The Update From the Behaviorist....

[StillandSilent]

Was not at all what I expected. Gambit was there for 2 hours yesterday (the appointment ran over), and it's probably the best money I've spend with him so far. She did have a huge suprise for me, though.
She feels that Gambit may well be a coydog. We looked up pictures and videos of coyotes online, and she was pointing out differences in body shape, movement, and behavior between a normal dog and the coyote, and showing them to me on Gambit. She would like to have him genotyped (I think that's the correct word, I was kind of in shock)
He was born to a stray/feral mother in an area with a huge coyote problem.
I'm a bit skeptical, but the coyote on one video did a wiggling shriek/chirp thing that sounded and looked exactly like Gambit. I've never heard another dog do it, but Gambit will do it every time he sees me after a seperation of more then a few hours.
Go figure. I would drive 5 hours for a dog and not only get a freak dog, I would bring home something that isn't even a dog!
We tried a thundershirt, which had an almost immeadiate effect, to the point where he was able to get up and walk around, then lay on the couch as opposed to just sitting there in shut down mode.
Lots of good suggestions, and I'm really excited that I might be able to make some concrete changes in his behavior from this point on.
Honestly? I wish I had done this three months ago.
So, does anyone have any advice on raising a coydog?

 

[oakash]

Huh, well, its awesome that the thundershirt works lol

And about being a coy dog...that's really interesting, and maybe it will help you understand him. But I think we need pictures to see if he really is a coy dog

 

[Renee750il]

Yup. We need more pictures, lol.

Sounds like you found a behaviorist who has a real handle on a dog like Gambit

I wonder if a Thundershirt would chill out Tallulah's desire to fight the thunder

 

[AgilityPup]

That's neat (and yeah, pretty sure genotype is the word you're looking for!) and I look forward to seeing if you're able to get a more concrete idea.

And I'm so glad the thunder shirt helps. I don't really know details about the issues you're having, just that you're having issues, but I hope you're able to work them out.

And yeah, we really need more pictures.

As a side question, I wonder if you'd be able to do sports and such with him if he does come back positive as a coydog?

 

[Upendi&Mina]

I agree with everyone who said we need pictures.

It would be interesting to see if he came back as a coy dog, if I remember correctly that could explain quite a few of the issues you're having with him. I hope you're able to get it sorted out quickly, it sounds like you've found a great behaviorist to help you!

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

Uh, don't let him near anyone's chickens? :rofl1: We had a team of two coydogs decimate our pet chicken population when I was younger soooo just keep him contained! I want pictures too, sounds like a neat little dude. Good luck on getting his behaviors changed

 

[Romy]

Haven't been following his threads and things, but am glad you found a behaviorist who knows what they are doing.

There was a rescue in Tucson that picked up two litters of feral puppies from the Tohono o'odham reservation, literally from under a bush in the desert. They both turned out to be litters of coydogs. No idea what percentage or how many generations they might have been feral for.

From what I saw of those litters, they either turn out really friendly and outgoing, or they turn out completely fearful with a strong tendency towards fear aggression towards non family members.

The friendly ones were adopted pretty quickly. The others took months to become used to even their foster families. We went to see one who was caught at 3 months old. They'd fostered her for 4 months, along with a feral pitty puppy who was also 3 months old at time of capture.

Both started out fearful and unsocialized. It took the pit (his name was Tank ) about two weeks to lose all fear of all humans and transform into a social love bug. After four months, the coydog puppy was still hiding under the bed by day. The husband said that in the past two weeks she finally started climbing into bed with him at night to cuddle while he "slept", but would bolt and hide as soon as he woke up again. We came to see her when I was dog-hunting, and they had gotten her on a lead so we could meet her. She was just very shy and shut down. She didn't seem to have any aggressive tendencies, but acted like being handled = crushed spirits. After two hours she finally took a treat from my hand, then hid in the fireplace while she ate it. Honestly, I really wish we could have gotten her. She was a total sweetheart, but wasn't the right dog at that time.

 

[cinnamon]

what's a thundershirt? How does it work?

 

[Miss Pugg]

We had a coydog years ago. Mitzi was half coyete and half Norweigan Elkhound. Lots of coyetes a couple of miles from here and a friend had an Elkhound on a farm that she let run loose. Mitzi followed us home from the root beer stand and said she wanted to live with us. We had her 16 wonderful years. She was about 40 lbs., looked like a squashed German Shepherd, was brilliant. One of my daughters trained her in obedience and got third in state 4H obedience her very first year. She was shown in matches where mixed breeds could be shown and she always swept her classes. We had her spayed and she was a delightful pet for my 4 children, very obedient, friendly, calm, but a bit scary to hear when she would howl. I had other dogs (I raised them then) and each of my children claimed one, two or three as their own but Mitzi was a favorite of everyone. I'd have another in a flash if I could find one like her.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Wow, very interesting!

I have been hearing LOTS of good things about thundershirts lately. Thinking about getting one for fireworks this summer. Jackson freaks. Storms don't bother him too much but if they are really loud they occasionally will.

 

[Tazwell]

There's a few coydogs that I know around here. All of them super friendly, great with kids, and two of them happen to be named Wiley. Go figure! Good luck with Gambit and his new behaviorist

 

[sassafras]

I'm glad you had a positive visit.

 

[LilahRoot]

That's pretty neat! I hope that this new development helps to work through his issues.

 

[noludoru]

Go figure. I would drive 5 hours for a dog and not only get a freak dog, I would bring home something that isn't even a dog!

:rofl1::rofl1:

This would be my luck, too!

I'm glad the thunderhsirt worked, and I hope this behaviorist continues to help you both.

 

[StillandSilent]

Romy- what you are describing sounds an awful lot like my boy. He's made progress faster, but the hiding under the bed and slinking out to snuggle at night was our first week!

We go today for a blood draw by a person who is doing a study on hybrid animals, with the assurance that neither Gambit or I will be named in the study. If he is a coydog, he is a coydog, but that fact does not need to be advertised, especially to my apartment complex! :yikes: We should have results in 4-8 weeks.

Is there any good information about coydogs out there? I've been combing the internet, but mostly getting Wiki, which I don't trust, and sites telling me that it's a 1 in a million chance that he is. But, just judging from what I'm hearing from you guys, it doesn't seem to be as rare as the sites make it out to be. The trainer says she has seen one other coydog, and one that was suspected to be, but not confirmed.

Right now, we are working on clicking and rewarding any calming signals that he shows. Before we started with the Thundershirt, he was so shut down that he couldn't even offer them. On our walk yesterday, he shook 4 times and lip licked a bunch! Yay for Gambit!

We are also doing a jackpot reward for any time he shows affection towards someone who is not Mommy.

I'm seeing improvement already, though no doubt part of it is that I'm more relaxed because I have a direction to go in now.

I will try to get more pictures this weekend, as it will be both his first birthday and my 26th.