Living with a coyote hybrid (Coydog)

First day running free at the dog park

It has only been a week short of two months since I adopted Tristan from the City of Calgary and his training is going very well: he knows all the basics -- to sit, stay, come and not to pull on the leash. He is also learning to better control his instinct to lunge after any small animal or bird in his vicinity. Squirrels and jackrabbits present the biggest challenge, together with anything (or anyone) who runs by, or away from him. Joggers are a common problem. It is always wise not to jog by any dog -- but jogging by a coyote or a coyote hybrid is especially wrong. Of course, most people do not recognize a coyote hybrid. Warning them as they approach is usually not possible as they all seem to be listening to music while they jog, so when Tristan jumps at them, I give a short tug on the leash at just the right moment which flips him around in mid-air. I find it is best to treat him as a coyote -- it is his dominant trait. As far as I can see, coyote philosophy is very simple -- if it is small, it is food. If it is large, then do not let it approach you. His likes and dislikes are different from domestic dogs: more than any other creature, he dislikes small yappy dogs; he is fairly tolerant of cats (actually, coyotes have a few cat-like traits themselves). With other dogs, and typical for many dogs, he feels at a disadvantage while on a leash and will warn them not to come close by raising his hackles and growling at them. He will also try to charge at them. This is almost totally show, although I never give him the chance, he would most likely just nip at them -- rather like the way a border collie would nip at the heels of a sheep. He also really likes fruit, especially watermelon, smashed grapes, and blueberries. He is fond of avocado too. His favorite food treat (and one of mine too) is wild Sockeye Salmon sashimi.

This week, I decided that his training had advanced to the point that I might let him run free at a dog park for the first time. Of course, this decision had some caveats -- I would not set him free if there were small dogs -- or small children in the park. So of course, as we arrive at the park I see a  procession of a grandfather and grandmother; two very small children (toddlers) and four small yappy terriers! We stayed on the other side of the fence. Tristan voiced his displeasure with his usual bark that turns very quickly into a series of high-pitched coyote yips. As the procession came close to where we were standing, the grandfather said "He wants to play!" I explained that he is a coyote hybrid and not good with other dogs. I was tempted to say "Well, he sometimes likes to play with his food!" but I thought better of it. Eventually, they left the park, and as no one else was there, I took him off the leash and let him run. He came whenever I called him or whistled, and generally had a great time following the scent of the terriers that had just passed by, or by just running around or chasing after sticks I would throw.

After about half an hour, a young woman entered the park with a toddler in a stroller and a large, older, crossbreed dog -- it looked like a Black Lab/Husky cross. Tristan spotted them at once on the other side of the park and ran over to them at top speed (coyotes can reach 45 km per hour, and Tristan is not much slower). Being off the leash, Tristan did not threaten the other dog and they went through the usual sniffing rituals. Tristan decided that he wanted to play, but the older dog was less enthused and told Tristan as much by baring his teeth. I was happy to see Tristan act friendly toward the woman and her small son, and I went over to talk to her. Her dog was also a rescue dog and was six and a half years old. If Tristan got too close to the child, the older dog "told" him to back off with the use of body language only. The only difficulty in communication was that once Tristan tried to lick the side of the dog's face. Coyotes greet each other that way -- but dogs usually do not. The dog was confused and backed away. Generally, it was a good first meeting, but Tristan thought he had found a new friend in the other dog and kept running over to try and play. I would whistle and he would run back. After about the fourth time, I thought it was time to head back home. We had about a  two kilometer walk back and Tristan had already just about worn himself out.

Shadow camouflage? a "snack-sized" terrier
passed this way not long ago.

Although I love owning and training a "Coydog", it is not a suitable pet for most people: you have to be "family leader" -- coyotes gather in small family groups -- not a pack. With an ordinary dog, you are told to let it sniff your hand at the first meeting. Tristan sees this behavior as submissive or fearful. He will usually give two short warning barks and then try to drive the person off if they do not become more assertive (it usually works). If he meets a friendly person that just just says hello to him and strokes him then he will try to greet them like another coyote -- by trying to lick their face. He views people as "potential family" unless they start to act hostile (as he sees it) by approaching him too purposefully or fast, or by staring him in the eyes. You also have to spend most of your time in his company. Not a pet for people who go to work each day -- the same is true for any active, working dog. You also have to understand that apart from the characteristics of the coyote and the dog variety it is crossed with, coydogs (and coyotes) each have their own personalities.

Coyotes are much maligned and people's attitude toward them can affect their behavior. If the circumstances are right, I usually do not tell a person that Tristan is a coyote hybrid right away. I let them become friends first. Training a coyote hybrid is very different from training a dog. It is best not to use rewards -- coyotes are the most intelligent of  the world's canines, once they see you only as a dispenser of treats as rewards, that is how they will treat you ever after. You actually should try to make them "family" and give them treats for no reason. You really want to avoid any battle of the wits, they will see this as an adversity situation. What is best is to reach a mutual agreement about things. As part of their "family" they will, like any dog, try to please you. If you let them know that they are doing good when their behavior is not perfect, then that same behavior will then improve -- they know that they were not doing their best and will then try to rectify the situation,. This is completely different from most dog behavior. Amazingly, they seem to understand sarcasm, and I have found that a most useful training tool.

There is still a long way to go, but Tristan's progress is very rapid. The terrier problem will  likely be the most difficult hurdle -- perhaps he sees them as competition -- terriers and coyotes both specialize in hunting rodents. For now, though, any meetings will have a fence in the way!

June, 2015 update on how Tristan is doing!

New! All of the posts showing or referring to Tristan. Do you know that this post is more than three times more popular than the second most popular post (on the seal of Alexander the Great)? I think that this is as it should be: although Alexander the Great is important to some,  far more people (quite correctly) have greater love and concerns about their dogs. Yesterday, Moonfire75 (September 20, 2015 comment) wished to show a photo of Bandit (nickname: Coyote). Why not? Let's make this a community! I noticed the sig on the email:

Full Circle Wellness
www.fullcirclewell.com
Massage, Reiki Master, Certified Equine Bodywork.

After writing for forty hours over three days, recently, and having written the equivalent of seven mystery novels in word-length on this blog in the course of just over two years (I am a very fast writer) I could use something like that. I often feel like an ache with a thin veneer of skin.

So if anyone would like to do this, too, and will agree to make such photos freely available for non profit use, I have created a Coydog community page and you can send up to four photos each year to john(at)writer2001.com (you know the symbol for (at)!) and I will post them there together with a link to your business or website (must be "family friendly", of course)

Make my life simpler! Maximum 1000 pixels, PNG format and name as in the first entry with coydog name with the number at the end: Bandit1 and so on. Soon, I will change the format having thumbnails in a table that can be enlarged with a click. The link to the community will be  a footer on each new blog post (and this one). That should promote interest and traffic to your own pages

John's Coydog Community page