Here's an update on Sandy. Things are just cruising along without any drama. She's still growing, maturing and becoming even more fun. Definitely getting stronger and faster, but no real hunting success yet. I'll post some pictures again soon.
We're finding the same dog can be very cautious and very stubborn. Wary and vulnerable. Interacting with her on different levels makes us wonder about hard wiring vs intelligence. She can be in her own world and aloof, then need us and find security in our touch.
She seems to like water. No swimming yet, but we have graduated her to a large tub of drinking water from a small bowl. She routinely steps right in with all four, then splashes water on herself and out on the ground. Sort of like she's digging. Then either gets a drink or steps out and licks it up off the pavement. Pretty funny to watch. I went over and "helped" her get water up on her back and tail. She was OK with it for a few seconds with no struggling. Then she stepped out and shook like I'd expect any other wet dog to do.
We've been picking up roadkill rabbits about every other day and she loves them. Rabbits are a big part of the environment here and there are lots of them. Plus, Liye is learning to drive. So, driving around looking for rabbits is good practice while getting Sandy a lot of food. They are usually found within a mile of home. We need to find them shortly after the hit, not too severely damaged and before the birds arrive. What was once seen as ugly carnage, now has practical value and we actually look for them. All for this little dog! She works on them for a while then hides them for later. She'll go with us to look for the hiding place, but won't reveal where they are. Then later she has them out again. After a couple of days they are gone except for a foot or some fur. Bei Bei pretty much leaves them alone, but will try one sometimes after Sandy has had her fill, and when she does, she guards them with serious growls. In the beginning when a new one arrives, the intestines get separated out and left nearby. We pick them up to get rid of them.
Pre-conceived notions of what "wild" means have gone out the window. As a wild dog, Sandy is quite a little homebody. She never wanders off even though she is not tied. Today we were gone for most of the day and when we got back Liye discovered that Sandy was mad, depressed or upset with her. Kind of a cold shoulder act. Something in the eyes and in her actions. Didn't want to be touched. But not with me at all and we had a fine greeting. The other day our other dog, Bei Bei, wandered off as she always does when left unleashed. Sandy let Liye know by staring toward Bei Bei and refusing to come when called, kind of nervous, like things were out of order. When Eddie ran off, like he always does too, Sandy went to get him and pulled him back home. Somehow she knows they are not supposed to leave, or she thinks things are out of order somehow.
When we take her visiting with us to a friends house, she wants to come home after a while. About two or three hours is enough for her no matter how well she is being treated. She starts getting irritable like a tired child. No matter if she is in the house or playing outside untethered. When we give up and bring her home it turns out she needs to pee and poo and get a drink. Then she is fine again and back to her old self. No way she wants to go at the friends house, just at home. But if we are on a trip, or out for the day exploring in the mountains, no problem.
The games of keep-a-way continue. In the morning she comes up to my shop and looks for something to take. A glint in her eye says it's a game. If I say "no!", she's off and disappears with a tool, or piece of hose, or a can, or something. If I offer her a cookie, she is torn and the tension mounts. She loves the treats we give her and she is always checking my hands for them, but to give up a game for one is a dilemma. If I patiently show her the treat as she chews on the shoe she just took, she looks at me and braces for her escape. I can practically see the wheels turning as she guards her toy, watches for my next move, chews excitedly and decides what to do. Then, usually, she will drop the shoe and take the treat. She sees this as a trade and is happy. A few minutes later she runs up for a nice greeting and a tummy scratch. All is well and there is total trust. If I try to chase her to get the item back, no way. She is off like a shot but stops to look back when out of range. If I act like I don't care, she usually drops it just out of sight, so I keep finding my stuff all over the place. Every time I do, I smile. That little prankster! Someday, when she's gone, I know I'll keep finding reminders of her playful presence. I'll pause and think of her with a pang in my heart.
Our other two dogs are very domesticated and they play with each other a lot, but they have never figured out a viable game with our cat. Same with Sandy. All the dogs know dog games, dog communication techniques and dog interests. The coyote fits in with the domestic dogs as well as any other dog. Even better than most with Bei Bei as she has mothered her, been her pal, kept her cleaned up, wakes her up in the morning if we ask her to and on and on. True pack members and playmates. But Sandy, as with the other two, can't figure out a workable game with the cat.
It seems a dog is a dog, wether it's a mutt, or has been bred for hundreds of generations to maximize certain traits as a "purebred" or if it actually is a purebred, like Sandy, that has had no breeding manipulation in her history, maybe, for thousands of years. They are all dogs.
In the end, how can anyone say a coyote is not a purebred dog aside from the fact that no one has actually controlled the breeding? What is a pure bred dog? The result of man's interference to maximize a desirable trait? Or an actual pure breed that has arrived at a well rounded, smart, fast, capable, fun loving, sensitive design, on it's own, in the wild? A survivor in the real world, with no serious design flaws.
It's fun to watch and interact with an animal that is simply being itself. Displaying natural, hard wired behaviors, well thought out strategies, concerns and emotions. Developing a trust with a wild animal that is very much alive, happy and living an interesting life. One able to pursue it's needs and thrive in a situation far different than it's ancestors. A situation, it turns out, that it already understands. Just like other dogs we all love and live with.
So, with respect to dogs, what is wild? What is domestic? What is pure? And here is another one for you, why is one hated and the other loved? Have you ever seen the problem of domestic dogs packing up with others and causing havoc that seems unthinkable from the gentle house dog you thought you knew? If domestic dogs can act wild and wild dogs can be domestic, are they not almost the same?
It makes sense that someone might like a Greyhound and dislike a Maltese. Someone might like a Doberman, another an Aussie. There is nothing wrong with any of those. Someone else might like a Coyote instead of a Poodle. So far, I see no problem with a decision like that as long as each one can have its individual needs met in order to thrive.
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