Raccoon Dog at Yorkshire WP, 18/07/10

Nyctereutes procyonoides

In its svelte summer coat.

Cute, they look twice as big in winter.

I really rate these and would like to see them more widely kept. I wonder how the previous set-up here came by these?

I totally agree, there are too few places that keep them.

I was reading a site where this guy was advising how to keep them as pets!
I don't see how it wouldn't work afterall they are just a type of dog , and if bought as a pup should be trainable, not that I'm advising folks to rush out and buy one. I did read somewhere that you should just have one as they enjoy company.
One draw back would be that there's an awful lot of fur that would drop off in the summer......

I'm not sure I'd go that far. For a start they're not Canis familiaris, like all other domestic dogs, but an entirely different (wild) species so unlikely to be trainable or tame in the same way. I have a suspicion they might smell too. But I'd like to see more kept in zoos perhaps.