Renov's Dogs

As more and more flits and sledges were cannibalized for parts destined for defenses and higher priority transportation vehicles, many people were left with only half-operable equipment. Most often, a propulsion unit had been removed, for use by the colony government. Others had taken the ant-grav lifts out, to be integrated into defenses or repurposed in homesteads. Still, everyone needed a way to move heavy cargo around the colony. The scientists, after more than a little prodding, and the reminder that their own projects were in danger of being stripped for parts by the angry colonists, got to work. Dogs had not made up a large portion of the genetic material brought to the colony, for sake of not introducing a predator to any possible ecosystem, and there was the added issue of adapting the old breeds to this newer, heavier world. Horses, and even cattle had made up a larger percentage of the material brought along, and these were started first. The colony hunters had become passably good at catching the animals that near-overran the walls on a monthly basis, and it was hoped that splicing native DNA with that of the animals brought along would result in a satisfactory beast of burden. While work on horses and cattle moved along, one scientist remembered old stories, almost myths, of dogs that had pulled sleds and other cargo on Old Earth. Some material for dogs had been included in the data banks, and this scientist went to work. The end result was a heavy-set, abundantly furred beast with the power to pull a loaded sledge or flit, depending on what parts were missing, through the deep winter snows that swallowed the colonies, and an efficient enough gut to eat nearly anything put in front of it. The crossbred horses and oxen were developed as well, but enough colonists preferred the canid, for it's hauling and protective tendencies, that the breeding was sped up, and litters distributed to the farthest flung homesteads to test their effectiveness. Last anyone heard before the Gene Wars broke out, the program was a success.