her pack after all was said and done. That’s all that really mattered in the end for me.
Although sometimes I wonder if the Coyote got away or if it wound up as fertilizer?
Yes, the problem many people have with wild animals as “pets” is that they try to make them into something they are not–in my experiences, I WANTED the critters to be just what they were, and tried to accomodate myself and what facilities I had for their welfare. I do think the “Daily Coyote” lady has done a great job with her animal, and given him a great life, one which he certainly wouldn’t have had if she had not taken him in. And what pleasure and education he has provided for so many with her book and blog! I personally wouldn’t have tried to “dominate” the animal so much when it hit puberty, but I also would NOT have tolerated it biting me repeatedly–no self-respecting coyote would have put up with this from an upstart youngster, either! But corporal punishment, fer critters OR human children, is another controversial subject entirely, and I will probably regret even barely mentioning it here…….
I own a dog that is a coyote mix. Its mother was killed by my Grampa, afterwards he went to the den to destroy the pups he found that they were the offspring of his own male Lab. He brought them home and gave the two pups (male and female) to his cattle dog, who started lactating and raised them for another two weeks. The female pup wandered off and dissappeared (presumably hit by a truck, or carried off by an eagle), but the male was given to me. He was probably ten or eleven weeks old when I got him. He has been a very good dog and I have socialized him extensively. He shows no undue aggression (he is not neutered) and is easy to control in all situations. Many people ask what his breed is and where I got him? I tell them I don’t know, and that he is a rescue. His colour is a very dark sable such as you see on some German Shepherds or if you search the internet for “black coyotes.” I have two toddlers with whom he is extremely tolerant and has never snapped or snarled, in fact he is not possesive of anything; neither have I had much difficulty in training him. He has no unusual odor. His ears are floppy and hang down like on a Lab. In size he is the same as a large male coyote; around 55 lb. In the summer his hair is fairly short and smooth looking but in the winter it thickens considerably. Every spring it requires a good week of combing to loosen and remove all the hair as well as two thorough baths. I would compare this dog to a border collie in temperment, very friendly and outgoing as well as obedient and confident. I would not recommend him to a first time dog owner. It has taken great effort and not inconsiderable experience (my last dog was a very aggressive Pitbull St. bernard mix, and before that a Chow) to be a good master and trainer. It has required some problem solving as well as much time. I would not say he is in any way reactive or timid. I wasn’t sure if I would write all of this, but in doing so I hope to change your mind regarding certain aspects of coyote personality. Based on my experience a coyote could be easily domesticated, after all have they not adapted themselves fairly well in urban settings without any intervention on our part? Of course this is not to say my experience is conclusive, considering that my dog is only half coyote and my only comparison has been dogs of a more aggressive nature; I may be biased.
By the way I live in Calgary, My Grandfather is a rancher in Southern Alberta.
what advantage, if any, would there be to the COYOTE in becoming domesticated?
and what can coyote do, as a domestic species, that dogs cannot do for or with humans?
given that dogs have lived with humans in their homes and villages for at least 60k, and many humans *still have trouble teaching the dog something as simple as house-training*…
i cannot think that domesticating coyote would be helpful.
if dogs, who have co-evolved with humans for thousands of years and are highly domesticated, are difficult –
just how difficult would domestic-coyote be?
and what would be the point? Why do this?
there are approx 600 dog-breeds around the world –
if folks cannot find something they like, they are not looking very hard, IMO. ;-)
— terry
The difficulty is entirely based upon the situation you consider to be domestic and what type of relationship you maintain with your animal.
For example… in a situation like it was written in “Marley and me” you have a puppy that is brought to the American suburban lifestyle and raised within it but soon becomes difficult because it is a field bred retriever. So some changes to the owners lifestyle soon followed to accommodate the dog to fit in with the life of the family it became a part of. Kids, toys and playful games being a big part of that life and no purpose towards hunting, purely as a companion animal, In this way dogs are more inclined to fit in with us
But…
You also have situations like written in “Merle’s Door” where the dog and the human bond in a different way where there is no tether to a home or a yard. They are in tune with nature and actually live closer to the same rules that would apply to the Coyote. The lifestyle kind of fits better with a human and coyote. The times they work together to reinforce the bond between them would be when cooperating to trek down game on a hunt. Not necessarily retrieving, but cooperation.
The latter being more like the true relationship that formed between Man and Dog/Wolf/Coyote before the urbanized domestication took place.
In any case it would be a good argument for forming a relationship with a wild animal if in fact the skills provided compliment each other towards the common goal….. food.
Just my 2 cents.
“if dogs, who have co-evolved with humans for thousands of years and are highly domesticated, are difficult –
just how difficult would domestic-coyote be?
and what would be the point? Why do this?”
In the past retrieverman has made the comment that coyotes would be a poor choice for domestication, I was merely pointing out that he has little experience to base that assumption on. I was not suggesting that we domesticate coyotes, in fact I am against the idea of owning wild animals. I agree that most people can barely handle owning a dog. However, as I already pointed out owning a coyote (mix) has not been that complicated, in fact it has been considerably easier than owning my last dog which was aggressive to both people and dogs.
So to reiterate, my comments were only to contribute a little of my experience to the the conversation.
By the way, forming a paragraph consisting only of questions is subtly aggressive, to make a redundant question immeadiatly after you’ve stated the first is especially aggressive (ie:”what would be the point? why do this?”).
I understand that you are passionate about dogs but I dont think it’s nessesary to take that tone; particularly when you are only assuming my opinion contradicts your own.
hey, jeremy –
i had the impression that U were seriously suggesting this –
and i was not trying to be *aggressive*, just clear.
cheers,
— terry
It certainly isn’t NECESSARY to domesticate coyotes, or start over with Wolves or Dingoes, but it should also not be so dang “politically incorrect” as the idea of such has become in recent modern times, so long as whoever has the opportunity and desire to experience such does right by the animal. There are ALWAYS going to be rescue situations arising where individual animals can be given a great life, and teach us much. I knew of two friends in Montana who had Coy-dogs from very similar situations as you described, Jeremy, and they were great, totally tractable trustable animals who lived very long, happy lives. Lots of accounts of Western Plains Indians keeping “camp gentled” coyotes, which crossbred with their dogs–some of the Native American dog strains(if not extinct) should have had a good bit of coyote DNA in their make-up. Of course what worked out fine in a nomadic Plains Indian buffalo hunter’s camp won’t necessarily fit into modern urban/suburban society!! One thing coyote/wolf crosses give a dogline is good genetic health(if they are not continually inbred from that point like closed-registries for “purebred” dogs!) No culler as unsentimental and practical as MOTHER NATURE when it comes to pure function and ability! Combine that with SENSIBLE domestic animal husbandry, and you COULD produce very functional, wonderful animals. Alas, little that modern humans do these days in breeding animals is very sensible, in my opinion……I just know I learned so much about wolves, dogs, crosses, domestication vs. wild, and how to be a PARTNER to my animals rather than a dictator, that I wouldn’t trade MY experiences with my 5 wolf hybrids for anything…….
hybrids are a common hot-button, lane –
as i am sure U know. ;-)
here in VA, land of the good-ol-boy + minimal guvmint,
it took 40 years to BEGIN requiring a seat-belt… and even now, its common for some fool to be ejected at 35-mph and die.
so natch, if U wanna go sans-seatbelt or own a hybrid, go right ahead… the Old Dominion is great for allowing risks to self and others; H***, drinking + driving is the state hobby, from the number of smashed bottles + crumpled cans on the roadways + parking-lots. (shrug)
owning venomous snakes is another dumb (but legal) hobby –
i feel sorry for the snakes, but cannot feel too badly when the hot-herpers get bitten.
i do feel VERY sorry for the hybrids i see here, and hear about –
watching a young woman (who might just have been legal to buy liquor), drag a 2-YO hybrid thru a Bark-In-The-Park event was really sad –
the poor thing had its lips pulled back in a tight grin, eyes rattling back + forth looking for the way out, and his tail was plastered between his legs.
then theres the breeder in Norfolk – his M-hybrid has lived in a fully-closed pen for 5 years, they built it when he was 8-MO; they throw food in thru a trap-door, he never comes out.
they bought another pup, a F – a trainer i know had this hybrid in class as a 4-MO pup; the woman was nervous and untrusting of her own animal, and at the end of the 6-week class, she said they were going to put the F in with the M, QUOTE To keep him company, UNquote.
nope –
to make babies, and a sideline income. what a shame.
about once or twice a year, i get phone-calls asking for help finding a refuge for their (much loved) hybrid –
i tell them truthtfully they are all full, and the least they can do is desex that animal before they pass her/him along.
i also tell the callers that the nearest no-kill refuge is their own living-room.
— terry
Yes, terry, it certainly IS a hot button, and those against ANYONE EVER having a wolf hybrid(or anything else controversial at this present time in history) usually have such tragic tales to tell–I’ve seen and heard plenty myself! However, the idiots who are totally unprepared for such committment(and never even try very hard once reality sets in, usually somewhere around sexual maturity, for themselves as well as their animals!), and fail their wolf dogs often fail their domestic dogs and human children as well! I can give you a thousand tales of abuse, neglect, and abandonement involving just about any breed or combination of domestic dog(or other thouroughly domesticated animal) for every one of a wolf hybrid you hear about. So should all those be banned or somehow “wrong” for people to have because of the mass of idiots out there? I think it is a very sad tendency of society today, more and more, to strive to ban and outlaw everything that can’t be handled except by the lowest common denominator of human intellect(or lack thereof). At this rate we will all end up sitting around twiddling our thumbs for a pastime(so long as we don’t do it too fast….). Yes, rail against the incompetent–make them pay the consequences for their actions, but don’t automatically lump everyone else involved into that same, negative, narrow category. Regarding specifically the keeping of any kind of animal–I look FIRST to see why, and how well those animals are kept, in EACH case, before I start ranting(and believe me, I have done some ranting at people too!). This is the only way to be truly fair. And our laws and societal attitudes should also reflect this.
coyote probably not a good idea in highrise NYC… duh!… nonetheless, I cant help but laugh at the knee-jerk reactions MOST people have to raising “wild animals”… what is wild? what is natural? I cant believe people cant come to terms with these concepts. How rigid and insecure our world truly is.
In modern society people are evolving into a herd mentality and are literally being conditioned out of questioning the norm.. authority.. etc. Most peoples actions are influenced with ads and the accommodation of some corporate machine and social status of total strangers. People condemn each other on learned behavior; not anything experienced or proven.
Man has lived on this earth long enough that anyone with enough self-awareness and empathy can coexist in nature without resorting to cages, shocks, spiked collars and of course bullets.
Animal tamers are one thing and the call of the wild another. I am not to complain though, most people probably should stick to “conquering” the wild and crazy toy pooch.
A pet is a very discrete concept for most.. for some like myself who have raised fish and think snakes and geckos should roam a home freely.. its different.
– I live in a 3-man tent in SW U.S…. certified crazy… I howl with the coyotes nightly.
I am sooo glad to find people who love or at least understand wild animals. Today I am dealing with a friend who is about to have 2 coyotes shot for camping out on her 10 acres. Yes, she fears for her cats and pup, and the coyotes are behaving quite boldly, not even flinching when she shot over their heads. What do I tell her? They are out there on my property too, along with racoons, owls and hawks, some wraith of a big cat, and a black bear. My dogs, cats, and I simply live here with them. I have to say, I feel honored by their presence. So far, they seem to respect us too. If I found an abandoned pup, chick, kitten…well I would simply do my best by them, whatever form that took. Do you just let a baby animal die? Do any of us know the exact right thing to do? You do what seems right under the circumstances. I would go with helping any critter along. Thanks to you who do the same…and who howl with the coyotes!
Cindy,
i wouldn’t suggest anyone simply “leave them to die”
If they came across a young animal who was hurt, ill,
or orphaned –
However, rehabbers can & do rear + release young wild
animals =Without= habituating them to humans, & just
getting them thru their most-vulnerable period is a huge
advantage.
I still suggest that anyone who finds sick / hurt / orphaned
wildlings, get them to a pro: a licensed rehabber, who has
vet-partners for medical help, knowledge of species’ needs,
& experience in housing, feeding, & handling [or not hand-
ling] the specific critter in crisis.
Don’t get me wrong, i thoroughly enjoyed the Daily Coyote
photos, stories, his relationship with the cat, interesting
reactions to various events or objects, etc –
i didn’t get irked until she punished him for “growing up”
& defying her authority, which was pretty inevitable & not
Coy-Boy’s fault in any way.
FWIW, i don’t suggest anyone emulate Cesar Millan in
his chosen tools [choke-chain, slip-lead AKA kennel lead
of cheap nylon or polypropylene, prongs, shock] or his
chosen methods: “Dominate the dog”, bitey-hands, poke /
“tap” / kick the dog’s rump or loin with a shod toe, roll the
dog over to expose the belly, pin the dog to the ground &
make her / him feel helpless, intimidate & threaten, etc.
He’s using tactics popularized by Capt Haggerty & his
primary competitor in the 1950s / ’60s, Koehler; they’re
extremely outdated, & often physically or emotionally
violent.
IME Emily Larlham / KikoPup on YouTube, Steve White,
Chirag Patel, Jean Donaldson, Trish King, Karen Pryor,
“Buzz” Leonard Cecil, are better & much-more humane
trainers, using current methods based in science –
not hand-me-down myths from our grandfathers, who is
the only mentor Cesar has ever mentioned.
I can’t imagine his rural-Mexico granddad in the 1960s
knew much about learning-theory, can U?
Yes, sigh, you are right about a pro rehabber. Problem is they are so cute, and so much like a puppy, cute as a little lion cub. Few people remember that they do grow up, that they require endless time, and that they do better in their natural habitat.
Not having TV access to Cesar for a few years, I have heard that he gets rough. In the past he used to emphasize that he just touched the dog with his toe/shoe and did not kick it, and just did a slight jerk on the lead, albeit a choker, to get the dog’s attention. He was also often dealing with very difficult dogs–remember that tiny little thing that sunk his teeth into Cesar’s hand? Cesar looked like he wanted to kill him, but hung on to his composure. My knee-jerk reaction would have been to slam the dog ;-( #€¥*~!!!–no matter how knowledgeable we might be.
I have a 165 lb mastiff mix who was a 3x loser as the Humane Society called him–returned by 3 other potential adopters, and failed the prisoner training program–and would be put down if I didn’t succeed. I was not a dog trainer. After lots of tries including professional obedience training I used the strategy in Leader of the Pack, an alpha wolf pack based program. Firm but fair. Much to our stupidity then my husband did hold him down–actually laid on top of him–and after about a 10 minute struggle during which my husband could have been seriously hurt, the dog just stopped, his muscles relaxed, and I have to say that after that we had no Problems. He was no longer dominant or aggressive, but his spirit wasn’t broken either–I would not term him submissive. He stopped menacing, dragging me around, and showing his teeth when displeased. He grinned, played, and was still duly protective when required. He was and still 13 years later is a wonderful friend.
I think that as individuals, dogs need to be trained with “what works”. I do not at all advocated cruelty, physical abuse, or even psychological abuse, such as shaming which I have seen people do. I am not familiar with many of the authors/trainers you listed but will read up on them. Thank you very much for that info, and for your thoughtful response. Wish we could get it out to folks who don’t read dog blogs…
Still, there is much to be said about the wisdom of grandfathers. Learning theory didn’t come into play til the ’50’s and ’60’s, and basically held that people as well as animals were automatons, with behaviors based on conditioning. Lessons were learned by using either reinforcing or aversive stimuli–reward or punishment. Punishment to discourage unwanted behaviors was most effective when immediate and intense: bang! He won’t do that again. Maybe that was grandpa Millan’s strategy.
Nowadays, having learned what i’ve learned, I believe both humans and animals are above that. Perhaps that is why people are so drawn to adopting wild animals that haven’t had their instinctive intelligence domesticated out of them. Experiencing that either in a wild animal or a domestic one is an enlightening experience. True, the person needs to be at least nearly as smart as the animal! Unfortunately, here in northern Michigan, the prevailing attitude is if it moves, kill it.
Cesar’s dirty little [Non-] secret,
in the eyes of most observant trainers, is he deliberately
** elicits ** virtually 100% of the bites he receives; there
ARE such things as ‘justified bites’, where the animal has
a dam* good reason to bite, & no-one with a brain holds it
against them, or feels that this animal is a dangerous
maniac.
Nobody likes to admit that a bite or scratch or ____ [insert
violent resistant or evasive tactic here – rear, bolt, etc] is
the recipient’s own doggone fault, under the circs, but it’s
true: humans can accidentally, ignorantly & innocently, or
quite cold-bloodedly deliberately, CAUSE those responses.
If i try to force a horse who’s terrified of a trailer AKA float,
up the ramp of an open, darkly-yawning trailer, it’s MY own
fault if i’m hoisted off the ground, dragged 20-ft backward,
& lucky not to be trodden on, by a panicked 1200# beast.
Cesar does precisely that: he knows the dog’s fears & the
triggers, & very deliberately pushes buttons to elicit the
dramatic reactions, so that his show is “exciting”.
I’ve been working with other ppl’s dogs since 1975; have
done B-Mod only since 1985; & added dogs with bite
histories only in 1990. IN ALL THAT TIME, i’ve been bitten
* Once *, by a 3-MO Euro-import-parents GSD puppy, who
came from Czech & E-German Border-Patrol sire & dam.
IOW, this pup was a hot-to-trot, highly aggro, very reactive
individual, with poor to no bite-inhibition. Why’d he bite me?
He was beavering thru a dead 6-in long pine branch, maybe
an inch thick, bark & all, & EATING the splinters.
I didn’t think that was a real healthy idea, & took the stick.
He bit me 5 or 6 times, all on my left hand; 3 or 4 small
punctures, a half-dozen scratches like rose-thorns, & most
significant, BRUISES from the last 3 bites, which took over
two-weeks to completely fade. [Significant force in the final
bites – real pressure.]
The bites were delivered in a machine-gun flurry, in about 10
seconds total.
That’s it; my only bites from any dog, including dogs deemed
legally “Dangerous”. Was it my fault? Absolutely; i didn’t think
he’d DEFEND something he could have duplicated without
even getting to his feet, we’d had a rain-&-wind storm & the
dead pine twigs were everywhere. I WAS WRONG.
I go out of my way to avoid triggering defensive or aggro re-
actions from the dogs i meet; whether that’s a loose dog on
the beach, a leashed dog on the sidewalk, or a client’s dog
with a problem behavior.
Cesar wants drama; drama sells. He deliberately sets dogs
up to FAIL – as spectacularly as possible – on camera, so he
can “show how bad” s/he is, before he “FIXES” the dog.
I don’t want drama; i want the dog Under Threshold, aware
but calm: no more than 6 of 10, on the stress-scale, if that’s
possible – max.
Cesar, on the same scale, wants 11 or 12 of 10: Over the
top, extreme reactions, to pull more eyeballs to his show.
NuNu the former street-stray Chi, the stranger-fearful &
RG-prone Viszla, & a 3rd dog – possibly the Maltese who
hated to be scissored [mandatory-grooming breed, that’s
common as groomers overbook & are in a bloody hurry],
were among his “clients” in a single 5-day period; in one
Monday thru Friday week of new episodes, ALL THREE
bit him.
He instigated every bite, IMO & IME – & trebled my dog-
bite history of nearly 40-years, in 3 twenty-minute shows.
There are 10-mins of commercials in every “half-hour”
of commercial-TV; Cesar’s episodes are highly edited, &
he acknowledged in his 100th episode that they agitate
the dogs off-camera before they begin filming ‘takes’ –
footage to be edited & used.
In fact, they use a known dog-aggro shelter adoptee as
their agitator: he’s the stooge to get the guest-dog to go
nutz, so they can capture dramatic footage.
Personally, i think anyone who presents themselves as
a “dog trainer”, let alone “behaviorist” or “psychologist”,
but MANIPULATES a dog with a problem-behavior into
eliciting violent reactions from other dogs, is unethical.
If i were the adoption-dept supervisor of the shelter,
i’d be confiscating that dog we’d placed with Cesar’s
crewman, tout suite. He’s worsening, not improving,
a known long-term behavior issue in that GSD-x.
I’d not only snatch him back, i’d blast him with my own
personal opinion of money-grubbing ppl who seem to
have no moral compass, when it comes to their own
actions vis-a-vis other, innocent lives.
As for the crewman who lets his beloved dog be used
as an agitator, he should be ashamed of himself, IMO.
No excuse.
U don’t “love” an animal, & let him be strung-out on
stress like a junkie on potent mainlined heroin.
But that’s JMO – YMMV. ;–}}
What did you do when the dog bit you? I mistakenly tried to pull a dog away from a fight and got bit as he turned around thinking he had another attacker. He had a look of terror in his eyes when he saw he bit Mom. The fight stopped. I just showed pain and nursed my finger…and then had surgery.
I have also seen a dog bite someone totally unprovoked–just ran over and bit her. I’m sure he had a reason like she startled him or was just there but what do you do? There was a dog bite situation on the news today–a woman out walking was attacked by two Australian Shepherds out walking with their owner. They may be put down. I guess calling Cesar is out of the question…
Too bad about Cesar though. I used to love watching his program, and admired him for rising the way he did. Has all that stuff been verified? I certainly would not have forced that dog to have a haircut the way he did.
The video snippet is on UTube –
part of the Maltese episode was used by DVM Yin in her
clip, explaining why safe restraint & non-confrontational
handling are so important, in vet-medicine.
OR Tiny-URL
http://tinyurl.com/32gg94u
– terry
.
.
Cindy,
do U really think that domesticated species have had all
their “instinctive intelligence domesticated out of them”…?
I certainly don’t. Domestic chickens have a brain the size
of a Spanish peanut, but they can recognize flock-mates
from just a facial photo –
can U recognize ONE of 50-odd Rhode Island Reds, or
ONE of 5-dozen Dominicker hens? Not only that, know if
that bird is a flock-mate, or a stranger who happens to be
the same breed?… I can’t.
Domestic horses make great guides for blind handlers
because they have an incredible visual memory, & are
very, very good at finding alternate ways of getting to a
specific known point, even cross-country.
That requires mental-mapping; my elder sister gets lost
anywhere there are no STREETS, she can’t safely go
for a walk in woods unless there’s a trail, & for safety,
it’s best if it’s paved, not merely a signed footpath.
Yet she’s a very knowledgeable paralegal, a crackerjack
executive secretary, & types 110 to 120 WPM. Is she
stoopid? No – but she’d better take along a local horse,
if she wants to go hiking outside the city-limits.
Dogs are better at many cognitive tasks than wolves.
Dogs can imitate human actions, in order to open a door
or gate – wolves are not nearly as facile, & if they open
the gate once, they struggle to repeat the success, as
they do it by trial & error, not observing & mimicking.
Dogs solicit help when they can’t succeed at a task;
wolves just keep struggling, even human-habituated
wolves never think to ask a person [even their carer]
to HELP them to open something, pull a hunk of meat
out of a cage, use a tool they cannot, etc.
Dogs are, so far, the only species to read our faces
visually from their left to their right – the right side of
human faces displays more emotional clues than
the left side [right side / left brain], so dogs scan there
first, to get an idea of our emotional state & intentions.
ATM, only humans & dogs are known to do this.
Dogs are better at reading human gestures than our
closest primate relatives; dogs can use the direction
of our eye-gaze to predict our next actions.
Wonder why the DOG knows U are going to take the
car out for a drive, before U do?… Now U know.
I don’t think domestic species are stoopid. I think that
they may have different skills & know-how than their
wild relatives, but they’re very smart, IME.
Terry
I have to say, I love your responses! You are absolutely right about the intelligence of animals, domesticated or otherwise. I would venture to say that domestic animals may be more adept at tasks that are part of their environment–within the realm of familiarity, while wild animals probably function better in theirs. Or perhaps it is that people do not very often allow or encourage their pets to live up to their potential. Racoons, however…
Did you happen to see the tv special on inter-breed friendships? When I was in psychology classes, I argued with a professor who said that animals have neither emotions nor intelligence but are purely a product of conditioning. Anyone who truly knows animals knows that is human stoopidity!
About Cesar–I did watch some footage. His light touch with his foot nearly knocked one dog over. The earlier shows became boring and repetitive–all you need is to master the walk. I happened to be watching Dr. Phil–he does the same thing. He antagonizes his ‘guests/patients’ to get a rise out of the audience. No good/ethical psychologist would/should ever treat clients that way in my opinion, experience, or training. He humiliated this guy and provoked his anger and then made him look like a jackass. I think both Cesar and Dr Phil may be victims of networ ratings and what viewers want to see, sadly for their victims. For some reason I have more sympathy for Cesar, due perhaps to his humble beginnings and perhaps lack of savvy as to what American stardom entails. People don’t attempt suicide casually. The dogs that bit back were smarter than Dr Phil’s humans that just sat there letting themselves be abused.
I guess I really wanted to know–what about those coyotes at my friend’s house–should they be shot, and why are they acting that way,ie, unafraid or her or even gunshots? And, what do you do if a dog bites you?