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This is a frequent question that arouses great passions. The answer is neither simple nor clear-cut. We are talking about nature, about wolves, so all kinds of scenarios are possible. It always depends on the specific situation, and especially on the participants of the possible clash. Social networks are flooded with videos of a Kangal, a Caucasian (fill in your preferred breed) tearing a wolf’s teeth. This bloody spectacle almost certainly does not come from a wolf of endangered pastures. The dog trained for dogfights was thrown in front of some desperate wolf, whose teeth were pulled out before that, just to be sure, and they didn’t let him eat for a month.
From a purely physical point of view, a head-on collision between a herding dog and a wild (ie living in the wild) wolf is very similar to a collision between a bar bouncer and an elite soldier.
A shepherd dog rolls around in the meadow all day. At most, it accompanies a grazing herd that can cover a few kilometers a day. And the feeding usually gets under the nose. In contrast, a wolf can run for example 100 km in a day (or night). Unless humans are feeding it unsafe livestock, it has to scramble like hell to eat itself. When he finally catches up with some prey, he still has to kill it.
Even a bar bouncer can sometimes wish luck, but we can probably agree that an elite soldier in a duel has the long end of the stick. Any larger size and weight of the dog does not play a major role.
And a direct clash between a dog and more wolves, with the whole pack? There is nothing to debate. In addition, for example with a handicap, when he himself is tied to a chain…
Then it is strange that herding dogs have been used for thousands of years. Successfully. And the wolves didn’t catch them all. As?
Even elite soldiers, in the vast majority of cases, are not interested in unnecessary and risky fights with bar bouncers. After all, the risk of personal injury is not small.
Fights to the death between working herding dogs and wolves are rare. The more available natural prey, the fewer conflicts there are. So, in the over-trusted Czech Republic, this is an absolutely extraordinary event.
Experienced herding dogs do not rush headlong into clashes. The genes of those specimens who acted first and thought later were simply not passed on.
The prized herding dog is above all an experienced diplomat. With their attention, actions and behavior, they have to convince the wolves that their wheat will not bloom here. His greatest victory is when he doesn’t have to intervene at all, because the wolves calculate that the risks outweigh the rewards.
The video was shot a year ago by Italian zoologist Paolo Forconi. The video shows that wolves do not necessarily kill a herding dog. Two dogs of the Maremma breed went to eat a deer that was hunted by a pack of wolves the day before! 8 wolves were resting near the prey. And the dogs still went to mourn! The wolves, of course, saw them off. Without twisting the dogs, even a hair. The dogs returned to the herd healthy (and hungry). It probably won’t be so hot with the wolf’s bloodlust.
In areas where wolves have never been exterminated, wolves try to outwit herding dogs in various ways. To lure them away. Not to be killed and eaten. This happens exceptionally. But so they can go to the herd for dinner.
We don’t have such smart wolves here yet. They are not very motivated by hunger either. The shelves in the forest supermarket are well stocked. Well, who would bother inventing different tricks for dogs that look quite determined.
It’s not just wolves that learn, shepherd dogs learn too. The older it is, the more experienced it is and the more valuable it is to the shepherd. For us for sure. On Enki, we can see how much experience he still has to gather to be like Ursa and Ares.
The video was shot in 2018 by Jean-Marc Landry. At 0:50, the wolf jumps the electric grid, even close to the sleeping herding dog (in the triangle)! The other wolf stays behind the fence. Only when the herd is up and running does another dog appear. He goes after the wolf and it retreats. Jumps over the net. The first dog more or less still doesn’t know which one beats.
And in conclusion? A lot can happen between herding dogs and wolves. No possibility can be 100% ruled out. We are talking about nature, about wolves, so all kinds of scenarios are possible. It always depends on the specific situation, and especially on the participants of the possible clash.
Yes, wolves can kill a herding dog.
Yes, a herding dog can kill a wolf.
The former happens very rarely, and the latter very rarely, given the number of other interactions between wolves and dogs.
Between these extremes there is a wide range of contact and non-contact force measurement, threats, subterfuge, strategy and diplomacy.
Herds with no losses or with absolutely negligible losses are proof that herding dogs were not bred for thousands of years for the pleasure of conservationists.
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