Watch this very good boy fearlessly escape a pack of wolves

If park regulations are anything like they are in the US, interfering in the natural behavior of wild animals could be against the rules.

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While we all want to help wolves in their battle with nasty interloping dogs, in this case the photographer was so far away we cannot hear any of the altercation. Probably a telephoto lens. So, not a realistic desire.

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That did not look so much as a calculated escape, but rather a reflexive leap away from a nip that took him between the barbed wire. Quite lucky in fact - he could have sprung broadside into the wire, fell to the ground and been descended upon.

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At first the dog seemed to have some idea of being on his/her property, and maybe defending it?, and then they started chasing/biting and the dog knew it was life or death (they grab a back leg to trip the animal/ flip it on its back). Def stop filming and do something, even yelling; most wolves are afraid, at least momentarily, of lone humans. Thankfully the fence stopped them.

There’s no automatic canine solidarity, btw: Sometimes different kinds of canine will of course form a bond, but for instance an outside wolf isn’t automatically absorbed into a pack, and wolves in the western US, when they find coyotes, chase them down like this and then kill them. Add to that the (sadly) many reports these days of eastern coyotes using dogs as a food source: they take the smaller ones (even up to the size of corgis) right out of backyards.

Ugh. This dog deserves all the treats, poor thing.

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They are impressive pack hunters. “Clever girl.”

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Was it wrong that I laughed? Border collie maybe?

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Like cross fit, but you run faster because you’re being chased by a large predator.

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Something with a herding instinct it appears!

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Instinct and no training by the look of it; a properly trained herding dog will respond instantly to it’s handler (I have a new kelpie/cattle dog cross, and I’m now obsessed with Aussie kelpie videos). That’s the downside of having a working dog as a pet.

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Yeah, many dog breeds were trained to work. Hunt (from birds to rabbits or rats or pigs or raccoons or bears), herd, guard, pull, etc. Now most of them are just to be lovable floof balls that lick things.

My kids dog is a black and white Australian Shepard, probably a mix.

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Speak of lost cat posters

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I think so too, at first, but I think their prey drive kicked in when the dog started running.

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That’s a pretty damn thrilling half-minute.

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That’s how I read the body language, too.

“Oh, look, something to play with! Come on, guys! Oh, it’s running, what fun!”

Then the running started triggering their hunt instincts. It was changing from play to hunt and another minute and they’d have been in pure kill mode with no hesitation.

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I dunno, I think they might have been doing just that.

Not that I’d want to be the dog in that situation, since wolves play very rough indeed and in the fullness of time they’d have gotten around to eating him, but I think at first they were more interested in having a larf than chowing down.

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I was kind of thinking the same. Particularly at :11 when it looks like the wolf does the bow and high tail wag that often initiates dog play. I’m sure wolves have a strong chase impulse so when the dog ran intent may have changed from play to food because it doesn’t look like play after that.

My kids dog is a black and white Australian Shepard, probably a mix.

I’m Australian and I don’t think I’ve ever come across an Australian Shepard, though I’ve heard Americans (I think) talk about them on the net. Are they a breed that’s known by different names in different places?

According to this page, it’s not actually from Australia, but the western US.

My kids dog looks kinda like this, only less white and no stripe on the face:

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“The only thing that can stop this kind of bad boy behaviour is a good boy with a gun.”, this message has been brought to you by the National Association of American Gun Dogs.

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Yes! I’ve seen attempted play at the dog park turn into scary bullying. I think for a wild predator the line would be crossed quicker, and turn into a feeding opportunity.


Australian Shepherd have gotten “pet-a-fied,” with miniature versions and the usual inbreeding bullshit. They’re not neurotic unhealthy messes like some established breeds, yet, but I notice a definite difference between Aussie shepherd from 20 years ago, when they first hit the radar, and now. Same with border collies; I’ve met some working BCs who were big, smart, and muscular. A lot of the ones I see at dog parks are small, shorter legged, and kind of mushy.

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