A dark subject matter

[oakash]

As a family, we'd most likely start off with both of the dogs and the cat. Sign would probably be the most useful, because she regularly catches squirrels, so if there was a way to keep her with us i'd definitely try. Suzie isn't good at catching stuff, and jack is a complete airhead, so we'd have to see as we go if they could stay

 

[Dizzy]

Hahahah, Fred would put them in a cute induced paralysis, then nom their feet so they couldn't chase after us

Bodhi would probably just try to play fetch with their rotting, dropped off limbs.

 

[Catsi]

Thinking about this makes me realise that I have really useless dogs lol. Actually there's not a practical individual among us, me included. Complete liabilities.

1 x timid whippet - never managed to kill anything and freaks if ants get on his bone.
1 x aging stafford - never managed to kill anything, would go, go, go thinking it was a fun game and then we'd have to rest up for a few days.
1 x chi x - nervy, reactive, I'd never stay hidden for long, she'd alert people straight away to our existence.
And me - I'm nervy and I'd really not know what to do. The only plus side is that I am rather fit (or at least way fitter than I was) so I'd be ok to move around as long as I had the right stuff (which incidentally I have no idea what that would be!)
I guess we could all keep each other warm. That's about it really. I'm not sure how I'd go in this new world tbh.

 

[AussieAshley]

Well Desoto pretty well splits his time between living with me and my dad so I would let my dad take him so I could take Radar. Desoto is the dog that would really hold his own in an apocalypse, he is tough as nails, super vigilant and would protect who ever he was with no matter what. That said Radar has plenty of stamina, is more stealthy (Desoto is LOUD) and would only give out quiet warning growls to warn of danger. A helpful trait if you are running and hiding, He is also a darn good little hunter and an easy keeper, so he would still be an asset for sure.

 

[PWCorgi]

I only have Frodo. I'm pretty sure he'd be worse than useless. I'd probably just kill us both, we are both too big of nervebags.

 

[Lyzelle]

I just have Zander at the moment. He'd be pretty useful on many fronts. He can backpack, has been introduced to harness, is a pretty good hunter of small game like birds and rabbits, and he doesn't need a whole lot of food to survive and maintain weight. Not to mention he'd be warm on cold nights and his skittish behavior could keep me on alert for dangers. His kind was bred and born for survival, so under all the spoiled brat syndrome, I'd hope there was some usefulness down in there somewhere.

 

[Tortilla]

Both of my dogs would be completely useless in a survival situation so neither one would be a practical choice. Sally is thirteen with poor hips and Seamus is a complete goof. Emotionally I would be conflicted if I absolutely had to choose one dog to take.

 

[ACooper]

We only have Orson, and he would definitely get his chance to come with.

Pros:
He is very alert, good guard and loyal protector.
He is able to help as a pack mule, he even pulls a wagon without complaint.

Cons:
Wouldn't do well in cold climates, would need plenty of weatherizing
Does not like to swim or get into lakes/rivers

Unknowns:
Being a town dog, he's never had the chance to hunt. His vision, sniffer, and speed are all there, but if he'd learn to use them soon enough to be useful is unknown.

 

[ACooper]

We only have Orson, and he would definitely get his chance to come with.

Pros:
He is very alert, good guard and loyal protector.
He is able to help as a pack mule, he even pulls a wagon without complaint.

Cons:
Wouldn't do well in cold climates, would need plenty of weatherizing
Does not like to swim or get into lakes/rivers

Unknowns:
Being a town dog, he's never had the chance to hunt. His vision, sniffer, and speed are all there, but if he'd learn to use them soon enough to be useful is unknown.

 

[RD]

I'd have an easier time keeping Eve, who is a keen set of ears, rarely barks, and would be a hyper-vigilant lookout. She wouldn't be too much help with hunting and I wouldn't put it on her to protect me from something like zombies, but she'd be a huge help with staying alive if we were in a situation where we needed to hide from something.

She would be incredibly detrimental in certain ways in a zombie apocalypse, because she'd be in close proximity to my own gunshots if I had to kill and doubletap the Zs. That's her one downfall, and I honestly don't know if I'd lose her in that situation. If she booked it, I guess I'd be on my own.

Dusk... It sounds mean, but he'd screw us over so badly. He's a loud barker at anything outside the house, he starts confrontations that he doesn't follow up on (leaving us to deal with the angry whatever that he's offended) and he runs off sometimes. He's the annoying, over-dependent dog/child that they put into movies and books to make the ordeal more difficult for the protagonist. I think he'd be a pretty serious detriment to survival, but I don't know what we'd do with him. It wouldn't be humane to just leave him to starve.

I wouldn't be lugging around big bags of dog food unless I was equipped with a big vehicle. If we're talking traveling on foot, surviving in a more primitive way, my dog would go back to her roots and live as a scavenger, when we found or killed food we'd share it with her.

Emotionally I would take them both and deal with the consequences of 1.) having 2 dogs to look after and 2.) Dusky's loud mouth and cowardice.

 

[Romy]

Been thinking about this more. Like pops mentioned, staying put is probably the best idea in most situations like this. Especially if you've got good neighbors and can watch out for each other.

The only situations locally I can think of that would require a bug out bag and leaving would be:

Tsunami
Impending nuclear strike (assuming you could get far enough away. Otherwise you might be better off radiation-proofing your home and hoarding clean water)
Maybe earthquake. Maybe. It really depends.
Volcano erupting. Not that far fetched here, and depends whether you're in an area likely to be hit by lahars or something.

In most scenarios we'd probably stay. We have really good neighbors and have more food at our home than we could carry with us. I've got seed storage, and enough to share around with neighbors. It wouldn't be hard to grow plots of root crops around the neighborhood and disguise them as weed patches.

In terms of livestock, some day I really want rabbits and quail. Both are small, quiet, reproduce fast, easy to feed on forage, and are easy to hide. If it came down to it, they're really portable too.

 

[Renee750il]

Where I am, I'd bug out. Fast. Head for the mountains, where there is plenty of food, game and springwater available, not to mention caves for shelter.

I wouldn't take any of the neighbors with me . . . especially not the ones next door, lol!

 

[Romy]

Where I am, I'd bug out. Fast. Head for the mountains, where there is plenty of food, game and springwater available, not to mention caves for shelter.

I wouldn't take any of the neighbors with me . . . especially not the ones next door, lol!

In your situation I'd do the same thing.

 

[Pops2]

Where I am, I'd bug out. Fast. Head for the mountains, where there is plenty of food, game and springwater available, not to mention caves for shelter.

I wouldn't take any of the neighbors with me . . . especially not the ones next door, lol!

your bug out place NEEDS to be close yet isolated. remember LONG TERM survival will depend on agriculture & animal husbandry so it would be best to prep those needs before hand and use game & wild plants as a supplement to your diets.
Romy, if your location is good, SERIOUSLY consider colony raising rabbits. use scavenged 4X4s for fence posts and fence w/ 1/4" rabbit wire. bury at least a foot under ground. put top rail from post to post then top w/ chicken wire to keep raptors out. get all the free intact femal rabbits you can off craiglist etc. and put your money into good meat type bucks to grade up. the meatiest does can go straight into the colony. the least meaty does put into a hutch built from scavenged wood and breed to meat bucks. the meatiest crossbred does go in the colony & the rest become dinner for your or the dogs. on a continuous basis you add meat genetics and after a year remove them. i'm working on the process now. my neighbors don't know i have rabbits. mine are currently in a hutch built from scavenged lumber it is 30" wide by 20" high by 8' long w/ 3 compartments (one i could & probably will split into two). i am at 6 does but will be culling two black lionhead crosses as they are too lean & slow growing. i will be keeping a white & black standard rex doe (reasonably chunky), a black NZXmutt doe (VERY chunky girl), a REW rex (fast growing & built like her mom) and maybe a grey/lilac? lionheadX (not chunky but very fast growing). i'm looking for a NZ or californian buck to grade up. once i'm done w/ the yard (seeding w/ KY blue, rye & timothy grass) and landscaping (raised bed around fence planted w/ raspberry, blackberry & floribunda for cover), i plan to release them into a seperated portion of the yard.

 

[Pops2]

you might also want to consider meat type pigeons, after much inquiry they seem to be the least labor involved poultry and they are reasonably quiet. i would only consider quail, partridge or other game birds if i was trying to establish a planted wild population.

 

[Renee750il]

your bug out place NEEDS to be close yet isolated. remember LONG TERM survival will depend on agriculture & animal husbandry so it would be best to prep those needs before hand and use game & wild plants as a supplement to your diets.

I basically live in the midst of the Smokies, Pops PLENTY of foraging in one of the most diverse ecosystems on the continent. Lots and lots of wild edibles. Clean water from underground springs all over the place.

And I know where I can hide out and have good access to being able to rogue cattle (like my Irish ancestors). Not to mention we are overrun with boar.

 

[MyHorseMyRules]

Seeing as the OP states you can only save one dog... I won't get into the details of deciding how many to take.

Boone is small enough that I can carry him if need be but large enough to carry a pack and bring down larger game. He would be able to hunt to keep himself fed. He would aid in protection. He would keep me warm (if that were an issue) because he runs hot. He is agile and hardy and would be capable of handling some rough terrain and harsh conditions. However, if there was no game, he would be difficult to keep alive because he needs a pretty high caloric intake to maintain a healthy weight. And without shelter, the Texas heat would be brutal because he runs hot anyhow and has a black coat that just soaks up the heat. So I'd have to worry about him overheating, and he would need a lot of water.

Raja would be a fairly capable hunter and could provide for herself. She doesn't require much food these days to maintain her weight. However, she would contribute very little else, and she is not easily controlled and may pose a problem in certain situations.

Tempie... My dear, sweet Tempie is my heart dog. But practically, she would be of little use. And she would have such a hard time in that kind of situation. However, rather than leave her, I would probably put her down.

 

[Romy]

I'm totally building some artificial warrens if I can get my own place. There's probably space here but it's not mine.

You can get new zealand does for around $10 on craigslist here. I like the champagne d'argents too. Anyway, here's the schematic I made for the warren. It could be done without the moat, that was just a way of containing them, making space to raise fish, and supply drinking water. We get a lot of rain too so it's designed to keep the warren itself from getting waterlogged. Raccoons would be a major problem around here, which is really the only reason there's a fence outside.

ETA: Coturnix quail are dumb-tame. They don't fly up and bomp their heads when startled like wild quail, lay around 300 eggs a year, and there are jumbo varieties that mature out to 10-16 oz. live weight. Honestly, they remind me of guinea pigs more than anything else. After my chinchillas pass away from old age I'd like to get a group of them to live in the old chinchilla cage and keep them in the kitchen.

 

[Pops2]

if you put a hot wire about 6" up and fence across the front of your gate w/ rabbit wire about knee high, so it only opens in and TOP the pen w/ chicken wire you should be good.
i personally wouldn't do the moat because i don't trust the kits not to drown themselves. i am probably going to use buried PVC going to terra cotta bowls around the yard. but in a purpose built colony i'll probably go w/ rain gutter and the water routed to a small koi/tilapia pond & then into a large filter system and recirculated.
the reason i suggested using free does & grading up is because rabbits are very common here. a quick check of KSL showed 26 free rabbits within driving distance in the last 30 days and about 2X as many for $5. most were rex & mini rex, but there were some NZ cross & some lops. GOOD commercial quality NZ & california bucks can be had for 20-40.
eventually i'd like to raise & release native game birds, but for personal consumption i am planning on pigeons.

 

[Pops2]

I basically live in the midst of the Smokies, Pops PLENTY of foraging in one of the most diverse ecosystems on the continent. Lots and lots of wild edibles. Clean water from underground springs all over the place.

And I know where I can hide out and have good access to being able to rogue cattle (like my Irish ancestors). Not to mention we are overrun with boar.

good choice tons of edible wild plants and the bottoms & balds can be guerilla farmed. i wouldn't plan too heavily on big game. after market hunting was banned in 1912 the deer population came back really well until the depression. by 1929 TX had about 1/4-1/2 million feral hogs & about 1 million deer (both whitetail & muley). by the time the US entered WWII in 1941 TX deer was between 1/4-1/2 million & the hogs were down to maybe 10-20K. you can expect similar overharvest in a "zombie apocolypse." however during the depression the furmarket was fairly steady and trapper's families generally stayed well fed. so i'd recommend working on your trapping skills.