I caught one very similar to that a few years ago in east central Georgia.

There certainly seems to be some genetic changes in our coyote in some areas. I caught one many years ago in Indiana that I thought was a hog farmers dog that I was trapping on. Its behavior and physical appearance all showed domestic dog but the eyes were coyote like.

So much like a husky breed I released it. It acted odd on its release and didn't seem to have alot of need to run away like another caught and released coyote. I was taking all my animals alive at that time.

I often think about that animal many years ago. I have caught coyotes of all shades of color over the years. I have never seen or caught one with the pronounced ear fluff / tuffs as the one shown in that photo.

That coyote has wolf like genetics in its face. Cant see the rest of the body or size but it is a unique specimen.

My uncle gre up trapping northeast indiana in the 70's and 80's and 90's. Started with only fox and progressed to predominantly coyotes. He said some of the first ones he caught were similiar to what you described along with some much larger than average. Him and his partner attributed it to cross breeding with feral dogs due to the low populations at the time and the fact that the coyotes progressed to a more traditional look over time. No idea if that was the case but that was the best information they had to go on.

I've always been curious as to why, in the east, will coyotes breed with dogs creating "coydogs", whereas in the western part of America it doesn't happen.

my thoughts waggler are because there are way more feral dogs or loose running dogs east of the missisippi river. way more established homes and farms than west of the misssissippi river. but thats just my thoughts on that. i have anieghbor that had a coydog. half coyote half black lab. that dog loved water like a lab but looked like a black yote. he would let it run the yard and as long as you were out there hed come back play and whatnot with you, but if you left him alone he was hunting mice rats squirells and rabbits every chance it got. he died last year at 17 years old.

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However, in major western urban areas such as Los Angeles, there have been large populations of coyotes along with large numbers of dogs for at least 50 years, and with no evidence of cross-breeding between the two.