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[Bobby Isosceles]

So, they've spent 45 years in Siberia, domesticating foxes much as primitive man domesticated the wolf. The current generation acts identical to a dog and ostensibly is better at reading human actions than a Chimpanzee. I find that claim doubtful, but they're damn cute:

Cute widdle puppies!

[linnea]

OH. MY. GOD.

*head explodes from cute overload*

GODDAMMIT I WANT ONNNNNNNNNNNNNE!! Actually, no. I want two, and they have to be littermates. That would be so rad.

Are these guys pretty good as pets? I would be kind of afraid of having a wild animal in my house. I read an article several years back about people having those desert kit foxes as pets, and they were notorious about pee'ing all over the damn house. Yuck.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be getting any foxes-woxes, because Milan and Lennybruce would probably smother me in my sleep if I did.

[Bobby Isosceles]

OH. MY. GOD.

*head explodes from cute overload*

GODDAMMIT I WANT ONNNNNNNNNNNNNE!! Actually, no. I want two, and they have to be littermates. That would be so rad.

Are these guys pretty good as pets? I would be kind of afraid of having a wild animal in my house. I read an article several years back about people having those desert kit foxes as pets, and they were notorious about pee'ing all over the damn house. Yuck.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be getting any foxes-woxes, because Milan and Lennybruce would probably smother me in my sleep if I did.

45 years of breeding, with a roughly twice-a-year oestrus, several months of gestation, and maybe one year to sexual maturity? I'd imagine MANY generations have since passed. They should be quite tame.

[linnea]

Oh man. I guess that we won't be getting fox kits anytime soon.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1348652/posts

"Hare and colleagues' latest results are intriguing," says Blumberg. "But much much more work needs to be done before we can make any definitive claims, or generalize beyond the results that they have generated." The specially domesticated foxes are not only socially adept, adds Hare, they are regular charmers. "They behave like dogs," he says. "They whine and bark, they wag their tails, they pee for joy, and they just want to cuddle with you." But don't expect fox kits to be appearing in pet stores any time soon. The foxes have a pungent musk and love to dig and hide food, says Hare. "They would bury your food in your sofa and you would only find it three months later.

Plus the "pee'ing for joy" part sounds pretty bad.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Oh man. I guess that we won't be getting fox kits anytime soon.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1348652/posts

"Hare and colleagues' latest results are intriguing," says Blumberg. "But much much more work needs to be done before we can make any definitive claims, or generalize beyond the results that they have generated." The specially domesticated foxes are not only socially adept, adds Hare, they are regular charmers. "They behave like dogs," he says. "They whine and bark, they wag their tails, they pee for joy, and they just want to cuddle with you." But don't expect fox kits to be appearing in pet stores any time soon. The foxes have a pungent musk and love to dig and hide food, says Hare. "They would bury your food in your sofa and you would only find it three months later.

Plus the "pee'ing for joy" part sounds pretty bad.

Foxes are canids that act more like felids; many dogs are being bred with cat-like traits (like the basenji). I'd like to breed a cat that acts more like a dog.

[AugustWest]

FOXES!!!

/Festrunk brothers...

[CortJstr]

FOXES!!!

/Festrunk brothers...

AW,

You. Are. Rad.

[slink]

Plus the "pee'ing for joy" part sounds pretty bad.

It took a remarkable time for my parents to persuade their new dog (half whippet, half... something) to not pee joyously. And when she arrived home she insisted on going out to pee for the first few weeks too.

http://slink.canadian-studies.net/puppyodoom.jpg
She is ever so cute though.

[wombat]

I would be kind of afraid of having a wild animal in my house.

Um, can I just interject that this is a really sound instinct, and you should pay attention to it.

As for the peeing all over sort of thing... Some animals naturally pay attention to where they eliminate - think of dogs who use it to mark their territory - and some don't - think of hosss that just let loose as they walk down the street.  The former kind of animal has the potential to be housetrained, with the latter kind of animal it's impossible.   I don't know why foxes are different from dogs in this respect but apparently at least some kinds are.  So, buyer beware.

[V-Adore]

I've heard about these before. The general consensus is that they are, in fact, really quite tame; that said, well, even the tamest canids tend to be a bit messy, so be prepared. They might be viable pets if you're willing to be careful, but in general wombat speaks the truth.

Also, what a cute puppy, Slink! It is definitely "half whippet, half something."

[CortJstr]

Just let me know when they domesticate pygmy marmosets. Haven't you always wanted a hand-held monkey?

[wombat]

Ugh, marmoset poop is something you really don't want in your house.  Although the pygmy marmoset is the least offensive.

[Pedro Picasso]

It took a remarkable time for my parents to persuade their new dog (half whippet, half... something) to not pee joyously.

A friend of mine who had a dog which would pee when frightened.  He said it was mistreated before he got it.  One day he was doing some very important work while the dog yipped and yipped and yipped.  He was getting fed up when he realized he had to carry a large load of precariously stacked objects upstairs.  He started doing this when the phone rang.  He tripped over the dog while going to answer the phone and yelled, "Dammit DOG!" as loudly as he could.   The little dog's eyes grew to the size of silver dollars, and in the space he was sitting there grew puddle the size of a manhole cover.

I thought this story was hilarious.  But then anything was hilarious when I was selling treadmills at Sears.  Anything other than selling treadmills at Sears.

[slink]

A friend of mine who had a dog which would pee when frightened.

We had a friend who had a dog, similarly afflicted (although with Jake I think it was purely out of stupidity rather than anything else). My brother and I were setting off camping with them one evening, and were walking towards their front door, sleeping bags draped over shoulders and the like, I guess looking vaguely inhuman, and Jake, who our friend was holding by the collar, stared at us as we approached, before peeing all over the guys foot.

The finest occasion on which he did this, and rather discerningly, was when he was being walked past the house up the road, whose owners had a pair of yippity little Jack Russells. As they ran over to him yelping and snapping, he just cocked his leg and peed on them. I think that's getting right to the heart of marking territory.

[Bobby Isosceles]

I would be kind of afraid of having a wild animal in my house.

Um, can I just interject that this is a really sound instinct, and you should pay attention to it.

As for the peeing all over sort of thing... Some animals naturally pay attention to where they eliminate - think of dogs who use it to mark their territory - and some don't - think of hosss that just let loose as they walk down the street.  The former kind of animal has the potential to be housetrained, with the latter kind of animal it's impossible.   I don't know why foxes are different from dogs in this respect but apparently at least some kinds are.  So, buyer beware.

I think The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris may help in this. (It's also a kickass book in general). Basically, solitary eaters tend to be more likely to shit wherever, and pack animals tend to consolidate their poo for territory-marking and instinctive hygiene. Also, carnivores tend to be more tidy than herbivores.

A fox is a carnivore, but it also is a solitary animal, so it would be less tidy than, say, a dog pack. Considering the entire house its territory, it would void itself wherever it saw fit. No sense of pack decorum.

That's the difference between a domesticated fox (or cat) and a domesticated dog. A fox views us as littermates; a dog as packmates.