I wish people would exercise a bit of common sense and refrain from taking their dogs out on arduous hikes.
While some breeds such as huskies are known for having a high degree of stamina, many other breeds, even large breeds, do not.
In this case, the guy’s mastiff was overcome with exhaustion and simply refused to continue. In this case there was a happy ending, but it could have ended badly.
Next time, leave the dog at home.
Oh Floyd. He tried his best
Or at least keep the dog in peak physical condition. All too many people don’t even take their dog on a daily walk longer than around the block to poop, then they expect the poor flabby animal to go on arduous treks.
Lazy couch potato.
Dogs are only as lazy as their owners make them.
Many breeds, even large ones, would be fine. One of the few species that have endurance, but none match humans so they need to keep up!
I have read that among animals, the canine is the only species that has the endurance to keep up with man. Which led to them becoming the first animal to be domesticated.
In the centuries of selective breeding by man, endurance has been sacrificed in a number of breeds in favor of strength or other qualities. For example, in Greyhounds, endurance has been sacrificed for a burst of speed. Like the Cheetah, the Greyhound cannot hold that speed very long. Some breeds, like the Husky, retain high endurance, but it has been lost in many breeds.
Pretty much Huskies and Malamutes at this point. I assume Akitas as well.
Not horse or ox or mule?
If not, why dos (did) man use them for their labor? Why didn’t man just do the work himself?
Seems to me if a man and a horse were to walk miles and miles (without the man riding on the horse), the man would need to stop before the horse.
But that’s purely a layman’s impression, and I would gladly accept schooling on this.
Humans domesticated wolves and turned them into dogs to serve as hunting companions, warning systems, and emergency food supplies. Endurance is important too, I suppose.
The hotter it is, and the longer the distance, the better we get. Our legs are pretty springy and it’s our ability to sweat that separates us.
In an average setting (and without specific training) I think many species can beat us, including horses. They have done this a ton over history, and marathon runners generally get beat. And there are fringe cases like huskies, but that is in cold weather where all the advantages of sweating are lost. At marathon distances we are still not that great, good but not great.
In hot weather and/or people who train specifically for ultramarathons, we can push the limits of exhaustion. I think that is the biggest caveat, we have to train for it. But I would bet on an ancient Chasqui runner over almost any species.
No, not horses and certainly not mules. For example, after horses lost by the Spaniards went feral across the mid west, the Indians (often with a dog or two) captured them by pursing them on foot until the horses got tired and quit running.
Yes, but it was the endurance that came first … the dogs (which are descended from a type of wolf that no longer exists) came to the humans who subsequently domesticated them, not the other way around.
It had nothing to do with endurance, and all to do with dogs - carnivores - wanting a free meal. Horses couldn’t be tempted in the same way, they had to be trapped into it.
My point is, the wolf dogs kept up with the humans, the humans did not force them to tag along.
And as I said, the horses that the Indians obtained were chased down on foot. The horses could not sustain the same pace over several day as the humans who captured them.
I think you’re wrong here.
Horses were probably reluctant to leave the land that had food on which they grazed. And humans could lay in wait and trap them. Not by tiring them out necessarily (though that probably came into it).
Because if horses didn’t have to care about where they found their food, they could have left humans far behind.
I am not wrong. Horses can outrun a human in the short term, but they cannot out run a well conditioned human over several days. Eventually, the horse runs out of energy and will give up.
You are wrong.
Horses do not run out of energy if they have the food to keep going.
I’ll grant you horses are broken because humans can tire them out once they’ve been caught.
There’s no way to test your hypothesis since land is fenced in these days and horses can’t run free as they once did. But common sense is enough to know you’re wrong.
Yeah, they were attracted to our garbage. Just like my dog now.
