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Best canoe dog for wolf protection
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
- Start date
Pastore Abruzzese and Montagne des Pyrénées are the officially approved and used livestock guardian dogs in Switzerland. They are mainly used to protect herds of sheep or goats. To ensure protection, at least two dogs guard a herd, often three or more are used. These dogs are said to be capable of killing wolves that are searching for prey in a protected herd.
These dogs are large, strong and weigh a lot. If I imagine two or more such dogs in my canoe, with all the gear and food for me and the dogs...then I would rather take memaquay's cat with me
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Photo credit: Herdenschutzhunde Schweiz
Sheepherders in Idaho have been employing GP's in the outback. They are huge, heavy coated, and vigilant. And yes, from what I've seen, they work in pairs. I would think that if one was to bring one along on a solo canoe trip, one should be in something like a 17' or 18' Prospector.
Wolves hunt in packs, right? Not sure there’s a breed that can stand up to a pack alone.
Maybe there’s a difference in Rocky Mountain wolves and these in the Midwest, where they have to coexist with humans. Out west, I rarely saw more than one wolf at a time. My encounter with a pack was new for me. Seems most reports in the Great Lakes states involve packs. I wonder if they stick together more in more remote areas, or, are packs just more likely to be spotted in densely populated places.
Maybe the collie idea is best. An alarm more than a fighter. Plus, a good pair of cow dogs could pester the heck out of a lone animal, staying just out of the chomping zone. If the wolf caught one it would be over, likely, bit they’re wiley workers and nippers, might just run off a lone wolf. Not sure.
Maybe the collie idea is best. An alarm more than a fighter. Plus, a good pair of cow dogs could pester the heck out of a lone animal, staying just out of the chomping zone. If the wolf caught one it would be over, likely, bit they’re wiley workers and nippers, might just run off a lone wolf. Not sure.
Yes. Wolves often wander around solo. That is how I have seen them. Any dog that can stand up to a wolf is going to be large and not much of a pet. I agree with Black Fly. I have had herding dogs for over 50 years. My Border Collie is in charge of camp security. I back her up with a large pistol which I have never needed. Two or 3 cow dogs are even better. They have been chasing bears out of camp for decades.
We had a griz coming into camp near two ocean pass back in ‘99. After answering nature’s call one morning, I heard the outfitter turn his two border collies out of the wall tent; they chased a big ol griz out of the woods right behind me. That bear was getting the heck gone. Those dogs work together and befuddle and intimidate bears without ever getting within 10 yards. When they put their heads down and run, no bear is going to catch them. Bear turns towards one dog, the other harasses from behind. Not solute they’d work against wolves in a pack.
If you are traveling solo and run into a wolf or maybe more then you have to start thinking about things like this.
I've run into wolves many times. I've had them walk past my yard when my dog and I were standing 50 feet away. I've sat on a trail eating my lunch on a backpack trip for 5 minutes, only to see a wolf get up from its bed maybe 100 feet away and slink off. I never knew it was there. I've been circled by large packs trying to get downwind to figure out what I was. I've trapped them, walked up to them unarmed and jabbed them with drugs at the end of a short pole, and radio-collared them and necropsied them when they inevitably got shot or killed by other wolves. Only one of the wolves I've trapped behaved aggressively, and it was an old wolf that was blind in one eye and caught in a trap, so I can't blame it. It surely would have run off if it could have. Most of them just lay down and pretend they don't see you, hoping you don't see them. I've chased down injured wolves, unarmed, and noosed them with a noose pole.
I'll admit it would be unnerving to be approached by wolves if you haven't had that experience, but remaining calm is all you need to do. A dog might (maybe) deter a lone wolf which has no territory, but is more likely to attract the wrath of a territorial pack that would otherwise leave you alone.
Sawyer,
Rare to hear from anyone with your kind of experience. I have run into them in Alaska and Nevada and the encounters were uneventful.
Rare to hear from anyone with your kind of experience. I have run into them in Alaska and Nevada and the encounters were uneventful.
That jives with what I've heard about wolves in the arctic. I've heard people say you can approach a in-use den and the mother will run off and look on nervously from a distance while the pups are handled.
Alan
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