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 About two years old.  At about 6-8 weeks, not sure. I have videos of my dog on youtube, I don't want to spam the thread. Basically, my dog is either 100% feral, or 50% feral. He's not a wolf, because I found him in Baghdad, Iraq while I was deployed and wolves, at least those we're familiar with, just don't exist there. Undomesticated and primitive breeds, however, are all over the middle east. I never had an undomesticated dog before him, so it has been a learning experience. One thing I've noticed is he changes the pitch in his bark (to pretend to be a larger group of dogs), and never licks anyone. Or shows much affection. He does have a curly tail, like an akita or shiba inu - which is why I got, as a companion/pack buddy, a shiba/pit bull mix. They get a lot really great together. The big guy (his name is Jolly) is about 80lbs (which is light for a hybrid, making me doubt he's really wolf), the shiba mix is 35 or so. They fight a lot but have a well-established 'pack order' going on. They've never hurt each other, and the small guy is usually the one starting the fights. The SPCA, through Operation Baghdad Pups, brought him home for me. They have a really good program that helps Soldiers bring home animals from Iraq/Afghanistan. pandrax fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Sep 10, 2010 |
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Sep 10, 2010 19:42
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paisleyfox posted:Hee, he and Koji are smile buddies. That's an awesome dog. I know what you mean about the "caring" part. He gets close to us, sits on laps, but just likes to be on his own. He stalks around my backyard looking for stuff to hunt. He catches a lot of rodents/possums/squirrels. It was actually a lot easier to take him home than it would seem. The SPCA's Operation Baghdad Pups project got him on a flight out of Iraq, to Kuwait, then he took a FedEx (donated space by them) flight to Europe, chartered from France or Germany, to New Jersey. I paid for his last leg of travel, the rest was donated air space, and done as a group of about 10 dogs. Before getting him out of country I had to have him vaccinated, and when he got back home, he had to be fixed, vaccinated again, but that was about it. The SPCA also donated a chip and free training with Bark Busters. They were really professional about all of this, and because I got Jolly as a puppy, he would have lived on the city streets as a stray. So I think his life's a lot better being with me in the states than being in Iraq.
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Sep 10, 2010 20:17
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neongrey posted:Wow, that's a kick-rear end program. It never even occurred to me that something like that would even exist, but it's great to see dogs like that get a real chance. And he's a gorgeous dog. I wouldn't mind a little spam of him. I really respect what the SPCA is doing. They also, last I heard, are doing spay/neuter and vaccine programs in Iraq (or working with Civil Affairs teams to do it). Stray dogs are a big problem over there, as people generally don't keep dogs as pets. Some places I'd go to would have packs of stray dogs all over the streets. I was mainly in Baghdad, so I can't speak for an entire country. Here are a few of the videos I put on YouTube of Jolly. This one is him acting passive and submissive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MsGZUxROGI This is him sitting on my girlfriend's lap - he gets really possessive of her and tells me to more or less back off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lZOFoiA9tE This is pretty much the same thing, he has this giant green toy (I got it because it was too big for the other dog to pick up or steal from him). He got very, very attached to it. When he isn't playing with it, I put it away because he gets really protective of it. This video is me walking a step towards him, then backing off. He never actually plays with it, he just likes to sit by it. I have no idea what he's thinking or what's going on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNj31cL5N44 This is Jolly, and Scout (the shiba/pit bull mix), going after a squirrel that's in the trees. Interesting to me is that towards the end of the clip, he bites a bush, on the same exact branch, he always does this and gradually most of the low-hanging shrugs/trees in my backyard are getting pruned. Another thing he does is that if he spots something to chase, before he runs after it he will bite the other dog - I'm guessing it's to assert that he's an alpha, and that the rodent/squirrel is 'his' to go after. The two dogs normally get along pretty good, and the shiba/pit actually starts more fights with him than the other way around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nbTpGtaLXk Lastly, this one is interesting because in the start he's playing with a rope and shaking his head. I'm guessing that he does it to kill whatever he caught? I am walking with a paper bag from the grocery store and he wigs out on the bag. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK66wLG37No I record him a lot and usually just post the aggro/snarling stuff because it's the most interesting aspect of his behavior (and the easiest to capture on video). He's never bitten me very hard, but I also try not to encourage him. One thing I do notice is that if small kids are around, especially girls, he starts pinging really hard. It's something about the voice and posture that's similar enough to prey behavior, and I try to explain to people what he's like. I'm interested in hearing from other people if Jolly is at all like their breeds. When I take him for walks, I have to avoid other dogs because generally all of them are smaller than he is, as well as try to start fights with him. I have him trained so that when he sits, he stops barking and calms down. My neighborhood has a lot of small dogs, and I've had trouble with other-wise good intentioned people letting their dog get off of the leash. One thing I know is that even if the other dog was the aggressor it would look really, really bad if a fight started. In general, people mistake him for a rottweiler or german shepherd, so I usually tell people in public that he's a mix of those. I take him to dog parks a lot, and because it is, to him, a public space, he never gets into scraps with other dogs. It's hard to socialize him with other dogs if it's not in a public environment. A few things that others with primitive breeds might notice about their dogs. The retinas of his eyes are red, and not the blue-green that other domesticated dogs are. When I use flash photography or have a flashlight, his eyes glow red/orange and the other dog I have has blue eyes. He squats to pee instead of lifting a leg. He doesn't seem interested in marking his territory, but seems to bark to do so instead. When he sits, he almost always sits sidesaddle (both legs going the same direction, and resting on the side of his hip) instead of straight down. I'm worried about potential hip problems. He seems to have two layers of fur, and sheds a lot when it starts getting warmer. He also has a multi-tonal bark, and I find him barking really soft and quietly, then going back to really loud, high pitched barks as well. I know he's a little different from other primitive breeds because of where he came from, so I was wondering what everyone thought.
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Sep 11, 2010 20:00
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WolfensteinBag posted:I just want to mention that it looks like there's some pretty dangerous stuff going on with Jolly's behavior that you're probably unintentionally encouraging. Obviously, I'm talking about the videos where he's growling and correcting you. You shouldn't allow him in situations where he can do that, and especially shouldn't try to appease him like you are. Particularly, in the video with the toy, I'm pretty sure you're trying to keep him calm, but when you say, "Good boy" and praise him, you're also backing off. He thinks he's doing right by protecting his toy and growling at you. You also shouldn't allow him to be so aggressive around your girlfriend like that. Your girlfriend is not his to possess. Nothing is, you need to establish that good things come from you, and only if he's being good. Since you commented back, I've gone full out with the NILF training. It works and it works fast. I'm having a harder time explaining to roommates and guests, than training Jolly to be in line. Spoiling him, or letting him get away with stuff (even if it's just for the camera) made him pretty unmanageable at times. I spent the last couple days with a water bottle and a bag of treats, and it made a big difference. I just wanted to update on that. The couch thing needs to be worked on - we seldom let him in but he does go straight to the couch. He sits before I give him a bowl of food (usually without telling him to, and if he doesn't sit, then he doesn't get anything until he does). I find him at his most unreasonable if he hasn't eaten in awhile. I hid all of the toys and he won't get most of them back for awhile. In the past I've found most of the backyard drama between the two dogs has been over rawhide and bones - so I'm cutting those out completely and just going to use treats that will be gone fast instead of something that he can be aggro/possessive over for hours to days. Thanks for the input.
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Sep 13, 2010 21:23
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Some more of Scout and Jolly. Scout is a weird guy. At first there was a lot of trouble with him smashing pots and tearing up plants during the night. I now keep him on a chain (long enough so he can run around but keeps him away from stuff he can mess up). He is a Shiba mix, probably a Pit Bull, or maybe a Fox or Rat Terrier. He's extremely friendly. He is also so spazzy that he gets worked up and passes blood. The problem stopped after a bunch of vet visits, and deciding to keep him on a chain to limit his activity. He gets walks, by himself, every day, but is very, very excitable. It's called Stress Colitis. In the NILF method, I'm giving him chances to earn the whole backyard instead of just a piece of it. He just has to work for it.  Here's Jolly, bushy, curly tail, sitting side-saddle:  Here are some videos I got today of Scout instigating against Jolly. They don't get that bad with each other and I think it's over asserting which one is the alpha between the two. What I like about the second video is that Jolly knows exactly how long Scout's leash is, and stays just an inch away from how far he can get, taunting him. I'm also interested in hearing if anyone else's dog does that sideways hop that Jolly does - I haven't seen a normal dog being able to move that way. He's pretty agile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS0HsDQQxG0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hst5N-RYo7E I find that if toys and food aren't at issue, Scout, the smaller one, starts all of the fights and also fights the dirtiest. It may be a dominance thing. They haven't hurt each other, so I don't break it up. I don't, however, know where to say play ends and aggression begins. Hope these vids help and I appreciate any input. pandrax fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Sep 14, 2010 |
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Sep 14, 2010 06:54
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Sock Weasel posted:Hrafn. ("raffen") Male Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, born January 28th 2010. Those are really beautiful dogs. What is the younger ones' coats like? pandrax fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Sep 14, 2010 |
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Sep 14, 2010 19:42
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Sock Weasel posted:Hrafn is amazing! Thank you (albeit a bit late) for sharing.
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Nov 3, 2010 04:26
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