Life Sciences Commons^™

Observations On Why Mongrels May Make Effective Livestock Protecting Dogs, R. P. Coppinger, C. K. Smith, L. Miller

Charles Kay Smith

In Canid ontogeny from puppies to adults there is a very young phase before any species-specific predatory behavior has been expressed. This phase has been ontogenetically selected as a breed of neotenic adults which are ideal for protecting sheep. At a more advanced phase of canid ontogeny older puppies have begun to express separate pieces of species-specific predatory behavior, such as eye, stalk and chase but not the complete adult sequence so that crush bite kill and consume is as yet unexpressed. This intermediate phase was also ontogenetically selected as a breed such as border collies used in Britain to …