Could a domestic dog survive in the wild?

[zoom star]

As domestic dogs are abundant, assuming somehow they got out of the house, and did not die in the living room, I would have thought the first living food they would come across would be smaller dogs. I think if they really are starving there would be a rapid thinning out of the size of dog, and a balanced sized pack would evolve.
It takes a good dog to kill a cat, so I fear they would become even wilder quicker, as they still retain a nearer bond to their wild side, even in domesticity.

[PositronicRay]

Our dog a mainly terrier based mutt, not a chance I don't think. (Unless running about with sticks and not giving them up is a survival technique)

M.I.L's yorkie however would stand a chance. Really really quick and agile, can catch a fast ball, doesn't give up, shakes his toys to buggery. I think he has the killer instinct of a cat.

[medieval]

zoom star said:

As domestic dogs are abundant, assuming somehow they got out of the house, and did not die in the living room, I would have thought the first living food they would come across would be smaller dogs. I think if they really are starving there would be a rapid thinning out of the size of dog, and a balanced sized pack would evolve.
It takes a good dog to kill a cat, so I fear they would become even wilder quicker, as they still retain a nearer bond to their wild side, even in domesticity.

I think most dog breeds would be effective against cats if the need be and out here in the more rural areas vermin abound and I think the dogs would revert to type fairly quickly if they had to survive.

[Pesty]

Logan has no hunting instinct whatsoever. Just chasing


He has cut off a couple of squirrels from trees and chased them into the open when they get knackered they turn and just stare at him at that moment he walks off. Not interested any more.

Being outside wouldn't phase him one bit I think he would prefer it just not sure he'd be able to do any hunting. Defending from other uk preditors wouldn't be an issue he could stand up for himself just think he'd end up scavenging.

Edited by Pesty on Saturday 13th February 21:11

[telecat]

My Son's friend has a Lab that roams his farm keeping Foxes etc away from the chickens. He did get fed 3 times a day until they noticed he was getting a little porky. Turns out he was getting extra food by nicking sandwiches for the Fishermen using the farms pond. They took him down to one meal and the fishermen bring extra sarnies!!!!

[gareth_r]

It worked for the dingo.

[RB Will]

A family lost their dog in the local woods think it's a labradoodle sort of one. They are still looking for it over a year later as people keep reporting sighting of it, apparently looking a bit rough now and it won't come to anyone who finds it just runs off again.
So if the storys are true it's obviously surviving on something.

[RDMcG]

Define "the wild".

I have a winter house in Arizona. Dogs are lost often to

- coyotes
-cougars

and, surprisingly to

-owls

We have had small dogs in the area taken away by owls. often. The owls are not small.

It's good to have a Great Dane.

[Hooli]

Pints said:

Matt UK said:

Our dog killed a sick rabbit once whilst out in the countryside. See saw it, it ran and she chased. The fact she caught it tells me it must have been sick / old.

The instinct was there. She shook it by the neck, in the way she'll do with some toys, and it died instantly. She then tossed it up the air, like a game, as she'll do with her toys.

As this was happening I was running towards her and commanded her to drop it. She did and ran back to me. To this day I'm not actually sure she even considered it food, it was just a cool toy.

That's because she wasn't hungry.

Lucky got one of next door's chickens once, did much the same. As soon as it stopped moving she got bored of the 'new toy' & walked off.

[Ayahuasca]

Could a domestic dog swim faster than a shark?

[M42L]

Having had a pure bread working golden retriever brood bh I am certain she would have caught enough rabbits/ rodents to feed herself and us. This instinct grew after having pups. Always a swift clean kill and returned to us which is better than than the usual ball games that involved me fetching. Whist she didn't attempt to eat the kill I'm sure she would if hungry. Before anybody goes all 'poor bunny' on me the farmer regularly shot 'em and it gave the local buzzards take away. Not the most pleasant thing to see but that instinct was still there.

[M42L]

Having had a pure bread working golden retriever brood bh I am certain she would have caught enough rabbits/ rodents to feed herself and us. This instinct grew after having pups. Always a swift clean kill and returned to us which is better than than the usual ball games that involved me fetching. Whist she didn't attempt to eat the kill I'm sure she would if hungry. Before anybody goes all 'poor bunny' on me the farmer regularly shot 'em and it gave the local buzzards take away. Not the most pleasant thing to see but that instinct was still there.

[TwistingMyMelon]

My collie could, he puts up with being in a house, but has never settled, in open fields he is a different very confident dog. He prefers drinking from rivers to bowls and I have watched him stalk rabbits for the kill. He can handle the cold and outdoors, I think he would be more like a fox (he looks like one!) and just go for rubbish/urban areas. Hes very quick/nimble and subtle and could out run or dodge predators , whilst keeping a low profile.

In fact thinking about my collie was a rescue from a Welsh rural farm, he lived rough on the farm for 8 months in a pack of 6, with limited shelter and little food, the farmer didnt want them so ignored them, hence why he is self sufficient. When we got him he had never seen a pavement and didnt know what to do!!

My terrier was found wandering the streets, I think he could handle "the wild" but if there were any predators hes a bit loud/slow/rubbish in fights. I think he could handle it but less so than my collie, hes a tough bugger. We call him "cockroach" as if there was nuclear armaggeddon and civilisation was wipped out, he would crawl out from the burning rubble and sniff about like nothing has ever happened!

[Nimby]

Our dog was found as a tiny abandoned puppy by some squaddies in Helmand province. She's clearly from stock that has survived by scavenging for generations in a harsh environment where dogs are not particularly well cared for. She's grown into something like a muscular saluki; very fast but with stamina too, good eyesight and a short dense coat that shrugs off cold, rain and dirt (onto the carpet). So in theory she's well-equipped to survive, and she can certainly catch rabbits, squirrels and pigeons with ease. She also seems to need very little water.

But I don't think she'd thrive in the wild. Even though she can catch prey she doesn't have the jaw strength to get at most of the carcass. She just eats the easy bits and I don't think that would give a balanced diet. Domesticated dogs that can still hunt well have lost the bite strength of wolves, and those with powerful jaws aren't good hunters.

[Robatr0n]

I think our hound has all the attributes necessary to survive in the wild but I think he is just far too accustomed to living the current life which he enjoys rather than fighting for his life everyday. I know that atleast 2 from his litter are guarding livestock in Spain and Africa and have to fend for themselves but I doubt our boy would like that too much... He doesn't even like going for a walk when it's raining now!

[AdiT]

Ayahuasca said:

Could a domestic dog swim faster than a shark?

Mine doesn't need to swim faster than the shark... he just has to swim faster than your dog.
He does swim faster than the local Canada Geese though who have to "taxi" to stay ahead of him.

[Matt UK]

Ayahuasca said:

Could a domestic dog swim faster than a shark?

No, of course not, don't be so silly.

But could a dog surviving in the wild swim faster than a domestic shark?

[FlyingMeeces]

Things with relatively intact hunting instinct would probably do OKish, but a lot of pedigree breeds have been so supremely fked around with by humans that they'd be doomed. Chihuahuas with hydrocephalus, for God's sake! I think very quickly we'd see first a return to your standard black & tan medium-sized terrier thing, and then a relatively fast ?devolution (definitely the wrong word) to something very wolfy: there's a good reason they evolved like that in the first place, after all. I'm not sure how well most present-day pet dogs would do across the span of a couple of cold winters.

Be interesting to see how fast the North re-forested if there was nobody left to farm - I rather suspect it'd be very, very quick. Presumably followed closely by a spike in game species (including various wild-living pigs) and drop in anything too domesticated and human-dependent (I don't think a modern riding horse/pet pony would fare very well at all, although I guess the little Shetlands, Welsh mountain ponies etc would be fine).

[axgizmo]

Not a chance for Mum & Dad's Black lab... She is afraid of the dark, she wont go for wee wee's once it is dark unless you go outside with her.

Then she will stand there and bark at the sky...

Bonkers

[soad]

Not for long, I suspect.