The Wolfdog
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Many breeders and websites would have you believe that Wolfdogs (often mistakenly referred to as Wolf hybrids.) are wonderful family pets and great protectors. Others call them dangerous monsters and abominations to nature. So what’s the truth? Before I start I think a little personal background information is in order.
I’ve worked in Wolf and Wolfdog rescue, training, and public education for almost 30 years. During that time I have had the good fortune to have shared my life with a number of Wolfdogs and for a time with a pure artic wolf. Over the years, I’ve trained, rescued, and placed hundreds of Wolf crosses of all kinds. I’ve worked on three different Wolf reintroduction projects including one in my home state of Arizona for the desperately endangered Mexican gray wolf.
Some of the questions you should be asking yourself if your thinking of bringing a Wolfdog into your home are as follows:
(1) Why do you want a Wolfdog?
Seems like a simple question on the surface but it’s by far the most important consideration. Over the years I’ve heard a LOT of different answers ranging from… I Just LOVE Wolves….all the way up to… It would be so cool to own a Wolf. The answer you chose to give me or the rescue is not important. The answer you give yourself however IS. If you want to own a WILD animal, impress your friends and neighbors or just long to have something new and different then look into a snake or even a spider. Trust me on this one… Your not the sort of person who should own a Wolfdog.
(2) Can you dedicate enough of your time to a Wolfdog?
This is something few people ever think about. Wolfdogs, especially pups, require several times as much attention as do domestic dog breeds. They also mature more slowly and can’t be considered adults until after three years of age. Wolfdogs can and will become destructive if left on their own for very long. Those few fences they can’t simply jump can be climbed over or tunneled under.
(3) Are you prepared to learn an entirely different method of training?
Although not really more difficult to train than domestic dogs, Wolfdogs learn in a different way. If your going to attempt to train a Wolfdog the way you did your lab. Prepare yourself for a great deal of frustration. Wolfdogs learn by watching and they don’t miss a thing.
(4) Are you willing to accept the responsibility?
This question is one that a lot of owners of domestic dog breeds should be asking themselves as well. Get use to the fact that you’ll ALWAYS be in the wrong. Even minor behavior problems that would be laughed at in domestic breeds will be taken as proof of your animals WILD nature. Many shelters will put down a stray Wolfdog without even bothering to check the tag or call the owner. When a toy poodle growls at stranger and bares his fangs the normal response is…”OH look isn’t he CUTE. He’s protecting Mommy.” The owner of a Wolfdog who does the same thing, even if provoked, can expect a knock on the door by the authorities.
(5) Have you looked into local ordnances about Wolfdogs?
Many localities have passed out-right bans on Wolfdogs. Others impose restrictions that you may not want to live with. Even insurance companies that don’t have a problem with ANY domestic dog breed can and WILL deny a claim involving a Wolfdog. So in answer to the question, Do Wolfdogs make good pets, NO. They can however become wonderful companions for those who love and understand them. Knowing the difference between the two is the first step in the process of one day sharing your life with a Wolfdog. That said however I need to address another issue. Are Wolfdogs dangerous?
Most of the information circulating around the net and often quoted by those seeking to show wolfdogs in an unfavorable light is either misrepresented or totally incorrect. The reasons for this are quite obvious to anyone who has spent the better part of their lives working with them. Put simply; they prey on peoples irrational fears and rely a great deal on myth. By myth of course I’m referring to those so called “facts” that the uninformed public just know to be true. They “seem” real or “make sense” and are adopted as fact without question. Once a strong myth takes hold it can often over shadow proven fact. Take the example of the flat earth. At one time the myth of the earth being flat was so strong that even the suggestion of proof to the contrary was ridiculed. Rest assured that all of the facts that I’m presenting here are just that. Verifiable facts. My own opinions on the subject, even those based on 30 years of experience, will be clearly labeled as just that. My opinions.
One of the first myths that I’m going to address is the well used term Wolf Hybrid. In scientific terms a hybrid is the sterile result of the crossing of two closely related but different species. In other words the offspring can not reproduce. In 1992 the scientific community reclassified Domestic dogs and Wolves as the same species. Recently, genetic research has led to a number of startling findings backing up this move. 99.8% of all canine DNA is exactly the same. The remaining .01% is what gives us the differences in the various breeds. Wolves not only share in this but are, in actuality, more closely related to some domestic dog breeds than a lot of domestic breeds are to each other. The report I’m referring too was by DR. Robert K. Wayne from UC Davis in 1993. The study reports that domestic dogs differ from Gray Wolves by only 0.2% of the total mtDNA sequence. The Gray Wolfs closest wild relative is the Coyote who differs by 4%. This study led scientists at the American society of mammalogists and the Smithsonian Institute of science to reclassify domestic dogs from Canis Familiaris to a sub species of Canis Lupis in 1993. A lot of profit breeders and Wolfdog opponents cling to the term Wolf Hybrid for one simple reason. The term hybrid conjures up visions not only of mans manipulation of nature but also an exotic cross between a domestic dog and “Dangerous” wild animal.
Lets examine that statement for a moment. There has never been a single verified case of a healthy wild wolf attacking, let alone killing, a human being in the recorded history of the united states. Captive animals often react poorly to sub-standard conditions and are not included in this list. Not a single other wild species that is large enough to cause harm can claim the same thing. In fact wild horses have killed or maimed over 1200 humans in the last 50 years alone. Add to this, the fact, that in the history of the United States of America literally hundreds of stories and 65 verified cases exist of wild wolves saving peoples lives and it becomes clear that the label “dangerous” has no validity at all.
Even the correlation between domestic dog bites and attacks and the breeds in question has come under fire. In my opinion based on the cases that I have been a part of and have studied over the years there are several contributing factors common in almost all cases. The first and most common of these is lack of proper training and socialization. The second factor seems to be the owners ignorance or outright irresponsibility. And the last contributing factor is the victims lack of understanding of basic animal behavior. Put another way I believe that most cases they simply don’t know how to prevent an attack or to deal with one if it occurs.
During a 15 year study the HSUS compiled the following, very interesting, figures. The only way you can accurately determine if one breed is in fact more apt to bite or attack than another considering the differences in popularity and numbers is to look at the percentage of reported bites and attacks per population of the breed. The following are the results of that study. (The actual list is MUCH longer. I have condensed it in the interests of clarity.)
Pitbull terriers - 0.35 percent
Siberian Huskys - 0.0012 percent
Alaskan Malamutes - 0.0007 percent
German Shepherds - 0.0005 percent
Rottweilers - 0.0003 percent
Wolfdogs - 0.00025 percent
So just how accurate is this list? To determine that you need to take a few facts into consideration. Animal control tends to label any short coated heavy jawed dog as a pit bull. Most in fact are nothing more than poorly bred pit crosses of one kind or another. In my opinion this inflates the numbers in an unjust fashion. Additionally if you take a close look at the breeds involved in most of the bites and attacks you’ll discover that they fall into the category of breeds who’s owners are attracted to them by the “tough” reputation of the breed. Those owners in my experience tend to encourage this sort of behavior in the dogs in order to promote that image. Unfortunately this also includes a certain percentage of Wolfdog owners who have bought into the myth.
Another myth that has been circulating recently seems to be presented in an effort to further distance domestic dogs from their gray wolf ancestors. The theory has been put forward that the ancestors of our modern domestic dogs where not wolves at all but rather a previously unknown pre-canine. Again the reasons behind this are obvious. They simply want the world to believe that wolves and domestic dogs are nothing alike and only share a common distant relative. The real facts of the mater follow… but first let me say a few words about theories as they relate to myths. UFO’s being alien space craft visiting the earth is a theory. It’s also built up to the status of myth. Millions of people all over the world accept this myth as a fact. They point to inconclusive information and in many cases to proven hoaxes to back up their position. A fact on the other hand is what has been scientifically proven by the best established methods we have. According to all known and accepted genetic and fossil evidence science has determined that all domestic dogs descended from canis lupis other wise known as the gray wolf. Everything else is nothing more than unsubstantiated myth…..
Another pet peeve of mine and one with no basis in fact is that a Wolfdog being part “wild” animal can suddenly turn on its owner and attack them. From what I have presented about the true nature of wolves it’s easy to find fault with this statement. When this is pointed out its often mentioned that it’s really the result of the mixing of wolf and domestic dog genes. However this fails to take into consideration two very important facts. The first is the fact of just how closely related, genetically, domestic dogs and wolves really are. The second is something that only a person who has worked closely with them would be familiar with. Wolf behavior is not pre-programmed. 98% of everything a wolf knows it learns from it’s pack mates. A rescued wolf raised by humans can never be successfully released into the wild. Let’s take a look at the legal definition of a domestic animal. The United States Code of Federal Regulations clearly defines crosses between domestic animals and wild animal species as domestic animals.
United States Title 9 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS. Chapter 1, 9 CRF Ch. I (1-1-1992 Edition) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. Subchapter A - Animal Welfare Part 1 - Definition of Terms Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2131-2157; 7 CFR 2.17, 2.51, and 371.2(g). 1.1 Definitions. ]
To properly understand the validity of any written account on any subject you have to take into consideration not only the experience and education of the author but also their goals and motivations. One of the websites that I was directed too recently was a very good case in point. The author by his own admission had no experience what so ever with Wolfdogs of any kind. The information presented as fact on his website came from a very limited source and was filled with inconsistencies. My favorite was his treatment of statistics. He states in his information that based on a population estimate of 300,000 Wolfdogs in the United States that they are in fact far more likely to bite or attack a human than any other large breed domestic dog. Later on he also claims that this total is most likely even greater based on a Wolfdog owners natural caution against identifying his companion AS a Wolfdog. The logic of this statement escapes me. Once again here are the real facts. This silly estimate of 300,000 Wolfdogs is a figure I have seen bantered about Quite a number of times on the Internet. This number was made up by the HSUS over 10 years ago and is based on NO studies of any kind. They conducted a three week phone survey of a single target area and extrapolated the data from the result. At one time the USWDA had a list of over 1.2 million Wolfdog owners in the U.S. Considering the cautious nature of most Wolfdog owners this number is no doubt VERY low. The other aspect of the posted statistics that I find fault with is the fact that they are based only on a single year. This is understandable when you realize that this year (1996-97) was the most active for Wolfdog attacks and accounted for two deaths. Keep in mind that one case is in dispute as to the claim of a Wolfdog being involved at all. (The claim of the dogs nature came NOT from the owners or the vet records but rather from a neighbor who later on couldn’t identify any more than 3 dog breeds out of 10.) Even if you take the numbers at face value all you need do is realize that they also represent 2/3 of recorded deaths by Wolfdogs in a 12 year period. This fact alone invalidates the logic of the claim.
The next thing I would like to address is something that people often point out to me. It’s VERY common for Wolf and unfortunately Wolfdog rescuer’s as well, especially those who choose to run a refuge rather than a true rescue facility, to adopt a " holier than thou.." attitude toward the general public. In their eyes it’s better to use scare tactics and to continue to perpetuate myths rather than to rely on education to reduce the demand for Wolfdogs in the pet trade. It’s interesting to note here that they are willing to accept the Saarloos Wolfdogs, the Czech Wolfhound, The American Tundra Shepherd along with others as domestic dogs even though they have only existed for a short time.
My last point of contention is the idea that "Wild" Wolves are being used in the creation of Wolfdogs. Again nothing is farther from the truth. Pure Wolves are very highly regulated and require federal and in some cases state licenses as well. As anyone who holds one of these will tell you; breeding is EXPRESSLY forbidden and tightly controlled. ALL modern Wolfdogs are descendants from a very few specific lines and some experts can often still tell what line a Wolfdog originated from. These lines are as follows.
The Gordon K. Smith line
The Ernie Kyut line
The Motts line
The Makensie Island line
The Gabe Davidson line
The Bear County line
Wild Wolves do NOT free breed and those stories circulating about domestic dogs mating with wild wolves are pure fabrications. The same thing applies to people claiming to have taken wolf pups from dens. The lines I listed above where begun BEFOR the federal protection laws went into effect. Those Wolves descended from these lines have been in captivity for more than enough generations to be considered domestic animals. Most of the Wolfdogs you see for sale, in spite of claims to the contrary, are the result of the breeding of two Wolfdogs who happen to LOOK a lot like their wild cousins.
It’s well beyond the limited scope of this article to address all of the many myths that have built up over years about Wolfdogs. Even many of the owners that I have talked with have a difficult time separating fact from fiction. The facts do exist however and it’s the responsibility of each and every one of us to seek them out. No one has all of the answers. Each of us deals with the world around us according to our own experience. Use what I have told you as a base to build on and never forget the difference between a fact and an opinion. Wolfdogs are not monsters nor are they animated stuffed toys that can be treated as “fluffy” the family throw rug. The key to the problem is education. Statistically you have a far greater chance of being hurt or killed in a common household accident than you do of being the victim of a Wolfdog attack. Most larger domestic dog breeds in fact pose a greater danger to you than they do. NO breed or cross of any kind is the real cause of the problem. The real cause is nothing more complicated than plain old fashioned ignorance. I hope this information is helpful to those people interested in finding out the real truth behind many of the myths you’ll see presented as fact over the Internet. It’s up to each and every one of us to seek out our own truth. For me the key to that truth lies in the expressive golden eyes of my chosen companions…..
Article By:
Sam Wolf
