“I need a dog which accompanies me faithfully but which has retained a wild exterior and thus does not spoil the landscape by its civilized appearance.”
–Konrad Lorenz, Man Meets Dog. Specifically the chapter called “Dog Days” in which he goes running around the Danube with his German shepherd-Chow cross named Susi.
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My preference in domestic canine aesthetics is not *completely* exclusive to, but certainly leans heavily in favor of, dogs with a broadly wolflike or pariah appearance. I think this has to do with my fondness for wild animals in general. However I also think a lot if it goes back to the first time I read Jim Kjelgaard’s books “Snow Dog” and “Wild Trek” featuring Chiri the husky/staghound cross. I became enamoured with the idea of a dog that was a devoted companion but could also hold their own in the wild and hunt for themselves – a survivor. I tend to gravitate to those dogs that have the sort of generalised cursorial predator morphology that looks like it could have legitimately arisen via natural selection. I tend to prefer domestic animals with a generally “wild type” look overall really.
I grew up on Jim Kjelgaard’s books. I checked one out of the library every week when I was in the fifth grade. I reread Big Red a few years ago, and it’s still a great work
I liked “Outlaw Red” quite a bit. I still remember the cast of “supporting characters”: Slasher the coydog, Silverwing the Raven, the feral cow…
There’s actually a number of Kjelgaard’s books I haven’t read, I ought to see if the local library has any of them.
http://home.sprintmail.com/~charterbus/kjelgaard.htm This is a wonderful website.