Wild Dogs

The **Wild Dogs**, also called the **Primordial Dogs**, are scavengers that hunt in packs.

## Appearance

The Wild Dogs are a rather typical canid in terms of build, but with red eyes, large, rounded ears similar to African wild dogs, and tails with a shorter tuft at the end. They are light brown with darker brown on their ears and muzzles, mask-like markings around their eyes, and stripes on their legs.

## Personality

The Wild Dogs appear to be scavengers first and foremost and are thus very patient when tracking new meals. They can stalk wounded prey for days on end, watching from a safe distance as they muster their numbers and wait for the opportunity to attack. Once committed to a kill, they attack relentlessly and with little regard for self-preservation; however, they can be made to retreat if enough of them are killed, whether out of fear for their lives or recognition that their target is too strong for them to overcome.

## Abilities

* **Fangs:** The Wild Dogs are shown to have mouthfuls of sharp fangs. These fangs are used for fighting and not solely for eating, as many dogs engaged Spear and Fang with lunging bites constantly in their battle.
* **Strength:** The Wild Dogs have comparatively low strength individually, but they make up for it by attacking in large packs. When facing active prey like Spear, they attack in waves to wear them down before eventually killing them through sheer weight of numbers.
* **Smell:** The Wild Dogs have excellent senses of smell, allowing them to track Spear and Fang relentlessly over the course of several days.
* **Hunting Skills:** As pack-hunting scavengers, the Wild Dogs have excellent coordination and patience. They appear to have the ability to communicate over long distances, allowing them to cover more ground by sending scouts across their territory to find potential meals; if one succeeds, it calls the rest of the pack to help it track and subdue the target. In this way, they are similar to dholes, pack-hunting dogs native to India which have similar hunting tactics.

## History

While Spear was caring for a heavily injured Fang, a lone Wild Dog began stalking them from a distance. Once Spear noticed it, he began using fires to keep it at bay overnight. The dog was gradually joined by other members of its pack as it continued to track Spear and Fang; eventually, Spear decided to seek refuge in a cave and block up the entrance to keep out the scavengers.

The Wild Dogs continued to bide their time, amassing in greater numbers as they surrounded the cave. Some of them attacked Spear when he left the cave to get water, causing him to realize that he needed to drive them off to survive in the long-term. Using improvised knuckledusters made from hard-shelled cave insects, he engaged the pack, slaughtering dozens but slowly being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

Before the Wild Dogs could kill Spear, a fully recovered Fang burst out of the cave and joined the fight. With their pack being decimated by the caveman and the dinosaur, the remaining dogs turned tail and fled to find easier prey. ("Scent of Prey")

## Trivia

* In the animatic pitch, Spear originally left the cave entrance open with three of the primordial dogs sniffing around and moving towards Fang, only for the dog in the middle to be killed by Spear who thrown his spear from a far distance, scaring both of the other dogs away. When he returns to the cave with water, he uses the dead dog as a meal for him and Fang.
	+ Also in the animatic pitch, when Spear was covering the cave entrance, there were eight of them watching Spear before he scared them off.
* The Wild Dogs are the third antagonistic body to survive a battle against Spear and Fang, albeit with their numbers greatly reduced, the first being the Man Bat flock and then the Raptors.
* The Wild Dogs resemble borophagines, an extinct subfamily of canids with a mixture of dog and hyena traits, though it is possible that they are African wild dogs.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Scent of Prey Pitch Animatic". (Video) *Adult Swim*.