I don't want to go for a walk anymore~ Coyote?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

It has been awhile since Spud and I took a good long walk. We really needed to get out and pee on as many mailboxes as we could find in the three-mile walk.  So, we did.  Well, he did and he did a great job.

We were finishing the last mile when I saw a dog.  An unleashed German Shepard mix.  The stray dog's ears perked really tall and stopped. So did I. Spud was eyeing another mailbox and he was hoping I would loosen his leash again.  I yelled at the strange dog to go home and it turned around and took three steps in the other direction.  We played this game over and over and each time, he would come back even closer. At first, I thought, I was going to SAVE a stray dog. Yep. I will help him!!!!

This dog was so thin and upon further inspection I don't think he was a dog at all but a Coyote.  I looked around waiting for his pack. They had to be somewhere. I looked for my phone and found I forgot it on my desk.  I looked for the closets home, picked up two sticks, and yelled at these people that I needed help.  I asked them to call my husband, but he was outside working in the garage and never answered the phone. So, I tried to make it home since I had not seen the " dog" for awhile.

If this dog was a stray, it didn't act shy one bit. Cautious by not shy. As soon as I left the people's driveway, he was following us again.  It never gave up following me.  It would go in and out of houses, yards and down driveways, only to be trailing again. If I last saw him on the right, he would show up again on the left.

I know we have coyotes close by but I have not seen them out during the day and never on a walk. I have heard them a few times ( two winters ago) and they are in the state park two miles down the road.

So, all those with experience, help me. Have you ever had problems?  What do you do when you see one on a walk? What are my odds of having problems again?  Any coyotes have such dark brown coat?  There was some tan markings, and even some spots, but mostly a mud brown.   The coyotes I have seen look Tan, not brown. 

I really, no longer want to walk. Creepy  I was going to go today, but I just would not leave my block.  Sad

[Donna K & Quincy]

Joanne, I think that is even more scary than a coyote.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Coyotes are too skinny. And, I have seen them and recognize them right away. I did not recognize this dog at all.

I also found it strange, that Spud, who sees all, did not make one noise or acknowledge this dog at all. Never even looked or made a noise, a bark, a sound.  That is not my noisy boy.

I've searched Craigslist for months back looking for lost GSD dogs. Nope. None look anything like this dog.  So happy, I did not try to SAVE IT.  Ha ha ha

[F, Calla & Luca]

Beautiful animal, though. And yes, very scary.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's a wolf. Or a wolf hybrid. And yeah, much scarier than a coyote.

[Camilla and Darwin]

yikes.

[Charlotte and Bo]

Scary and sad.  Too tame to be free in the wild, and most are to wild to be a household pet.  Another bad idea.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My son got a wolf hybrid ( blue husky mix)  once a few years back. His girlfriend wanted him for Christmas.   Impossible to train.  It ran and ran and ran.  The sad part was that his 5 roommates would open the door and let the wild thing out when he went to school.  I never saw it after it was 2 months old though.

In tears, he called me to say it was hit by a car.  Yes, they are impossible to train and are very much wild.  Really, not a family pet. Stop the breeding please.

[DJ & Chance]

Ditto. Sad story, but I totally agree that people should not be breeding wolf hybrids.  A one generation cross of a domesticated animal with a wild animal does not yield a family pet.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Exactly.  And he says constantly, " No. I do not want to get another dog. Not until I have no roommates. Not until I am much older"  This was devastating to him and took him by total surprise. The entire experience.  In a round about way, thank goodness this young college boy is cured.  Sad

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You hit it exactly, Charlotte. There is no place for them in this world. They cannot live as house pets and they can't live in the wild. Very sad. When people try to turn them in to GSD rescue, we can't take them. All we can do is have them PTS, or refer people to one of the very few sanctuaries that will take them. They're against the law in many places. 

Realllly bad idea. All because people have a romantic idea about living with a wolf.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sad. I just read a novel about a man who lived with the wolves. They have their own world indeed.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

What book?  Lone Wolf, by Jodi Picoult