My friend is contemplating buying a wolf dog. I thought I read somewhere that certain cities make owning one illegal. I told him to check with the dog pound first.
Ewww....not a good idea. They are illegal in many jurisdictions, but even where they're not, it's not advisable. They're half wild animal, and can revert to their wild instincts at any time, with disastrous consequences. Whatever traits that your friend is looking for in a companion animal can be found in much safer, more predictable domesticated dog breeds.
I knew (of) one once. The owner had to make special arrangements to bring the animal to the Vets after hours because it didn't do well with other dogs. Beautiful animal though (as I watched from inside my Jeep).
Yeah, I think I am going to convince him to adopt a dog at the pound or a rescue. That's what I do. The advantage of adopting a adult dog is that they are usually house broken, and already went through the shoe biting phase. Plus, you are giving a dog a new chance in life. I happened to be talking to a neighbor last night. He told me he had a wolf dog growing up. He said the dog, being part wolf, mainly walked around in circles in his back yard, as wolfs are meant to roam free. It seems cruel to confine a dog that is part wild to a back yard.
I think he should get an American bulldog (not to be confused with a American pitbull terrier). They are very gentle, but extremely strong and can take care of business if someone breaks in. I have an American bulldog, and a French bulldog. American bulldog showing it's strength: American Bulldog Weight Pulling - Bing images
Wolf-looking breeds are genetically more related to wolves than other breeds. These breeds would be the German Shepherd, Husky, Malamute, Akita, etc. They are also on a lot of apartments' lists as "aggressive breeds." But, they're not banned by governments, so they're an option.
I used to own two Akitas. They are EXTREMELY loyal to their masters. I had a rare pure white Akita (Japanese strain), and a black and white (American strain) Akita. I had quite a few Japanese (from Japan) people offer to buy my white Akita for A LOT of money. I said no gracias. Here is a story of a very famous White Akita by the name of Hachiko: Hachiko (1923 - 1935) - Find A Grave Memorial
I have the granddaddy of them all, an English Mastiff. He just turned 6 months old, and he's already 120lbs with no sign of growth slowing down. His dad is over 230lbs and his mom is 200lbs, so he's going to be a big boy. Very gentle and very loyal breed, also very protective, but not in a vicious, nasty way. His "who's that?" bark when someone is at the door rattles the fillings in my teeth, and whenever we meet someone new, he doesn't let them get near me until he senses it's okay. He doesn't bark or growl, he just plants himself between me and the person he doesn't know. There are lots of Mastiff rescue groups out there, so if your friend is looking for an intimidating, protective dog who's actually a cream puff until really needed, he/she should look no further!
I love Mastiffs. This dude I knew had a Neapolitan Mastiff crossed with an Italian Cane Corso Mastiff. He had these blue eyes that made him look like a hound from hell or something. That dog was bad ass. I'll tell him to keep Mastiffs in mind. Do they tend to have any joint or hip problems because of their weight?
They can, like any very large breed, but that can be minimized with good breeding & good nutrition. I used to think "canine nutrition" was a load of crap, until I started reading in-depth about it, and it really does matter quite a bit.
Oh, it does make a difference. My Frenchie was having massive skin problems. Our vet recommended that we put our dogs on a Paleo diet (raw meat). It pretty much worked, but it got expensive as hell. We had to constantly search the newspaper for sales ads in search of the cheapest ground meat. It's weird, when I was a kid, we bought ground beef because it was much cheaper thank steaks. Now a days, it seems like ground beef is just as expensive as steaks. I don't get it. Anyway, we finally stopped doing it. We know use Biljac dog food: Bil-Jac® Dog Food & Puppy Food | PetSmart We have had good results so far.
I give my bullies Glucosimine/Chondriotin for their joints. My American bulldog has arthritis, and I really seems to help.
On the recommendation of the breeder, we were feeding Life's Abundance, which is available online only. It's a great food on paper, but my pup was getting diarrhea constantly, ranging from loose/soft stools to pure liquid shooting out his backside. We tried adding canned pumpkin, white rice, bananas, apples, but that would only minimize it temporarily. We finally decided to try switching food, and after reading endless reviews online, we tried Kirkland brand, which is made for the Costco chain. It was highly rated on every review website I could find, and the ingredients/nutrition match up very well with premium brands. We switched about 3 weeks ago, and the change has been fantastic. His stools are firm, perfectly formed, but not too hard. It also doesn't hurt that it's about half the price of Life's Abundance. Kirkland Signature Pet Food and Pet Supplies > Kirkland Brand Pet Food
"We tried adding canned pumpkin, white rice, bananas, apples, but that would only minimize it temporarily". We tried all that stuff. For years we bought brands like Science diet and IAMS, thinking it must be better than the food they carry at grocery stores. We even tried this expensive brand that was said to contain high concentrations of meat, kind of like what dogs/wolfs would get in the wild. We tried that stuff, and our dogs got nothing but stomach problems. I guess most major brands of dog foods now use fillers to expand their profit margins. 30 plus years a ago this wasn't a problem, as better ingredients were used. I don't know, the vet explained it to me in much more detail, but most of what he said went over my head. :smile:
You must be talking about Blue Buffalo. My dog didn't do all too well with that. The protein content was too high. I feed her Nature's Variety, but Wellness Core seemed to be okay. I only feed my dog grain-free dog food because she gets gassy with food that has a lot of corn in it.
Yup, that's it! I saw the commercial, and I got reeled in right away. Boy was that a huge mistake. It made my French bulldog break out with sores on his skin, and he even had some bloody stools. The dogs are doing well on Biljac, and I think it is grain free as well. My wife knows more about that stuff than I do.
