Woof is dog for "You may test that assumption at your convenience"
Woof is dog for "You may test that assumption at your convenience"
32 comments
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That dog is at least part Great Pyrenees, and those dogs were bred to protect livestock from wolves and bears. We had them growing up, my parents still keep a couple. It's not unusual to wake up to 4-5 dead coyotes in your yard.
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Is coyote meat any good?
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If I remember correctly, Casper went also missing for a few days - he was hunting the remaining coyotes to finish the job.
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For those wondering, Casper continued to do well, and won 'Farm dog of the year' in '23.
https://www.fb.org/in-the-news/usa-today-meet-casper-peoples-choice-pup-winner -
We’re surrounded… that simplifies things!
- Lt. General Chesty Puller
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Those coyotes didn’t expect to meet the Good Boi of DeKalb, Woofer of Woe, the Hound Who Watches the Herd. Legends says no coyote can kill him and he can lift three sheep in his mouth
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They were also inner Atlanta coyotes, they aren't exactly the most fierce. Casper is still a badass tho
32 comments
Herd dogs were bred to protect the herd. While many may show a more gentle demeanor most days, when the time comes, they are absolute machines.
Funnily enough, I live close to DeKalb. Great Pyrenees are one of the more common herd dogs around here, and are a great example of gentle giants that will crush throats. They adopt just about anything smaller than they are, treat anything they see as their territory, and are known for tracking coyotes for miles just to exterminate them all for fucking with their stock.
It doesn't end with their herd, either. They can be highly responsive to their owners. You start showing any signs of tension, they will put themselves between you and whatever is bothering you.
Well I can't get one because the fucker would try to wedge itself between my brain and the bottom of my skull
That's a trick many/most breeds of dog can pull off. It's amazing how well a wet nose, and a slobbery smile shoved in your face can break a bad cycle.
There's a reason they are used as emotional support animals so often. They can guard us from ourselves almost as well as this dog did the sheep from coyotes.
Well, do I have a fun fact for you then: Cheetahs are such anxious and easily stressed animals that zoos consistently failed to set up breeding programs until somebody had a bright idea and paired up a cheetah cub with a golden retriever puppy to be raised together.
Growing up with a lifelong friend in such a chill and loving dog breed allows them to live a lot less anxiously, and has been so successful with keeping cheetahs happy and healthy that the practice has been adopted all over the place.
Dogs are full of love and want to help, even if that's by simply existing in the same space as you.
"Are you really going to die, to save a sheep?
"Someone is"
That's another terrifying thing about when they're on the hunt. They have been found in near-death states, still fighting.
So sometimes that "someone" is everyone involved.
When we watch my sisters dog, my wife has to use a vibrating collar for the dog. He reacts to everything as a potential threat to her, and that ramps up with my kids being there.
If its just me walking him, he tends to just be a roaming doofus. If I add in our (little and much older) dog, he's fine until the moment our dog reacts.
Its actually extremely wild to me just how responsive they are to those around them.
Edit: Forgot to mention, he's a mutt - consisting of like 7 different herding breeds common to the southern US. He's also well over a hundred lbs, and the goodest boy (of the lovable idiot variety).
He also has zero response to my kids, they can lay next to him, on him, whatever, his only interest is looking out for them. And treats.
They're also not deferential or clingy like a lot of dogs (and honestly, why a lot of people want a dog).
Pyrs/Maremmas have a job to do and they don't want to sit around being scratched while staring into your eyes.
"It was just a fucking sheep!"
"you can either hand over the perpetrator, or you can die screaming alongside them!"
There is no choice. There is only kill.
I am not kidding when I say they are akin to a Terminator. Their only thought is to eliminate the threat until there is no threat left. Rip and tear, until it is done.