Best canoe dog for wolf protection

[ppine]

Yesterday I was in some remote country with a friend. We were surveying the fire damage from 2022 in the Sierra north of Reno. We got back in the truck and went 40 yards and noticed a bear cut running up the slope, We did not see his Mom. If we had not had our 2 large dogs with us it might have been a different experience. I like herding dogs for protection.

For a pack of wolves a rifle.

 

[Black_Fly]

I’ve been more in awe of wolves than afraid. A griz in camp or up close on a trail is another story - No awe, just healthy fear.

 

[dramey]

I fear a moose attack more than a bear attack. I have been charged twice by moose. I have shared trails with a brown bear before. Wolves generally keep their distance, although a few years ago, a wolf kept a woman in an outhouse for 6-8 hours.

 

[scoutergriz]

I fear a moose attack more than a bear attack. I have been charged twice by moose. I have shared trails with a brown bear before. Wolves generally keep their distance, although a few years ago, a wolf kept a woman in an outhouse for 6-8 hours.

Same here, I've been charged too but fortunately it was a bluff- you really don't realize how big a moose is until you stand your ground and look up to see that it would need to bend down to put it's chin on the top of your head, fortunately it gave off a snort that sounded like a cross between a freight train passing an a truck venting it's airbrake reservoir
in 6 decades I've only seen maybe a couple of dozen wolves (and most were loners), but twice at a logging camp up north i saw wolves call out and kill camp dogs- a large (70-80lb) German Shepard and an equally large mixed breed, wolves in northern Ontario are known to lure out dogs and usually kill, but sometimes adopt into the pack years ago I had the opportunity to talk to the Thibodeau's about this after their decades long wolf study, and was told that every dog is seen as a potential competitor unless it shows immediate signs of docility.
As far as personal experiences I've never had a wolf approach closer than about 100' feet without suddenly turning tail except for one encounter- while hiking a trail quite far ahead of the group I approached a junction. there was a wolf approaching from the opposite direction, we both stopped maybe 25' apart when we realized there was something sharing the trail, looked at each other, and simultaneously turned and went the other way. It was glaringly obvious the neither of us wanted anything to do with the other...

 

[Black_Fly]

I fear a moose attack more than a bear attack. I have been charged twice by moose. I have shared trails with a brown bear before. Wolves generally keep their distance, although a few years ago, a wolf kept a woman in an outhouse for 6-8 hours.

Grown bull moose have no natural enemies in most places. They will stand their ground for a good food source. A grizzly or Woolf pack will only attack a bull when starving, or if the bull becomes incapacitated. One spring, I found a bull that had fallen through the ice on a narrow, his tracks indicate he was running. The wolf tracks on shore and lake snow cap showed the rest of the story. I wonder if they tormented the bull while he drowned, or fed on him from the edges of the broken ice.

 

[dramey]

The two moose attacks I had was a female moose. I kept a tree between us both times.

 

[scoutergriz]

The two moose attacks I had was a female moose. I kept a tree between us both times.

several years ago the wife and I were paddling a winding creek, came round a bend and saw a cow eating the water-plants on the shallower inside bend, as we were a good 10 yards away we just watched as we glided by, All of a sudden it turned to chase us, and tried stomping us vigorously- unfortunately we hadn't noticed the young twins laying in the streamside grass on our side. that moose chased us all the way to the next lake - a good 1/4 mile, and only turned back when the deep water meant we could paddle faster than it could swim...

 

[ppine]

In the eastern Sierra, sheep herders traditionally have used Great Pyrenees as protection dogs. Now that wolves have shown up they still use them. They also have herding dogs like Border Collies around. The common remedy for predator problems to stay up a few nights with a rifle. A local cattleman in Sierra Vally north of Reno lost 70 head of cattle last summer to wolves.

 

[Rob]

1 Grey or Arctic wolf vs. ANY dog?
Dog becomes wolf scat.

Fortunately, dog= human, so the healthy wolf avoids the dog.

 

[Rob]

Grown bull moose have no natural enemies in most places. They will stand their ground for a good food source. A grizzly or Woolf pack will only attack a bull when starving, or if the bull becomes incapacitated. One spring, I found a bull that had fallen through the ice on a narrow, his tracks indicate he was running. The wolf tracks on shore and lake snow cap showed the rest of the story. I wonder if they tormented the bull while he drowned, or fed on him from the edges of the broken ice.

I made the mistake of "chasing" a bull to get a picture once in my youth....not a great plan.

Earlier this spring, while scouting for new fishing spots, I came across the remnants of a wolf kill. Wolves can break a moose femur to get at the marrow. This is a serious animal. No dog can even dream of doing that. Thousands of years of selective breeding has made sure of it.

I think the best bush dog is a Lab. Makes a lot of noise when needed, no stomach for fighting (but will fight if need be), loyal, and waterproof.
The serious look on a Lab's face when in the front of a canoe is priceless.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Revisiting this thread since it was revived.

Other than sounding an alarm dogs in the bush are not a good idea for many reasons and yet I love having their company. My worse experience can be found here.

http://www.geraldguay.ca/cassie.html


About 7-8 years ago a solo canoeist I was in contact with spent 5 weeks exploring and travelling a certain river in the northern part of the NWT with his retriever as company. When I asked for a copy of his travel log cause I might be interested in doing that same river solo with my dog someday he told me that the presence of the dog was not a good idea. After some coaxing i finally got him to elaborate on his advice. In that 5 week period on the river he had to destroy 3 grizzlies because of the presence of his dog. The grizzlies in the central and eastern NWT are rather mild and shy compared to the ones on the West coast/Rockies region and yet on three different occasions these bears just walked into camp trying to get at his dog.who, each time, ran into the tent. He was protecting his shelter as well as his dog. The bears completely ignored him they just wanted, it seemed, to rid their territory of this 4 legged intruder. After the third bear and with another week or more to go before he was to be picked up by float plane he was near out of shot shells. Of course he did not report this incident to the RCMP nor did he ever mention it to anyone else it seems.

Gerald

This guy lives in the Hay River area of the NWT and spends a long time in the bush with his black lab named Charley. He has a popular Youtube Channel called "Wildnorth" and his love for his dog Charley is no secret.

He and a few of his buddies flew north for some sheep hunting this August and he brought Charley with them.
Charley ended up being attacked by 3 wolves right in camp, here's the video (caution the language is raw and might not be for everyone)

A dog might (maybe) deter a lone wolf which has no territory, but is more likely to attract the wrath of a territorial pack that would otherwise leave you alone.

This seems to be the pattern. Here in Idaho, one of our more famous (or notorious) individuals got into some legal trouble after shooting a wolf that was after his dog. The dog was, of course, running for its life - back to its master. Claim was personal defense, and maybe it was legit. But it was probably the presence of the dog that triggered the event.

A good dog will keep camp raiding bears away, but who of us have had that problem away from the popular camping places? I love dogs more than most people (read that either way) but I prefer to leave mine home when heading for the wilderness.

Idaho has had a healthy population of wolves for over 25 years now and as others have said, they don't worry me. I have seen exactly one up close and acting naturally, and that is one of my most precious memories. I have heard many. I was surrounded by them singing for most of one night, but they didn't enter my camp as far as I could tell - and I didn't have a fire going. I see their spoor often. I'm more cautious about angry moose than any other animal. My son, who encounters moose while fishing far more often and closer than he likes does carry a large handgun just in case. He has wolves and grizzlies around him too, but it's the moose that concern him most.

Back to dogs....
If I find a dog that will help portage my gear, set up my tent and filet my fish, maybe I'll let it come along. Otherwise, I'm fine without one.