Before I start, I want to say that this is not a repeat of my previous question. It’s merely a continuation of the topic, with updates to the nature of both fictional animals involved, with a more refined question.
Now, let’s start with the Voswuinian Liguars. Unlike they were previously, they are not merely “scaled up Ligers that behave like Jaguars”.
- First change is that they’re smaller:instead of the previous measurements, adult males can grow to a length of 14 feet 3 inches, which is still quite large, but not as big as they were previously.
- Second change is that, while their skull is still roughly the same shape, their teeth are proportionally longer. For reference, the shape of a Liguar’s skull would look very much like that of a Liger’s but with teeth comparable in proportions to a Smilodon’s.
- Third change is in their behaviors; they are not behaviorally the same as Jaguars anymore. A Liguar’s and a Jaguar’s only shared behavioral traits are their tendency to strike from behind and land a bite to the back of the head to penetrate the brain and their tendency to swim.
- Fourth change is also behavioral: Male Liguars are still mostly solitary, but will hunt together with females during mating season, whereas females will hunt in groups with their cubs or other females year-round.
Other than those changes, Liguars are the same as they were previously.
As for the Voswuinian Mastiffs, I’ve decided that they are no longer an actual breed, but rather a mix-breed. Specifically, they are the result of breeding an unnamed breed of very strong domestic dog originating from Brihara (another nation on Lyrial), with a breed of domestic dog from Earth, the second of which, as the title suggests, is the topic of the question. For reference on the Briharan dog breed’s strength, they are basically canine equivalents to a full grown Lion.
As with the previous question, Voswuinian Mastiffs are livestock guardians designed to protect herds from predators, with the Liguars included among them as the greatest threat. However, the way they defend the livestock is different, as they are mainly a deterrent: they’re big enough to cause severe damage to a lone Voswuinian Liguar and are also typically in groups of around 3 to 4, thus making sole Liguars avoid the guarded livestock out of self-preservation.
However, because Liguars hunt in groups of 2 during mating season, they will occasionally attack during this time of year. So, in the case of an attack, Voswuinian Mastiffs will instinctively use strategy to defeat Liguars. They will use their agility to dodge attacks from the slower, stronger Liguars before biting the Liguar’s legs with enough force to break their leg bones. As such, it’s more of a conflict between an agile dog and strong cat, rather than a strong dog and a strong cat. That said, a Voswuinian Mastiff is still strong enough to have a chance at surviving a slash to the legs from a Liguar’s claws, though they would not survive a bite to the back of the neck.
Now, for the dog to be agile enough to dodge a Voswuinian Liguar’s attacks and also strong enough to survive a slash to its legs from a Liguar, what kind of physique would it need?
Edit #1: Because I’ve been told that most true dog breeds only exist for at most 250 to 500 years, I’ve decided to change the question: instead of “for the dog to be agile enough to dodge a Voswuinian Liguar’s attacks and also strong enough to survive a slash to its legs from a Liguar, what kind of physique would it need, and what real world breeds could result in that kind of physique when mixed with the unnamed Briharan breed?”, it will now be “for the dog to be agile enough to dodge a Voswuinian Liguar’s attacks and also strong enough to survive a slash to its legs from a Liguar, what kind of physique would it need?” In other words, the mix breed will no longer need to be considered.
