Syrikos hounds and the Zaibatsu

Fiction Portal Intergalactic Summit
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Syrikos hounds get a lot of bad press because of the way they’re traditionally used, but honestly they’re an intelligent and capable breed that can be trained for a variety of uses. I’m fortunate enough to share my life with one who I found as a rescued puppy. She’s devoted, she’s loyal, she’s very warm when she decides that she needs to sleep on my bed. She has never bitten me, nor has she bitten one of the few people I allow into my home. I’d include a picture of her, but ‘Arf’ has a habit of eating all of my holo cameras. That one’s on me, honestly.

In any case, my point is that I managed to raise ‘Arf’ by myself with nothing more than galnet access and a copy of ‘Puppies for Dummies’ and she turned out a very sweet dog. The Zaibatsu has every chance to do the same here. If they fail to do so, don’t blame the dogs.

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That’s Sir Arftur Floofington the Third, Esquire M.D to you, knave.

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How do you account for the fact that 50.9% of domesticated animal attacks in New Eden are from slaver hounds, but the second most aggressive domestic animal is only responsible for 8.9%?

Or the fact that these creatures are inbred and bred for their aggression? Or the fact that a slavers bite force is substantially stronger than other hounds? Face it, slaver hounds are innately dangerous and impractical as pets.

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Uh. To be clear, slaver hounds aren’t dogs, like, at all. They’re not a breed of hound; they’re another species that gets called a “hound” because they end up filling a similar role. That’s at least partly because they’re one of the few creatures that will happily hunt and eat people, and they’re good at it.

More or less agreeing on the “not pets,” though. I mean, you can, but, it’s … dangerous. Better to train them properly as working animals.

Ms. Akahoshi? Are you sure that’s not a long-and-lean canine you’ve come by, as opposed to an unusually friendly Syrikos drooler?

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Shintoko Akahoshi

While your concern for the Syrikos hounds is appreciated and admirable. It should be noted that the situtation is a lot more complex though.

We’re fully aware the Syrikos are not as demonic as a Federal or Matari news outlet would paint them. This species was simply brought into the Amarr Empire to a questionable job that they were bred and trained to do.

That said, the Amarrians picked this species for a reason. The Syrikos hounds are highly aggressive animals. Bonfied predators with a meanstreak. This is simply their primative nature. The instincts they inherited from their long lineage of ancestors.

But these animals can be trained and taught discipline. As proven countless times by the Amarrians. So the Zaibatsu is aware that these animals are not brainless savage beasts…Chief Fabricator Viokoro Velan might say otherwise however.

The part I believe you’re missing however Ms.Akahoshi - is that the Zaibatsu has no interest in letting these hounds in people’s houses.

We have no one experienced in Syrikos Hounds, we have no idea how they would integrate into our society. No idea the long term effects they can have on the ecosystem of Nannaras X. And no idea if the plan we got for them is going to even work like we want it to.

We’re already in a difficult position- The lack of personnel to train 300 hounds is one thing - all of these hounds are of different age groups. Some nearly out of that optimal window to start training them and some that are even halfway fully grown. And in the conditions these hounds were born in- were they were reportly treated poorly and malnourished - some have begun showing “quirks” that may be a problem once training actually begins.

Putting these hounds up for adoption so they can sit on one of our colonists’ sofas with their family around, with only a “Dummies’ guide” found on some message board on the galnet is in no
way a good idea right now.

That said - I’m not suggesting you’re lying about this hound you currently own. In fact, its heartwarming. And assuming you’ve had past experience with caretaking with animals - this is less about some basic guideline to house training a dog and more on the lines of being competent with animals. As such, I would be interested to put your name down with colony admistration if you wanted to pitch in with these hounds. You sure as ■■■■ ain’t gonna do it alone, but the offer is there.

Though we got different plans for them - We’re gonna keep the aggressive tendencies in check with discipline and routine. Based on this species strengths we got some roles in mind that might be suitable - and maybe give a new reputation to the species. We don’t want to just stick all thes hounds on some reserve and be done with them. We have a chance to make them a contributing factor to the Zaibatsu. Our are chances the best they can be? Not exactly - but still in our favor if we can get a lid on this.

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I’m well aware that slavers are not, in fact, canines but more similar to ancient hyaenidae. My statement was merely to draw parallels to the fact that they are in effect wild animals, not housepets.

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I don’t know. Slaver hounds have been domesticated for a thousand years. I’ve seen them employed as children’s protectors. You can tune into entertainment shows in Amarran space and see media celebrities keeping them as pets. Yes, they can be vicious, especially if they’re trained for it. But they can also be extremely devoted. Again, if they’re trained for it.

I’m not trying to argue for the Zaibatsu to turn these animals loose in people’s homes. I’m not trying to suggest a course of action to them at all. I’m merely providing my own countering viewpoint to Viokoro Velan’s. And as the owner of a Syrikos hound, I think it’s a reasonable viewpoint.

You want a Syrikos hound to act like a devoted pet? Train it and treat it like a treasured pet. You want one to act like a vicious killer? Train it and treat it like that’s what it is. They’re smart. They know what you’re saying to them, even if you’re not aware that you’re saying it.

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Wouldn’t 'at be ‘Dame’? As in ‘Dame Arfleen von Wunderbark, Knight-Protectrix of the Yardmarches, Esq, M.D., CPA, d/b/a Arf’?

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I could write a lot about how a slaver hound is a good animal and so on.

But I don’t feel like it right now.

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Slaver Hounds and other animals of a similar nature are indeed not pets. They are not cute, fluffy, lovable animals you can have freely wander around the home entertaining guests and family. But they are good animals and fine companions.

With the right training and accomodation, you can have a solid, loving companionship with mutual respect from animal and owner, so any question about slaver hounds being inherently dangerous simply comes down to errors on the part of those responsible for them. Not everyone takes the right amount of care that they aught, and both humans and animals suffer for it.

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As children’s protectors, yes-- working animals.

As media celebrity pets, also yes-- partly because of the little bit of daring involved in keeping and training one.

I, also, have trained hounds, Ms. Akahoshi. My own knowledge and experience strongly suggested that it’s absolutely necessary for a trainer to obtain the hound’s respect, and to be careful never to lose it. The hound can be a companion, a protector, a status symbol (I hesitate to say “pet”), but doesn’t form the kind of pack attachments you see in canines.

It’s at least partly a matter of how they live and hunt. Canines are pack hunters; they work together as a team. Slaver hounds are ambush predators that use surprise and overwhelming jaw strength to end a fight quickly, and usually more or less alone.

As you say, they’re smart. But they’re not dogs.

Edit:

So, as a bit of background, I did train my own slaver hound, Meogoleh, with a good deal of success, but ended up leaving him with Utari when he and I parted ways. He never got along with the Directrix’s actual literal dog, who correctly sensed something dangerous, and I don’t think the Directrix would have been comfortable with her infant son sharing a living space with him.

Then, also, Meo was trained to be my bodyguard, but, about that time I had resumed my precedessor’s martial training and started treating it as my duty to guard the Directrix. It might have been possible to expand Meo’s training to include such things, but, really, it was easier, and also easier on the Directrix’s nerves, to leave him to watch over someone else I cared about.

… though, I guess that might not have gone so well, in the end. Utari, I do still kind of want to know how all of that worked out. Or not.

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So your original post was aimed at her? That clears things up.

I should point out that the Chief Fabricator doesn’t speak for the entirety of the Zaibatsu. That honor goes goes to our Patriarch who essentially spoke for us all when he made the deal to take the hounds. We’re gonna train these hounds, we know we can.

Whatever Viokoro’s problem is - whatever it be fear or ignorance - won’t be a factor. At least that’s we hope…Already got some messages from home of her running her mouth already trying to get colonists to side with her to stop what we got planned. Sadly for her, the deal with the UNF is already sealed and we’re gonna honor that deal.

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Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to engage in the sort of organization-level debate that’s so prevalent on the Summit these days, where the goal is to score points instead of to arrive at clarity. I’m merely presenting my own experience with the animals. This isn’t a debate of press statements. This is one woman responding to another.

Though the ‘Ms Akahoshi’ bit stings, Aria. I’d have hoped you remembered that we were on a first name basis. But I understand how memory loss can go. I’ve struggled for years to overcome the little gifts our Mr. Zaitsev bestowed on me.

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Ma’am I’ve been trying to arrive at clarity. You make a thread named “Syrikos Hounds and the Zaibatsu” and don’t clarify that your original statement is in direct response to the Chief Fabricator’s qoute - but it reads as if its aimed at the Zaibatsu as a whole. I’m here to clarify that we know they can be trained - we agree with you they are smart enough to be trained and we are working towards training them now.

The Chief Fabricator has her own personal opinions on the matter and does not speak on behalf of all of us with her remarks.

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Anything you post on IGS is going to be subject to debate, love. Water is wet.

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No it’s not, you just perceive it as such.

:wink:

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Can we not. For once, can we rotty not.

I speak as someone who has made a hobby of managing actual pet Syrikos hounds, so I think I know what I am talking about by now–they are wonderful pets and absolute terrors. “Purser” hounds (miniature slavers) are to a one inbred for the sake of calmness and sociability, which was not common in the original stock, and also for cute physical traits like smallness, curly ruffs, and upturned snoots. All of this at the same time, so naturally there are various defects also encouraged by coincidence.

What it takes to make a slaver hound a housepet is not good for the slaver hound! It is not the hound’s fault, ever, but where there are not health problems there are temperament problems, and the best one can hope for is ongoing refreshment of breedline genetics to improve the health and genetic diversity of the little ones.

But. A slaver hound as a wide-ranging, working animal? Goodness, they are already optimized if one goes to proper breeders. They are useful and beautiful and positive ways to train them are so very well-documented one barely needs to look. What one does need to look for are shady breeders who sell irresponsibly-bred, traumatically-raised, poorly-documented animals as pets suitable for confined spaces and inactivity. That is not good for any slaver, and worse for the full-sized ones. Bad training, it is also bad for any of them.

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So, I’ve decided to tell my favourite slaver hound story.

When I was a teenager, we had a slaver hound as a guard pet in our house. Normally she liked to sleep on the roof, or on the balcony, so she could watch people coming and going.

Anyway, I was the captain of the cheerleading squad at our school, and so one time one of the boys in the sportball team asked me out on a date, which was quite exciting.

But when he arrived in his sports hovercar outside my house, our slaver hound who was snoozing on the roof, suddenly jumped down and attacked him. Turns out, she could smell the scent of another girl’s perfume lingering on him. And if there’s one thing slaver hounds detest it’s disloyalty.

Needless to say, I immediately took to social media and posted pictures of my hound attacking him, which incidentally led to me identifying the other girl, and solving the whole mystery.

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I do not consider an animal suitable for domestic ownership if it’s just waiting for the moment you stop being useful to eat you.

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So it’s no different than the rest of us, then…