Dutch Shepherd Forum

leih merigian wrote:It's cool to be able to see both animals! They had a lot of black squirrels back in Lansing, MI :

Ditto in N/E Indiana. In my home town it is odd to see a squirrel that is not black.

Being a dolphin nut, went to the Dolphin Research Center down in the Keys the last time I was down there. What a fantastic day!

Anyway, I'm sure anyone who is nuts about these incredible animals has similar fantasies to mine...befriending one in the wild, having lots of swimming fun together, etc.

Well, did they set me straight. There are proven cases of people feeding dolphins, then when they're over their fears or concerns about humans, plugging their breathing holes with hot dogs, thus killing them. My spousal unit is always saying, "mice see the world thru cheese," which means of course that you expect from others what you do yourself, and that's how you see the world. I'd never in a million years have thought this kind of thing up, but it sure serves to explain one of the too many reasons why wildlife are just off-limits to us, period (with the exception of trained wildlife rescue things).

Eva, yes and folks dont realize that gators can leap out of the water as high as the length of their bodies and with some reaching 13' long, well that is just downright scarey.

Referencing the coyote, my adult son called the other day telling me that he heard their terrior mix yapping in the back acreage near a wooded area with a creek that runs through there. Wildlife follows the creek of course and we pleasure in seeing the different animal tracks along the banks. When he went to see what the ruckus was about, there was a female coyote in the yard play-bowing and zoomieing with his old GSD boy. The two were playing!! The terrier was clearly disturbed about this but the GSD was having a ball. I wish he had taken photos. The yote ran off when he got closer.

Yikes!!

speaking of gators... they found one dead in Indianapolis with it's mouth taped shut.

icvanstra wrote:speaking of gators... they found one dead in Indianapolis with it's mouth taped shut.

An alligator in Indianapolis? I guess global warming is happening more rapidly as we thought.

Alligator meat would be a great protein source for dogs with allergies to other meats.

Hate the fact that its mouth was taped shut. Just another creature abandoned by people with no resources to survive - so they suffer until they die. At least have the balls to kill it yourself vs. setting them up to be tortured, defenseless and capable of only starving. If this was a puppy it would make national news.

The alligator died because of the tape or did something else happen to him?

Here in Florida it's the common procedure used by the authorities when removing an alligator from a residential area. Then they decide if they going to release it somewhere else (I don't think they drive as far as IN) or if it be killed.

I go home at lunch to let the dogs out to do their business. Anyway, Halo was off leash and goes chasing after two coyotes...her recal is good but I guess the temptation was too great this time. Halo goes chasing after the coyotes and they were running from her until she is out of sight. Then I start hearing what sounds like she is being attacked. I really thought she was a goner and then she comes running back looking proud of herself.
I will never know what happened, whether she was attacking them or they were attacking her but she came back unscathed.
I promptly stormed over to my neighbour and demanded they stop feeding the coyotes.

It is so nice to see wildlife in their natural habitat but it is quite another thing when they are being lured to someones property (in a suburb). We do have wolves here and there were a couple incidents last year where dogs were attacked and one was killed. I just hope they don't show up in my back yard.

Wow, that is really scary! So glad to hear Halo was OK!

There have been dogs killed by coyotes here too...too much of man taking over the wilderness and then these kinds of things happen.

Hope you all stay safe up there!!

Diesel wrote:I go home at lunch to let the dogs out to do their business. Anyway, Halo was off leash and goes chasing after two coyotes...her recal is good but I guess the temptation was too great this time. Halo goes chasing after the coyotes and they were running from her until she is out of sight. Then I start hearing what sounds like she is being attacked. I really thought she was a goner and then she comes running back looking proud of herself.
I will never know what happened, whether she was attacking them or they were attacking her but she came back unscathed.
I promptly stormed over to my neighbour and demanded they stop feeding the coyotes.

It is so nice to see wildlife in their natural habitat but it is quite another thing when they are being lured to someones property (in a suburb). We do have wolves here and there were a couple incidents last year where dogs were attacked and one was killed. I just hope they don't show up in my back yard.

A guy around here had a malinois that he would let run off the coyotes. Then one day he didn't come back. He wanted to adopt a DS rescue for the same purpose......uh, nope.

I agree that your neighbors probably shouldn't encourage visitors. But I' guessing you are working to perfect that recall as well?

Christie M wrote: A guy around here had a malinois that he would let run off the coyotes. Then one day he didn't come back. He wanted to adopt a DS rescue for the same purpose......uh, nope.

Sadly, he's such an idiot that he doesn't even realize this is something he should've kept under his hat, as it's not exactly an advertisement for responsible pet ownership . Fortunado for you and DSs, he's an idiot

We have been working on it regularly and Halo has been really good with recall when she is within a few feet of me but when she is further away and there is another animal she is hard to stop. I am open to any suggestions anyone has!

Diesel wrote:We have been working on it regularly and Halo has been really good with recall when she is within a few feet of me but when she is further away and there is another animal she is hard to stop. I am open to any suggestions anyone has!

Every time you let her blow you off, you're just reinforcing that behavior.

You either have to have her on a long line (you can get a 30 or 50 foot line, tho they're a lot to manage; 20 feet is a nice compromise. especially when walking in the woods), or invest in a good E collar and learn how to use it. But, we have to listen to our dogs, and she's clearly telling you she doesn't have the impulse or self control to obey you in these situations just yet.