[Alistair]

Here's one for you all, lets assume there's a zombie apocalypse, and, you and your family have just been bitten, lets say by the postman, so just before you change into a flesh eating rabid creature you remember to open the doors so the dogs can get out..

Would your artificially created pack of dogs act as a pack and stay together or would they all do their own thing?

[Greenerlife]

I'll have one of what Alistair's drinking please

[happygolucky]

    Alister, stay off the jelly beans!!!

[Old Shep]

Well my setters would head off to the hills hunting pheasant or grouse or something followed by the collies who would try to round them up and bring them back!
What about the poor sheep and goats though? would I end up munching on them or do I have time to open the gate?
 

[SallyintNorth]

I'm not very familiar with zombie mores - but as my two collies wouldn't leave me, does that mean I'd eat them?

[Alistair]

Zombies don't eat dogs - just people

It's a serious question though, I mean wolves hunt in packs but these are family based, but would our dogs do that or just wander off because the pack structure isn't based on genetics just on our choice, and of course we would be the living dead so would we still be the alpha dog in the pack or not

Shep I think all the animals would need to be loose, it's morally the right thing to do isn't it?

I've just seen the postman, he didn't try and bite me so I think we've got away with out an apocalypse for today anyway

[ZaktheLad]

You need to get out more....

[Alistair]

I Avnet been out for a while, been ill, but to postulate further...

Would my pack be better off because they've all been neutered, or would you need to have a breeding male and female to make it stable?

How big is a pack, I have 4, I think that probably constitutes a pack

As a large proportion of the dogs in this country are neutered, after say 10yrs would there be a vast decrease in the number of dogs leading to their extinction quite quickly or not?

I have contacted the kennel club about procedures for doing the best by our dogs in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I shall report back when they reply, I have also berated them on the lack of information on this type of thing on their website.

[SallyintNorth]

Most dog people will tell you, "Three's a pack".

And I only wish it were the case that most dogs are neutered... it only takes one unneutered male and one unneutered female... trust me, they would soon be rife.

I look forward to hearing the KC's response.   

I'm more worried about your scorpion and other pets being let loose...

[HelenVF]

  Bizarre topic!


Jim and Corrie would stick together and Tarn would just sit in the garden 


I am sure the kennel dogs would go to the four winds lol


Helen

[plumseverywhere]

I have contacted the kennel club about procedures for doing the best by our dogs in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I shall report back when they reply, I have also berated them on the lack of information on this type of thing on their website.

\Have you? seriously?  this post has made my day    can't wait to hear what they say!

[Rosemary]

 

Meg wouldn't leave us and would probably starve to death. Tess would head off to forage and watch he ponies and Fillan would bark a lot. Just like normal really 

[Alistair]

http://www.examiner.com/article/preparing-your-dog-for-a-zombie-attack

It's amazing what's on the Internet, some useful advice here, still can't find anything definitive on what happens after your infected though, I'll keep looking, probably do a bit of research, maybe a spreadsheet or something, if I can find my crayon i may draw a picture of a zombie apocalypse, oh took it off me and put it away after I got it stuck up my nose

[funkyfish]

Well dogs don't really 'pack', they do have some friends that they hang out with and play with, but they scavenge for food by them selves (other dogs are competition for resources).


There is a fab book called Dogs: A new understanding by Ray and Lorna Coppinger. They study ferral dogs and have written lots of papers on dog behaviour and feeding. They (amongst others) blow the dog dominance theory out of the water and the BARF diet.


Another good book is John Fishers book In defence of dogs that discribes ferral and domestic dog behaviour.


I have my zombie plans in place- get to the Winchester :0)

[happygolucky]

OK, 2 of mine would hunt but not catch anything and the other would catch stuff but not hunt and would not go far from me, so if I ate them, I would not survive too long, maybe its best for us all to work as a pack, funny thing is, when I go walkies on my own with them they check on me all the time, my chocolate lab does not go far at all unless she smells dead meat (in the case of Zombies, she may well bring a few back) but when I go out with my husband, they check on me less and never check on him....so, we would be a good pack, 2 could hunt and kill, one could retrieve and I could cook and my husband clean up....as long as we still had electricity for his hoover!