Pets

[SlugRetention]

Looks like everybody has their own opinion or 'take' on this one. I couldnt imagine not having my dogs. I am taking the approach right now of keeping them. I will start stock piling food for them too. Worse case is if somebody comes after my house, they will have 2 HEALTHY (130lb & 115lb) German Shepherds to deal with. As my sign in the garage says, "My Dogs Eat Everybody That I Shoot" !

 

[DanO]

El Director nailed it. Totally depends on the event. Stop preparing for the Apocalypse if you have not prepared for next Thursday. Figure the most likely event and start preparing for that. Do you have a few extra bags of dog food in a sealed bin, some frontline and other meds, etc? Start there.

My dogs are my first alert system. They travel well in a vehicle. Great morale improvers. It would take a cataclysmic event for them not to be with me.

 

[mikefraz]

El Director nailed it. Totally depends on the event. Stop preparing for the Apocalypse if you have not prepared for next Thursday. Figure the most likely event and start preparing for that. Do you have a few extra bags of dog food in a sealed bin, some frontline and other meds, etc? Start there.

My dogs are my first alert system. They travel well in a vehicle. Great morale improvers. It would take a cataclysmic event for them not to be with me.

This. Among other things. My dog(7 years old) loves to travel in my truck for multi-hour trips. A plus is that he constantly catches squirrels, so that would take some of the burden off me to keep him fed as much too. I do have about 100 #'s of dog food set aside though, plus a few days worth in my BOB. Like mentioned before in this thread, I see my dog as part of the family. He is treated as such. Would you leave a younger child at home because they would slow you down or be loud and give you away? Didn't think so.

 

[6mm Shoot]

As I have said before I plan to stay at home and our dogs have became our kids because the kids have gone on with there lives.

The dogs and cat will stay with us and are prepped for just as we do our selves.

They let us know when some one or thing is around. Two of them will go down fighting to protect the wife. That is a good thing.

I know that I couldn't eat any of our pets. If really hard times came I could shoot a stray to feed mine. I hope that will never happen. Two of our dogs were strays.

 

[.452browning]

My GSD Emma is staying. At home she is a great guard dog. She is not trained to attack but she has on several occasions shown she wants to take a nip or two until I let her know its okay. In the yard she isn't aggressive and is quite friendly but she barks like crazy to let me know what's going on. Inside the house she changes 180 degrees to aggressive defense posture. She absolutely hates anyone near me without her present (until she feels comfortable). She always wants to be between me and the other person(s). I have food stored for her in event of SHTF and I know she will eat animals I take (especially the parts I don't want). If I have to leave the home she is coming in my truck with me to wherever we go. She minds very well and will be another tool in my kit. In my situation being a paraplegic a "protective" dog can be a big positive. It can also be a negative in the aspect of someone detecting myself through the dog, but that is a risk I believe is acceptable since she will also alert me to outside presence.


The cat is on her own. She is a force to be reckoned with in the woods. Not too long ago I found her chewing on a rabbits head on the deck.

 

[jd4320t]

I don't have pets but if I did I would only take them if they didn't slow me down. Now don't you guys go thinking I'm a pet hater. They were here before us and they will be here long after us.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

A decent sized, trained dog can be pretty awesome to take camping. Hunting goes without saying....

I have a cart my APBT pulls when we go camping. He loves camping, and it translates to going farther and carrying enough supplies to stay longer. I built my cart on the cheap out of half of an old torn up aluminum ladder and bicycle wheels.

I would imagine if well trained, the same would apply to odd survival situations.

 

[indygunguy]

2 pitbull mutts at our house. We love them. We are mostly prepping to bug-in, so they stay. We have a decent stock of dry food saved up for them.

Dogs deter burglary and home invasions. I think that will still be true in most situations when the SHTF.

 

[chrisjross85]

I have a Cane Corso that has gone threw many training class to help protect my family while I am away from home. Let me tell you there's been a few nights that I have came home late and he didn't hear my truck pull in, as soon as I walk threw that door you had better call his name real quick and hope your pants are not stained. All of my plans involve him.

 

[Jarhead1775]

I have 2 APBTs and they are great with my family. Great morale for the family. They are included in all activities short of the daily errands. My female is 67 lbs and 9 years old... had her since 6 weeks. My male is 45.5 lbs and close to a year old... I've had him for a month, but they will not leave our sides for anything. Both are very protective of our Son... which I am thankful for, they are another couple pair of eyes to look out for him.

My female is a great small game hunter. She will not eat it unless I tell her it is alright. She will bring it to me and lay it at my feet. My male... dont know yet, but he is a fast learner. I'm sure he will catch on to the whats what real soon. He already will not leave our side either. They both will eat pretty much anything, but there is provisions for them also.

The pecking order here goes:
Household Family
Our Dogs
Our Preparations

Others outside the household. It had better be a good reason on this one!

They are included period and without a second thought.
They listen quite well, so that is a plus.

 

[INMIline]

Bug in or bug out, I am taking my boy.

 

[Timcor3]

I get the whole pet thing, as I have 3 dogs. They do make great watchdogs. Although I have to wonder if the SHTF and someone hears them barking, they are thinking "lunch" and draws unwanted attention to my location.

 

[dudley0]

Start training them to be quiet. I have a few one word commands for my mutt, as well as a few hand signals. Nothing that great, but will maybe help a bit.

That does bring up the idea that maybe a little bug-out practice is in order for him though. Just to see how he responds away from his current surroundings.

 

[Lex Concord]

i've given some thought to this, but no action. my malamute is ADD and nervous as hell, she'd be useless unless her genetic memory takes over.

that said she'd likely eat the parts of the squirrel that i wouldn't.

Having owned malamutes, she'd probably eat the parts you didn't want too

If you work with her diligently, she might eventually share. Mal's are excellent hunters, although along with one of the strongest prey drives among domestics, they can also among the most stubborn and resistant to training.

Have you ever seen one of them take a bird on the wing? Saw a couple of mine do this a few times...jumped straight up in the air and snagged them...truly an amazing sight.

 

[indygunguy]

Bug in or bug out, I am taking my boy.

That, my friend, is an excellent looking beast!

 

[Armchair Operator]

I have a 4 year old german shepherd/golden mix and she is adorable. I will admit that I am emotionally attached to her and she is too smart/curious for her own good. She makes a great guard dog and I realize that when SHTF I won't be able to leave her behind. So I decided to turn her into even more of an asset besides just guard duty and companionship.

I ordered this dog harness and started getting her used to carrying it. Now if we go in the woods she almost expects me to put that harness on her. We started with an empty harness and then gradually added different items to it. One of the lesser benefits is that you can get one in back or camo and since she's a golden mix it does lover her visibility somewhat. I realize that if something extreme happens we might get separated so I never load the harness with any extremely essential items. But if I'm going to have a dog with me I might as well put it to work.