Coydogs. Are they real creatures, or just the stuff of urban legend? As the name implies, a coydog would be a cross between a coyote and a dog. But according to Chrissie Henner, a biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife,
they're an urban legend. She says that
"there has never been any physical evidence of a half-dog, half-coyote animal." Not that it would be impossible for the two species to mate and produce an offspring, just very unlikely. Though Henner also points out that the mating cycles of the two species differ:
"Coyotes go in to heat between January and March and have pups in May or June, while dogs have their pups in winter." So if animal experts such as Henner are correct that there's no physical evidence of the existence of coydogs, then what exactly is the
Sundance Coydogs site selling? Are these coyotes, or dogs that look coyote-like, or real coydogs?
Comments
http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin.aspx
(type in casey123 for the password)
Look at the dog photo. This is Shara the coydog I've been talking about. She's 5 months old there. I've got more recent pictures of her at 8 months. I'll put them out there soon. Keep in touch. You seem intelligent and interesting.
A friend brought me what she thought was a Husky pup from a kill shelter in TN. Right from the start she was different. She looked up and all around when leaving the house, was clean and the easiest to housebreak. As she grew the difference from my other dogs became very evident. She never smelled like a dog even when wet. And her fur was always clean. Her first year I went away for a couple of weeks and she blew her coat and looked rough like wild coyote's do. But after that she adjusted to my occasional leaving. Maybe because she was socialized young she liked almost everybody but was cautious with strangers when she didn't know them. Tasha was the best "dog" I've ever had. I raise dairy goats and she would help clean the new babies and watch over them, never chased her cat or chickens. But she would wait at the woodchuck hole for hours if necessary while the other dogs got bored. She hunted mice and other birds and grazed in the raspberry patch. She would wait in my truck all day just to be with me. Everyone who saw her thought she was a coyote and more times than I can count people stopped to let me know there was a coyote in the field near my goats. She howled and yipped and loved to have a group howl though the other dogs couldn't carry the tune very well she forgave them. Tasha was about 35 lbs and her coat was a golden color with some darker hairs and her tail was bushy and black tipped. There is a wild coyote male down the road that is colored almost like her. I haven't had a problem with wild coyote's bothering my herd ever since Tasha confronted them and established that this was her territory. She was very protective of her extended family. Unfortunately she died too young. May be I was one of the lucky ones. As good as she was if I ever come across another female coydog puppy you can be sure that it would make a home here.
Anyway, my coy is a darling. She is different from a regular dog in so many ways. She was born on a reservation and, supposedly, her mom is half German Shepherd and half coyote while her father was pure coyote.
I'm not sure I believe this, however, as she is a a beautiful red color. She does have a head something like a German Shepherd and a very big bark rather than a coyote yip. Anyway, you can see her on youtube.com if you like. Just search: coyote dreaming or click on the URL with this message or cut and paste: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4JV23j1qRgE.
In my experience (I've had three coys and one seemingly pure coyote), they are a mixed bag. One was so independent that she utterly refused to be fed and traveled around town like she owned the place. The dog catcher tried repeatedly to catch her but she simply outsmarted the poor guy time and again. Another was a great dog, no problems, and no real sign of her coyote heritage except she was very smart and worked with the "pure" coyote to hassle the daylights out of bears. The "pure" coyote was way too high strung and did not make a good pet.
Our present dog is pretty much perfect. She is so smart she even watches television (mind you, she finds people shows boring but will watch almost anything with dogs or, preferably, wolves and coyotes in it. I don't think she would be as interested in a regular tv but we have a projector (not a projection tv, btw) that she seems able to see clearly.
Anyway, I don't know what the biologist referred to earlier can be thinking. There ought to be some scientific way to prove whether or not coydogs exist but I doubt she would be able to convince country people who have seen dozens or even hundreds of them.
Another supposed legend is that scorpions sting themselves when they are frightened. I saw this for myself, once, so there's no doubt in my mind. Our son had caught a scorpion and incarcerated it. We watched it sting itself, fall over "dead" (we thought) and then revive an hour or so later.
Maybe it's a matter of scientists needing to get out more!
He's one of the greatest dogs I've owned. At the time I didn't think of the fact he could be a coyote mix. But he matches all the coyote mix traits.
I see no coyote,but I do see possible pitbull
due to the shape of the head.
Or maybe even Akita
Nice looking dog tho.
http://www.wolfdogrescue.net/adopt/mishka/mishka.html
"Mishka is a coydog. This precious girl will need someone special with experience and secure containment. Mishka is a little shy but definitely not afraid of people. She is hard to get ahold of but once you have gotten her, she will walk fine on her leash. She is not house-broken and has had no obedience training."
But because where I got him and his odd traits being part Coyote would make a lot of sense.
long neck.
oval paw print.
impossible to housebreak.
perfect teeth.
extra thick tail fur.
massive prey drive.
thick dark fur ridge from head to tail.
dug two large dens in my back yard.
won't play with toys.
rarely barks.
curls up in a ball to sleep.
and a big sweet lover boy.
Thank you for contacting Mars Veterinary.
The Wisdom Panel
Dogs hunting or killing proves nothing. Read any book of the settlers in new england or the west. They did not use dog food, they left the dog's provision up to himself. Both my shepherds will hunt rabbit or squirrell. (I feed them everyday too.)
A dog "going for your friends throat" proves nothing either. Any good protective dog will do that if it thinks you are in trouble.
Folks, your dog "acting" like a coyote doesn't prove or suggest anything. With all due respect, the people who claim to have taken wild coyote home and "tamed" them are misguided at best.
There may be real "coy-dogs" but nobody has provided any evidence. "My uncle Jake saw one" is not worthy of debate.
http://www.coydog.us/
These are absolutely real.
Beautiful animals....
However, there ARE genuine coydogs in existence (albeit VERY few). The two are able to produce offspring together, and all that is needed to get a coydog is a coyote and a dog who get along. Finding the coyote is the only real hard part. You can't exactly just go out and buy one at the local pet store. And even if you could, adult coyotes are very hard animals to keep. The vast majority of coydogs out there are not actually coydogs.
The coydog.us site hosts pictures of genuine coydogs, and their breeder is one of only three or four I have ever known to produce real coydogs.
Just like mountain gorillas and giraffes (once considered imaginary) some people already know including people who have watched coyotes trot through, mate with dogs, and a few months later, had puppies arrive that look and act quite different than most dogs. Good enough for us humble folk.
Btw, nobody cares if you consider it proved or not.
i call a male german sheperd,whom has all the
markings,and actions of the many coyotes i have
watched over the years here in the mountains. he has a hard time controling his urge to prey upon my cat. I have no idea why people find it so hard to believe coyote and dogs do not mix.
in Oregon.But she no longer does.
Here is her site.
http://www.coydog.us/
You can look at hers and see if your dog is
similiar.
Not surprised since she is doing her website
over.
She lives in Oregon....
I think the email address that is shown is the
only one.
Have you tried sending her a picture?
We recently moved to a place farther out in the bush and the neighbors have lost dogs to coyotes who lure the bigger ones out on the lake ice, then finish them off. Once my coy chased a coyote but stopped and ran for cover (me) as soon as she saw there were two of them. So it looks like she knew they were up to no good.
Our coy was born on a reserve so we know she was born to a half coyote mother and a wild father. She was skittish at first but has become calmer. She is very different in personality from our other coys but they are all natural-born killers when it comes to mice, etc. One used to go down to the swamp and catch a big fish whenever she wanted something different to eat.
So, in short, yes it is possible for the two to breed, bust as possible as it is for a Wolf and a Husky to breed
As for coyotes and dogs being unable to hybridize? I've read where there's increasing evidence that the so-called "red wolf" (Canis rufus) might never have existed at all. That they were actually just gray wolf/coyote cross-breeds all the time!
If this is true, it's easier to understand the belief that C. rufus has possibly gone "extinct." Most hybrids--the mule is the best example of this--are born infertile. So, coy-wolves are most likely not able to breed with each other, anymore than coy-dogs are.
Here is her link.
http://www.coydog.us/
So yes they can be bred together.
They are not infertile...
Not--repeat: NOT-- "all."
Big difference.
She can be a very sweet, nice dog. However, she gets mean at very inappropriate times. She is especially mean around food. I can pet her, and she will growl, even to the point of showing her teeth. But 2 seconds after a petting attempt, she licks my hand as it leaves her head. In fact, she licks my hand while growling.
Does anyone know if half coyotes have a tendency to be meaner than regular dogs? She has had a very gentle upbringing, (maybe too gentle. That may be the reason she thinks she can treat anyone however she likes,) and so far has attacked our puppy once requiring stitches. The puppy is now bigger than she is, and can fend for herself if she wishes to -- in fact the two are very close but the BorderCoyCollieDog still growls at very inappropriate times.
Any help or advice would be met with extreme appreciation.
Thank you.
"Coyotes go in to heat between January and March and have pups in May or June, while dogs have their pups in winter."
I don't know much about coyotes, but dogs start going into heat 6 months after birth. Sometimes as soon as 4 months. There is no set time for heat in a female dog. However, after the first heat, you can expect another heat 6 months later or 12 months later. Dog's don'g just "have their pups in winter."
I understand this biologist is working towards a PHD while teaching. He/She should be fired for lack of competence. I know for a fact that dogs go into heat at different times of year. That said...
Even if dogs go into heat at different times than coyotes do, that wouldn't matter, because male dogs/coyotes don't have a heat cycle, and can make puppies whenever they wish. Same with the other way around, but I doubt a female coyote would let a male dog get in too deep so easily.
This is ludicrous. When some people hear something that sounds bizarre to them, they have to start lying and making false statements to not only make themselves sound smarter than other people, but try to disprove the bizarre occurrence.
Way to go Chrissie Henner, biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.. you are a proven moron.
I have never bred dogs, but have known people that have. They never had much trouble using the same male dog to impregnate different female dogs that had heat cycles at different times of year, as far as I could perceive.
Thank you for your information, Seijun. But would you say that the biologist made a pretty disinformed assumption that coydogs could not exist because all dogs go into heat at specific times of the year that are different from all coyotes?