Coydog

A coydog is a canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a coyote and a dog. The term is sometimes mistakenly used for coywolves, which are common in northeast North America, whereas true coydogs are only occasionally found in the wild. This is due to the mating cycles of dogs and coyotes not coinciding, and coyotes are usually antagonistic towards dogs, with even captive specimens having shown reluctance to mate with them. Hybridization usually only occurs when coyotes are expanding into areas where conspecifics are few, and dogs are the only alternatives. Even then, pup survival rates are lower than normal, as dogs do not form pair bonds with coyotes, thus making the rearing of pups more difficult. Nevertheless, hybrids of both sexes are fertile, and can be successfully bred through four generations. Such matings have occurred long before the European colonization of the Americas, as melanistic coyotes have been shown to have inherited their black pelts from dogs likely brought to North America through the Bering Land Bridge 12,000 to 14,000 years ago by the ancestors of the America's indigenous people. Coydogs were deliberately bred in Pre-Columbian Mexico, where coyotes were held in high regard. In the city of Teotihuacan, it was common practice to crossbreed coyotes and Mexican gray wolves with dogs in order to breed resistant, loyal but temperamental, and good guardians. Northern Canada's Aboriginal populations were mating coyotes and wolves to their sled dogs in order to produce more resilient animals as late as the early 20th century.