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Frank goes with me on all my kayaking trips.
Ultimate Survival Dog ?
- Thread starter pitdog
- Start date
Frank goes with me on all my kayaking trips.
Id have to say anything with short hair is out unless you live in Florida or a similar climate, if it's cold he won't be much help to you for very long. I think we're all biased toward a current or past pet, my current is great, half Pit Bull half Australian Shepherd. Unfortunately she isn't real intelligent out in the mountains, but if it was urban survival it's than she would be perfect. If it was mountain survival I'd go with my old Airedale Terrier, a natural hunter. The Airedale is affectionately known to their owners as Airedale Terrorists!!!
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My buddy Zeus the boxer would be a pretty good all around helper in either short or long term survival. He's a good hunter, gotten many raccoons, possums, rabbits and a few too many skunks. Took down a coyote on his own protecting his little buddy my wife's dog. Does a pretty good job getting along with my horses and will help gather cows.
He's also very adept at mooching food
As an added bonus his farts are toxic enough to knock bugs out of the air
He's also very adept at mooching food
As an added bonus his farts are toxic enough to knock bugs out of the air
The one with the most meat on him.
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Depends on your training ability and situation, but if you need human and animal defense, hunting ability, and alertness it has to be a dogo argentino (good in hot/cold, top hunter, top fighter, and one of the best guard dogs) with belgian/dutch shepherds next (cause they are such great multi-purpose dogs you can train them to track animals too.)
For urban survival where defense is a priority, by far it goes to the dutch shepherd/malinois cross, or either one of those breeds. No other dogs are close.
For hunting. Lots of good ones, so go with one that can defend you from people and big animals too. Dogo argentino for that. But for hunting alone many will do, they just need to be brought up in the woods with a good trainer.
For farming, the classic border collie or maybe Pyrenees (but I don't have experience with them). If you're worried about defense though you may want the malinois or dutch shepherd.
All-around dogs are very difficult to find and train though.
For urban survival where defense is a priority, by far it goes to the dutch shepherd/malinois cross, or either one of those breeds. No other dogs are close.
For hunting. Lots of good ones, so go with one that can defend you from people and big animals too. Dogo argentino for that. But for hunting alone many will do, they just need to be brought up in the woods with a good trainer.
For farming, the classic border collie or maybe Pyrenees (but I don't have experience with them). If you're worried about defense though you may want the malinois or dutch shepherd.
All-around dogs are very difficult to find and train though.
The dogo argentino will not do well in extreme cold.
Pyrenees are flock guardians while border collies are herding dogs. Big difference. One was bred to protect the herd from predators (wolves etc) the other to help move them around.
The traits that make malinois suited for service also make them horrible pets. They NEED an intellectually and physically challenging job. If you don't provide it they will turn all that energy and intelligence to destructive pursuits.
Pyrenees are flock guardians while border collies are herding dogs. Big difference. One was bred to protect the herd from predators (wolves etc) the other to help move them around.
The traits that make malinois suited for service also make them horrible pets. They NEED an intellectually and physically challenging job. If you don't provide it they will turn all that energy and intelligence to destructive pursuits.
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I have had a dog at my side since I was born, litterally. Shepards, Dobbies, beagles, mutts, and a host of others. If I had to pick just one to head down Armeggedon Avenue with. It would be another Bluetick.
Having never owned a blue heeler he would come in second.
My decision is based on toughness, awareness, sociability, and companionship/loyalty.
Having never owned a blue heeler he would come in second.
My decision is based on toughness, awareness, sociability, and companionship/loyalty.
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Maybe I'm missing the point of your post... I never said dogo argentinos for extreme cold or sled dog (although they would do better than most other multi-purpose dogs, considering the number of locations that experience extreme cold it's not that big of a factor). Nor did I suggest pyrenees and border collies are the same, the choice would be dependent upon one's situation (I also forgot to mention curs/catahoulas, think they're up there in that category).
And we aren't talking about pets, we're talking about the 'ultimate survival dog' which basically precludes pets. 'Ultimate survival dog' means that you would want a dog that excels in several categories relevant to survival, and is near the top in most other categories, while being at least satisfactory in one or two of the lowest skills for that dog breed. And to be honest, very few breeds meet that ideal, very few can protect themselves and you, help find food for you and themselves, be trainable to learn many skills in different areas, adaptable to the environment, aware, intelligent, and stable tempered. I should have mentioned that such a dog is unsuitable for 99.9% of the population, and that very few people have ever even seen a serious protection dog, but most people today don't like being warned. Nevertheless, survival with a focus on personal protection demands such a dog as the ideal, just as one's own skills demand a level approaching that of Mors Kochanski. If one were to go that route they should also go through all the years of training.
That does not make them horrible pets, rather it means that most people are simply unsuited to serious skills, responsibility, and training of high-drive dogs; nor do they have the tempered nature of leadership that such dogs demand. So it is quite the opposite of what you say, pets, and the masters who (fail to) train them, make horrible working/survival dogs.
It is a mistake to assume that the average dog, especially pets, will offer any real protection, that a visible deterrent will be enough in full survival, or that certain breeds will compensate for your own lack of training. As such, this should probably be in the 'skills' section rather than 'gear'.
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Think a lot depends on what you plan on doing with them exactly. I have several big dogs 125-175 pounds. The Newfounland/Saint mix could handle any of the cold weather here in Colorado with no problem but not so much the heat. With the Mastiff/boxer and Mastiff/Saint Bernard it is the reversed. None of them would make great hunting dogs really other then if they ever did catch something I guess...they are still very large very powerful animals after all. I would not in any way call them attack or guard dogs they are super sweet. That said threaten their human mommy and I could see someone or something having a very bad day. She has a few health issues and they are very sensitive to her and protective. Which is no surprise if you have talked to anyone with Saints, Newfoundlands and Mastiffs or in my case mixes of those breeds. What they do excel in is carrying packs and soon I hope to try and get them to learn how to pull a sled/cart, in touch with someone kinda local that has a cart and the harness that she uses with her Newfoundlands. Even that is a trade off they can carry a lot and pull even more but take a great deal of water and food. Mainly I guess I would just find the comfort of having any of them there really important.
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I picked up a Black Mouth Cur and he is awesome. Couldn't think of a better wilderness or survival dog. Protective, highly intelligent, strong, athletic but agile, and a good hunter but an off the scale tracker. Understands English and German voice commands and hand signals. He is obedience trained off leash. He will not run away because his protect the pack at all costs will not allow him to get out of sight unless commanded to do so by the pack alpha- me!
His protection, sensory skills, and night time monitoring while I sleep out weigh any additional loss of food liability. Besides his tracking and hunting skills will just yield us higher returns than those without this asset.
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I've owned two BMC's and couldn't agree more!!
Many curs were the American pioneer's survival dogs. Catahoula Leopard Curs, Black mouthed Curs, etc. Rhodesian Ridgebacks were the Dutch pioneer's in southern Africa. Deutsch Drahthaars are called "Do it all Drahts" for good reason. I know people who use them from controlling pests, to hunting all feather and fur, to tracking wounded game miles and days after the shot, to running hogs and bears, and to herding livestock.
Raising a purebred from a puppy best stacks the odds in your favor of a dog doing what you want, how you want. Especially when you have done your homework on the breed, breeders, parents and grandparents. tThat being said, many mongrels have turned out to be quite talented in many aspects.
Seems to me that the dog you spend the most time training, regardless of breed, will serve you the best. Of course it should go without saying that the dog has to be capable of what want. Not the dog's fault if you select a Chihuahua for north of the Arctic Circle adventures and things do not go well. ;-)
Raising a purebred from a puppy best stacks the odds in your favor of a dog doing what you want, how you want. Especially when you have done your homework on the breed, breeders, parents and grandparents. tThat being said, many mongrels have turned out to be quite talented in many aspects.
Seems to me that the dog you spend the most time training, regardless of breed, will serve you the best. Of course it should go without saying that the dog has to be capable of what want. Not the dog's fault if you select a Chihuahua for north of the Arctic Circle adventures and things do not go well. ;-)
Living close to neighbours with dogs and livestock. Kids and bicyclists horses going by every now and then. My perfect dog is our GSP. We adopted him after my Malmute Husky x passed. 2 very different dogs and personalities. The Malmute was very protective. I could never let him run free. He'd be a good dog out in a remote area away from people, pets and other animals. The GSP is perfect for my situation here. Very friendly, doesn't care about other dogs, good hiking companion that I can let run loose and not worry about.
Just make sure it's one with enough meat on it to keep you going.
BINGO!
Deadskins? Really? Why would anyone do THAT to his dog? Surprised he didn't rip the sweater off and shit on it.
He looks like he could do it if he really wanted to.
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