coy-dogs...

dan newberry

dan newberry

New member
We've got coy-dogs around here... Crossbred domestic dogs and coyotes. A trapper friend of mine has caught two of them. He says these were bigger than regular coyotes, colored in every conceivable color a dog could be, ugly, and meaner than hell in his words.

I've read that the presence of coy-dogs is an indication that the coyote population isn't that strong--that the coyotes prefer to breed with their own kind and settle for domestic dogs only when the pickins are slim.

Anything to this?

Dan
 
I'm no biologist, but I think it's more a sign that you have too many wild dogs running loose. A coyote is going to take advantage of any female dog in heat that he finds in the wild. The crosses that you refer to are certainly a threat, since they have less inherint fear for humans and are certainly more of a threat to livestock. Just one more reason to spend more time in the outdoors, doing your duty to make the world a safer place.
 
dan newberry,

I think they will cross breed more in suburban type areas too. And when there numbers are low. I have only seen a handful in my time, but they were crossbred in captivity. The guy wanted to see if he could make some hunting dogs. I don't know if it worked out or not, but his neighbors always complained about missing cats and chickens.
 
Because some trapper says they are coydogs don't make it's so. Can he prove what he say's, I dought it. To much of this is going on nowadays, alot of hear say with no proff. I've seen pictures of 112 lb coyotes so they say, pictures of black coyotes so they say, even pictures of wild dogs that people call part coyote, now how do they know that? Oh, there friend told them. Sorry, but I just don't believe all this, it don't make me right, but it sure don't make me wrong either, Good Hunting.
 
Well, for what its worth, I have had a few talks with our agency's Biologist and he said this rarely VERY rarely happens. The coyote pop. being down is not a sign that they will or have bred with dogs, Coyotes have a built in pop. manager, when food is low, the litters are smaller, when the food is good, or the pop. drops the litter size increases. This is their own built in survival trait, He was not willing to say this never happens but it is VERY rare. Coyotes as we all know are very smart, and don't just mistake a dog, nor will they leave a dog in their area if they can help it, they relate to a domestic dog in the same way they do other yotes in their area, as intruders. The guy I talked to has a masters in biology, and has worked with furbearers for the last 25 years, I would tend to believe him a lot more than the "a friend said" sorry guys. oh and by the way, if you believe the stuff about a 125lb yote, you really REALLY need to get glasses. :eek:
 
I've never seen a coyote that I even suspected was crossed with a dog. I have seen several black coyotes. The ones that I have seen look in all respects to be 100% coyote just black. I have also seen lots of black squirrels. Maybe those were crossed with black dogs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif . I'll have to look closer next time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif . I'm sure coyotes have crossed with dogs, but to date I couldn't say I've ever seen one, and I've seen lots of coyotes.

By the way I have video of me shooting a black coyote that I will put on Coming to the Call Vol.II.

Hey Danny. My neighbor, has a cousin, that has a friend, that has black panthers in their back yard. Really!! They see them all the time. He could have shot him the other day, but just as he went to shoot, Bigfoot scared him off. They said we can go over and shoot it if we like. You comin. Just having a little fun /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif . I'm not really a smart a**.

Good Hunting

Byron /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
There was a thread here a short while back that had a picture of an odd looking very short haired coyote (coy). What is this or something like that was the title. If memory servs in the pic the shooter had plastic gloves, wish i saved that link.
 
I have heard that coy-dogs are very rare. Color variations are rare, but possible. Look at all of the colors that Raccoons come in. A guy from work called me one night and said that he had shot a coyote, but left it lay. So I went and looked at it and it was pretty plain to see that it was not a yote. Oops!
 
Hmmm.... interesting as is the other link. I would have gotten a few people on the phone and had them check it over, skull, teeth, any thing they can find to prove or disprove the theory. I have also heard its very very rare for Coydogs to survive, not tht they wont breed but they dont survive since they only have one parent hunting for them..... but if its rare it still means its possible.
 
I know how to get a conversation going lol. Ain't none of you can prove a darn thing either. Ok, someone answer this one ( With Proff lol). If all dogs are related to wolves, how can DNA prove crossbreeding between coyotes and wolves? Something to think about guys. I thought I read something about a coyote is a different species (Canis latrans) then a wolf (Canis lupus )there for they can not breed. Interesting subject, but again.....nobody can prove anything lol, Good Hunting. PS....Black Panthers???? lol.....Byron, I'll be seeing you in Silver City I hope.
 
Hell I don't know what to believe... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Here's the text of a book called the Sportsman's Guide to Game Animals published by Outdoor Life and Harper & Row in 1968 and reprinted in 1973. The author is Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III and you can find info about him by clicking on his name.

Here's the text from page 154 of my copy of that book, FWIW:

"Breeding: The coyote, like the wolf, may mate for life or at least remain with the same mate for several years. Coyotes are sexually mature enough to breed when they are one year old, although some males may not do so until their second year.
Coyotes often (italics mine) breed with domesticated dogs. The cross is referred to as a coy-dog. Usually the results of these crosses are larger, stronger and more intelligent than either of the parents. When coyotes first appeared in New York's Adirondack Mountains, they produced many of these coy-dogs whose size made them feared deer killers. In later years, however, as the coyotes have increased, the coy-dogs have steadily diminished, proving that although the coyote will cross with dogs, it prefers to mate with its own kind."

It may simply be that we only see the coy-dog in areas where the coyote population is fairly scarce; perhaps those of you who haven't seen such animals are living in areas of high concentration of the pure bred coyotes.

Dan
 
And here is what the State of Pennsylvania has to say about the "coydogs."

web page

From what I've been reading around the net, the eastern coyote is quite different than the western ones. Eastern coyotes are larger, and much more likely to resemble domestic dogs. Most authorities believe that what are thought to be "coydogs" are actually just pure bred eastern coyotes.

Indications are that inter-breeding between coyotes can and does occur, but due to the different breeding cycle of coyotes and domesticated dogs, it is believed that the "coydog" would be born in the middle of January and unlikely to survive winter. (Idea being that the female coyote breeds with a domestic male dog).

It would appear that the coy-dog "myth" has a basis in truth; that interbreeding has occurred in the past (however uncommon). Further, if it is to be said that a litter of coydogs would not likely survive a Northeastern winter, it should logically follow that in warmer territories the pups might survive.

Interesting topic, nonetheless. I'm now of a mind that the dogs that our local trapper caught were most likely our more colorful, eastern coyotes.

Dan
 
I don't know one way or the other but I lost a female bird dog (about 6-8 months old) a few years ago, she was gone for about a month and sighted a couple of times but was very scared of a human every time someoe would try to catch her she'd run like her tail was on fire. Well I was calling coyotes one day when she came to the call with a coyote I stood up and called her name but she ran away fast but not fast enough if you know what I mean. I hated to put her down but it had to be done. When I checked her out she was "in season" (and had been eating very well) I assumed this was why the coyote tolerated her but who knows.
 
Ive lived in rural southern Arizona, for most of the 50 years that Ive been on this planet. Ive never,ever seen what even remotely appeared to be anything other than a coyote. I don't doubt that a cross can occur, I just don't believe it happens with the degree of frequency that some would have us believe. Anyone I talk to that is versed in the biology dept, has the same belief, that coydogs are a very,very rare happening. As for the black panthers, there is not one,single shred of evidence backing up their existence, pure myth.
 
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