A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[Baymule]

That is one nice puppy. He's got it all, doesn't he!

 

[Ridgetop]

What breed is he?

 

[Bruce]

Nice pup TOR.

I thank you (well, probably not YOU but one of your country's other sheep ranchers) for my dinner last night

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Thanks everybody .Ridge, he is an Australian Working Kelpie ,not to be confused with the Kelpies you see at dog shows ,IMO, they don't have a "working bone" in their body's.....He does have a small % of Border Collie and a cut of Dingo. He is just 7 weeks old, already he knows where he gets dinner ,he see the container his food comes in and heads straight for his feeding spot. In a day or two he will learn to "sit" until I put his dish down .T.O.R.

 

[Ridgetop]

I wondered since he didn't look like a Border Collie at all. He has a Kelpie look but had not seen any working dogs that solid chocolate brown color. He is certainly handsome. Are Dingos reliably domesticated? I thought they were like African wild dogs.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Thanks Ridge, there was a time when "old doggers" would tie a seasoning bitch out in the bush when Dingo's were known to frequent. This infusion produced a dog able to work longer/harder than some lines. The wild Dingo is a serious hunter and able to ambush prey these skills in a diluted form produce a highly intelligent worker with the skill of predicting which way sheep will respond the presence of the dogs and farmer.

 

[Ridgetop]

Interesting how human breeding their animals for specific attributes is used to produce a better working animal throughout the centuries. I have read in many books that years go in Alaska the native Aleuts used to tie a bitch in season out near a wolf pack in the hopes that a young adult male would be drawn to her and breed her. In wolf packs only the alpha male and female are allowed to produce pups. That pair remains together for life. However, a normal pack will consist of many members, who are younger sibs of the alpha pair, or mature offspring of the alpha pair. These additional members are necessary to the hunting abilities of a functioning wolf pack as well as serving turns "babysitting" the pups while the other pack members are out hunting. Since the juvenile males are not allowed to breed in the pack they often will sneak off for a "forbidden" tryst with a member of another pack, or with a bitch.

Those half wolf pups were supposedly prized as being smarter and used as sled team leaders. Might not happen as much any more with the use of snowmobiles. LOL.

 

[Bruce]

You don't think there are wild packs of snow machines out there trying to keep their species alive?

 

[Ridgetop]

Are those the endangered ones that are being relocated by the government into breeding groups?

 

[Bruce]

Yes, they are running out of snow so they have to be moved to colder areas.