How good is a good dog during sit x?

If you had the best dog in the world, better than the rest, would he/she be worth keeping around? Keeping in mind the liablity of sound and being an extra mouth to feed?
I will not opine until I hear others. I do not wish to come off biased to the question at hand.

Thank you in advance.

11:11

reply to post by eleven:eleven

If you had the best dog in the world, better than the rest, would he/she be worth keeping around?

A better question is - Would you prefer a solid dog as a companion during sit x, or a stable human..?




I'll take the canine...I'd rather deal with a dog during a life changing moment than a fella human being.

I know - sad...

Agreed, the dog is more predictable, that is the appealing nature of this shade of gray.

Just to clarify, you would keep the protective smart dog if the world fell apart?

A good dog is invaluable. I have two...early alarm system, keep away pests and predators, if the right type-good hunting companions for tracking and rooting out game. Yup...a good dog worth every effort to keep.

Already gone proving once again he/she is not gone at all, but very much connected.
I don't want to display bias towards the topic, yet, and will await more replies until I disclose my personal beliefs. (as not exciting as either side may be to some)

Thank you for your input everyone

First icon usage of my life.

My friend who owns our northern property has two dogs, they make great companions, and can be helpful in some situations (like hunting).

I would just worry about noise like you said, I mean sometimes they bark a lot which will attract all kinds of attention.

Not to say humans dont, some people scream at everything and dont know when to be quiet either. But at least the person you can tell to be quiet.

Id say dogs are great for a general situation, but keep them locked up when you need to be quiet!!

If I had a dog during sit x I would have to think about a couple things.

Will the dog have the ability to be completely silent for long periods of time ?

Will the dog have the ability to hunt a animal to feed itself if you are struggling for food?

Would you be emotionally torn if you had to butcher your dog if you were starving?

Is the risk of a dog not understanding the situation and giving away your location worth the trouble?

Seems dogs might be risky business in a situation X.

I have a border collie. I don't know their usefulness as far as hunting, but they are extremely agile. Might be useful for chasing down small game : )

in some cases that one dog might be a hell of lot better than having an extra human around.... you take care of the dog and they do no bitch or complain the way humans will if they are uncomfortable or want something...

me... i will take the dog first and people second

my sheltie ...never leaves my side, rides on my kayak, in my truck, and is a wonderfull squirrel dog, eye site hunter.

She goes on all my trips down the river and if she was not with me I would feel at loss, and less aware.
So in short, I think that this dog gives me an edge in the wild, but if home or bugged in she would give my location up, without meaning too.

So in the wild or bugged out...gota have her.

Zombies or police state, bugged in, might be bad for me...

reply to post by eleven:eleven


A good and fair question 11:11.....

I think a good dog would be invaluable in a SitX. For one thing, a good dog is protective of its people, and a dog putting out a warning is something that humans take note of, even if they are armed; People know that a dog has the speed and capability of rendering profound injury to them, and the dog doesn't consider its own safety if their people are being threatened.

Myself, I fancy having two cats. In my own SitX scenario, where we plan to make our stand here, at home, we intend to protect ourselves with fabricated weapons, and in conjunction with our Mutual Assistance Group.

The cats have a job. They can feed themselves also. Their job is to rid the area of rodents -- creatures that may be after our cultivated foods, our stored foods and might be carriers of disease. Our cats are well fed and cared for. Neither of them would hesitate for a second to chase and take down a rodent; we had a rat travelling inside the wall of our house.... the cats stalked that rat for DAYS and all we ever knew of it was to find a rat tail and part of a hind leg in our bathtub. The cats learned long ago that whatever they caught that couldn't fly could be taken into the tub and the creature couldn't escape.

Something in the back of my mind that just popped to the forefront...... I've had occasion to eat rat. I wouldn't compare it to chicken. I'd compare it to gamey rabbit, but it fills a hole and while there would be a lot of creatures I'd choose to eat first, rat and snake and even frog/toad will nourish a hungry person.

m'Bride, me anna cats. If no outside organized force attacks us, we're going to live.

My dog is my best friend who is always there for me no matter what and we have such a connection that I cannot imagine being without her and I like to imagine that she picked me.

An illegal American pit bull lunged for my face over a year ago while I was distracted in talking to its owner (leash your dog please) and out of the blue not only did my dog catch it in mid air but she then held it face down, its jaws pushed down into the dirt out of harm’s way and no matter how hard the other dog tried to pull away she straddled it and manoeuvred above it like a giant weasel. It was an incredible sight to see a dog treat another out of control dog to a game of chess.

She was not injured, I was not injured but the other dog unfortunately now has a long scar running across its forehead and the youth who owns it always puts it on a leash now when he sees my dog eyeballing his dog.

When I look into my dogs face I see a spark in there that even some humans do not posses and when I talk to her or nuzzle her we seem to have a wordless conversation – an emotional connection that is so strong I know I would die to protect my dog and she would do the same for me.

We are bonded for life!

She is as security conscious as I and when we walk together she will always put herself between me and a stranger who might be walking past. If one of my daughters is walking with us my dog walks ahead “on point” and always nearby.

Watching “Aspen” stride out in the swaggering way she does melts my heart every single time and I would never even consider giving up my dog even if the mountains we falling and the seas were rushing in to crush me.

Even today I can just sit and watch her while she sleeps beside me, such an amazing animal in so many ways. Even now I think she knows I am writing about her

I promised her as a pup “till the end” and I meant it, it is an honour to know and love my dog and my idea of heaven is to trek in the highlands with her... I cannot wait for the spring.

When I split up with my wife over the UFO encounter I had in 2008 (I would not lie and say it did not happen) my dog came with me and together we lived in a small leased apartment and not once did I consider giving her to my wife even though she asked for her many times.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7812b3499d04.jpg[/atsimg]


[edit on 19-1-2010 by SmokeJaguar67]

reply to post by SmokeJaguar67


That was beautiful, what you wrote. I can't imagine it being said better than that. Anyone who has had the privilege to have shared that bond with another creature has been the better for it, and with good people like yourself, so is the other.

We had a dogfriend for 15 years. Her name was Bella. She's gone now, and that's why m'Bride and I chose to have cats after that. Still hurts when they die, but ............ nevermind.

Thanks for taking the time to speak your mind.

peace

A dog is a biological alarm system. Whether yippy little poodle or something silent with a big bite. If you expect to be entirely on your own, who is going to watch your back when you eat, sleep or take a dump? A dog will always be way ahead of you in seeing or sensing the enemy.

And if things really get bad, you can always eat the dog.

reply to post by SmokeJaguar67


Awwwww, reminds me of my malamute who has since passed. Working breed dogs would be wonderful in a sitx depending on their training and temperament.
I personally think from experience malamutes would be one of the best breeds due to the fact that they don't bark and they are very strong and can carry more gear and a person could. Only down fall is their drive to work. If they get bored they can be a handful energy wise and if you are in a place where you need to be extremely still and quiet and they need to let off some energy, you need to hope and pray they are well trained enough to stay still and not go off and attack if they are sensing your fear.

reply to post by argentus

Originally posted by argentus
That was beautiful, what you wrote. I can't imagine it being said better than that. Anyone who has had the privilege to have shared that bond with another creature has been the better for it, and with good people like yourself, so is the other.

Absolutely true and I have always been a cat person up until a few years ago when I found out that there was a Malamute breeder in Scotland. There was a two year waiting list and I would not get much change back from a £1000 but I had already decided the moment I found the address because from the age of 12 these dogs were my idea of a true dog.

Now I can honestly say that the price of these dogs is nothing in comparison to the loving and protective companion you gain.

As it is my cats tolerate Aspen but there are times when she will run through the house with one of the more feisty cats hanging off her neck mewling blue hellfire. There is no way for the cat to get through Aspen fur and the moment my dog discovered that - my cat was doomed from then on to be a jockey.

For some reason I cannot yet understand, my dog likes to wear that particular cat and then take him for a run through the house or into the garden. It is a love hate relationship – my dog loves to annoy my cats and my eldest cat hates my dog enough to hang off her like a spitting armament.
The weird thing is that there are times when I can catch them sleeping beside each other at the top of the staircase.

Originally posted by argentus
We had a dogfriend for 15 years. Her name was Bella. She's gone now, and that's why m'Bride and I chose to have cats after that. Still hurts when they die, but ............ nevermind.

I am heartfelt sorry to read that.

I have that day yet to come for me and even now many years before she is due to leave me the idea that the day will come sometimes crops into my mind and my eyes water up at the thought she will be gone so I know it will hit me like a ton of bricks when that horrible day does finally come and I have no idea how I will handle it.

I doubt I will ever get another dog but if I was ever to do so then an American Malamute would be the only breed for me – proven awesomeness on four paws.

Originally posted by argentus
Thanks for taking the time to speak your mind.
peace

Thank you for reading and peace right back at you.

I trust Dog's more than humans - They cannot lie and they respect and engage you, not to mention love you.

They can be trained - easily and are very good companions in any circumstance.

reply to post by calstorm

Originally posted by calstorm
Awwwww, reminds me of my malamute who has since passed. Working breed dogs would be wonderful in a sitx depending on their training and temperament.

I agree the breed seems perfect for a sitx scenario because they can find food easily enough. When my wife and I separated over the UFO incident in 2008 I moved to the outskirts of Edinburgh and found myself living in very rural area and in the first week my dog was finding and killing rabbits nearly every day.

I even kept two and we had them together but usually she switches on the “ITS MINE” mode and we would have a bit of a battle of wills. The weird thing is she caught three of those rabbits while still on the leash.

She is sneaky in when she sees one hiding she walks past it then finds a blind spot, hunches down and then torpedoes through the undergrowth from another direction, using her jaws like a snap trap.

Originally posted by calstorm
I personally think from experience malamutes would be one of the best breeds due to the fact that they don't bark and they are very strong and can carry more gear and a person could. Only down fall is their drive to work. If they get bored they can be a handful energy wise and if you are in a place where you need to be extremely still and quiet and they need to let off some energy, you need to hope and pray they are well trained enough to stay still and not go off and attack if they are sensing your fear.

My dog sometimes tries to bark but all that comes out is a sound like ripping metal, very loud and very piercing. I am grateful that she does not do that very open. Usually she just makes growls, grumbles and howls which is always very cool to listen to.

If I was in a sitx scenario though I would not expect her to be very tactical at night and if she sensed that there was a danger to me or my own then I fully imagine that she would confront it head on and for me that would be a big no, no because I would rather we headed north past the lochs and over the Cairn Gorms mountains – an area I know very well. Not many people will head out there as it is very rough, wind torn and wet but I love it as I have the right equipment and the right attitude.

We watched an Osprey once together and my dog just sat there with me watching it air dancing between the trees of a primordial looking forest, making no moves to alert the huge bird to our presence. It was as if she was as awestruck as I was and the moment was only ruined by a human friend who with thoughts of GI Joe in his mind tried to edge closer – quickly scaring the huge bird off into the forest and ruining the whole experience.

He has never been up there with me again, never will be.

I just realised that the night my wife and I watched a UFO drifting above our house my dog was with us and though I was completely transfixed by the UFO and the look on my wife’s face. My wife had never really believed me you see about what I had seen on the 8th of May 2008 and I had gone through hell maintaining that what I had seen was true therefore I was utterly enjoying the look of amazement on her face now as she watched this UFO.

I remember that my dog must have sensed the UFO also because she had snaked the leash round in front of my wife and was standing there maintaining a stance between us and the UFO. I would love to know what she sensed, positive or negative energy?

I am sorry you lost your Mal by the way; I have that nightmare yet to come and I have no idea how I will be able to handle it.


[edit on 20-1-2010 by SmokeJaguar67]

Pretty easy answer for me -- if it really is the BEST dog, as stated in the OP, then no question about it, the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!

I wouldn't call our dog the BEST but she's faithful, obedient and does a great job at alerting us when strangers show up or something is "not right." Every once in awhile she tanks a dump in the living room but oh well.

A good dog is invaluable during SitX. They have a keen sense of their surroundings we humans can never develop.

Like lilwolf I would take the dog first and people second (except my son and husband, would have a hard time leaving them behind.. lol)

I have had good dogs and bad dogs over the years....depends on breed and training, some just don't get it after hours and hours spent with them, sure you can teach them but they are not as good as others.

The dog I have now would be the best in sit x ....his only down fall is he is getting old, 12. He is a large mixed breed, king shepherd and who knows what else.

He is protective of us and lets us know when someone is coming up the driveway by whining at the window and will not bark unless we let him out to meet the car, resonds to hand signals or voice comands, helps me on the farm all day...I would have been run over by some big cows over the years if it was not for him always right beside me looking out for trouble.

Great with my son sleeps in his room, pulls him on his sled and in the summer on a cart. The only time he is on a leash is when my son shows him at the school fair, but we can do this on the farm, it is not like town.

Invaluable during the deer and bear hunt...I don't know how many lost and wounded deer he and I have tracked down for ourselfs and many other hunters in all kinds of weather that would have never been found without him.

I have also trained him to find my son around the farm and in the bush, it is almost like hide and seek...they both love it.

I could go on and on about Peter but it all comes down to the type of dog and how you train it, lots of hours ...I have had many other dogs over the years but never one this good, will be hard to replace him.

cheers