Only programmed behavior is wrong, of course, but there certainly are programmed behaviors. Our middle aged, rescued stray cocker spaniel found a rabbit nest in the yard this summer, picked up a little bunny, and wanted very much to bring it in the house. I had to pry it out of his jaws, but he hadn't hurt it. It hopped away, after recovering from the shock. Soft mouth, hunting breeds have it, I doubt it's much seen in wolves. He's a stray, so maybe he was trained, but he doesn't act like it, he didn't want to give the bunny up either. And people haven't used cockers for hunting in the U.S. for a long time, I'm not sure if they ever did.
nihil wrote, "IMO border collies are simply small, slightly inbred wolves. " Well, some dog people think that if you took 20 random dogs, interbred them for a few generations, you'd get something like a small wolf. But saying a border collie is just a small wolf is pretty counterintuitive, and also pretty contrary to experience with wolf hybrids. Most dog people think the latter is a very dangerous experiment.
Cheers, Dan. |
