MeatEater Podcast Ep. 466 | Dire Wolves and Ancient Hunting Dogs

Steven Rinella talks to Angela Perri, Brent Reaves, Ronny Boehme, Jason Phelps, Janis Putelis, Seth Morris, Chester Floyd, Phil Taylor, and Corinne Schneider.

Topics include: Brass knuckle daggers and TSA confiscating stuff; who had the very first pet dog?; how Steve thinks The North Wall in “Games of Thrones” is in Alaska; a very special bobcat burial; Steve’s 12 signs of astrology; hunting the wooly rhino; when wolves turn into dogs; from hunting to scavenging in a few generations; being the first human to ever run into a critter; culled and “kinlin”; how the tar pits are still taking victims; hunting boars with dogs in Japan; breeding wolves with dogs and getting the DNA all muddled up; how most folks don’t know that dire wolves were real; body farms and clipping cadaver fingernails; when your dog hunts behind you; how Brent spoils his hound in a temperature controlled dog house; watch Ronny’s new training dog series; dogs stars; and more.

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[MrFtd]

I know a falconer that uses his pointer to show his redtail where birds and squirrels are. Pointer points them out, hawk swoops down for the kill. Its a work of art watching them.

[asw]

1:36:40 In the hound world, at least for european hunting with dogs culture (driven hunts on Boar, Stag, Roe Deer etc), we have a saying that goes like this: 4 years your dog learns, 4 years your dog hunts, every year after that is a gift. It goes along with my experience so far. Roughly 4 years you have a rookie that will make mistakes and hopefully learns from them. 4 years, you have a dog in its prime that just works like a damn clock and you just get to enjoy peak performance. After that you notice the physical level go down but oh boy do they make up for it in experience. My last dog retired at age 10ish (a couple of hunts in year 11 but nowhere near what we were doing before). At the end he wasnt the fastest anymore but he was a weapon. If he didnt seem interested in a certain thicket than there was nothing there. If there was something in it, he would methodically empty it until there was nothing in it anymore, long after the rookie thought it was empty.
He was there, done that, got the Tshirt, all multiple times.
The last statement "every year after is a gift" has a double meaning. It is physically demanding work with a relative risk attached to it. So on the one hand the dog making it to age 8 isnt a given. Also if he makes it that long, you have the dog equivalent of a Brady-type GOAT. Needless to say, I miss that dog.

[larryborn]

I LOVE listening to the anthropologist talk about all things dogs so passionately. She is awesome!!!

[justinnorris]

I love how Steve stands up for big game dog hunters!!

[tigersbaseball]

Man these are some of the best podcasts. Love when they have these archeologists on. Super interesting.

[AlfredoTorres-sbsw]

This podcast instantly went to the top of my list once they started posting videos. It’s so much more impactful and entertaining to be able to put a face to the voices. The trouble is, now I don’t know what I’m going to do this deer season, as my previous practice of not listening to episodes for several weeks so that I had plenty to listen to while in a tree will clearly not be happening this year.

[johnnottahcal]

I was always blown away how my old water dog could turn ‘it’ off with the prey choice! You know he has the ability to take that animal aside and tear it into a feather pile like he did as a pup with the wife’s feather pillow, but he knows that his job is to bring it as gentle as possible under the current conditions! Just insane.

[richardruss]

I read the novel series "Clan of the Cave Bear, " when i was a teenager, and have been fascinated with early human interactions/domesticattions with wild animals ever since. I'm glad i found this podcast

[skersfan]

Man, if you don't like Brent Reaves... i dont think we can be friends. The guy just seems like a down to earth, genuinely good human.

[theteehee]

Dr. Angela Perri is awesome - this was a great episode.

[wagstag]

I currently have a female black mouth cur that will go from treeing squirrels to blood trailing deer or hogs, to retrieving doves without tearing them up and it took years to fine tune everything as far as what to hunt and what to ignore, and how to hunt the way I wanted but its very rewarding in the end and I can absolutely understand why dogs were so useful to our ancestors and why they are sometimes found buried in a ceremonial way. I think back on some of my dogs most amazing moments and the food she helped provide and it gives a glimpse into how ancient man would've felt about a good dog when every day was a struggle for survival. Awesome stuff

[thatmanbran]

I'm so pumped you're doing video now for your podcasts! I didn't know until listening to this episode today on Spotify

[jlondon]

Grew up around working dogs. Labs, Retrievers and Airedales, seen a lot of different behaviors. My roommate brought home this lab mix he rescued from his kids. Thing has webbed feet, so I was all about doing some basic training and taking her out in the boat with me. Not hunting, but figured water dog, right? Damn dog won’t get three feet near water. Damn near refuses to piss outside if it’s raining, won’t step on wet sand on a beach and loves to sit in a boat on dry land but won’t get out of the truck at the ramp. 😆. Tried scent training, just noses around until she gets bored and then watches me. Taken her out to the range a few times, pulls on lead or just runs back to the truck at the first shot to get the hell away. Won’t fetch or retrieve anything you want. It’s like she’s a contrarian, if you want it, she ignores it. I’d say she’d make a great bush diver, flushing game out the way she sprints after chickens, doves, birds in general and rabbits, but again, fire a shot and she’ll disappear back to the truck. She won’t grab anything she’s chased down, maybe give it a feel with her mouth once, but no grab and shake to kill. She’s not a lap dog, has no real interest in petting or scratches. Most useful thing I can find about her is she’ll bark at any strange noise inside her “territory” at home or in the woods camping. Loves to play tugs and chase, fast and strong as hell. Takes commands pretty easily, smart enough to heel and follow me around. Won’t get but about a mile before she just lays down and refuses to move, no matter her conditioning. The only reward she is really interested in is tugging on a toy with me, she’ll take a treat or food, but will just hold it in her mouth and spit it out when you’re not looking. Give her a bone or pigs ear and she’ll chew on it and not let you near it, even once she has walked away from wherever she has set it down. Not aggressive with her food bowl, just those bones or ears. Also like to eat out of the fire pit, burnt wood and the like. If you are dragging or carrying wood around, she’ll grab the other end and try to run ahead of you, but won’t carry anything on her own anywhere near where you want her to take it. Been with us since she was 9 months old, it’s been a year since he brought her home and I’ve just taken to playing keep away with most things. She’ll run down a tossed ball, get it about halfway back at a good pace and throw it a few feet between us. If I go for it she’ll run it down and toss it another few feet away. When I get to it, if she overruns it, I just bat it a few feet in another direction. We’ll keep that up for 20 minutes or so and then it’s time for her to roll in the grass and go sit inside, or she’ll just lay panting and look at you like “whenever you’re ready to head in”.

[DogTrainingwithDad]

One of the best podcast I have ever listen to thank you mediator for bringing on such an expert panel

[sblakeyca]

What a great episode - Dr Perri is an amazing guest - and I didn't think I would enjoy the video as much as I did - adds a new dimension to the guest and host interaction.

[JohnMark-thkr]

I always enjoy Brent and Ronnie! Love the hunting dog podcast and this country life both very much.

[deannalemburg]

Don't know how you get so many knowledgeable people to come on your podcast but keep doing it if I am going to waste time in this life listening or watching other people this is the place to be besides entertainment there is actual usable knowledge Thank you thank-you (p.s. come from family with montra if you weren't working at something you were wasting time)

[MrFtd]

Id love to see her go to The Alaskan Boneyard and talk to that guy/look over his specimens

[ew]

Really enjoyed the content of this podcast. If more researchers were on this form of podcast, their work would be more enjoyed and appreciated.

[Nick-hmdm]

This is the first podcast I’ve seen from Meat Eater, but I think it’s a good one to watch. Angela Perri brought a lot to the table I think. The conversation was super interesting.