Thoughts on wolfdogs / hybrids

[Nothing To Do With Doodles]

I took a call from a man the other day that wanted to know if one of the vets are my animal hospital could neuter his 6 month old timberwolf. The man had previously brought his wolf hybrid to one of our hospitals some years ago. He claimed that his new wolf was 100% timberwolf. None of the vets felt comfortable doing the surgery in case there were any legal issues. The man told me that he needed to fix his wolf soon because it was already having behavior issues - he said that it would probably start biting him soon, and not in the mouthy/nippy way that our doodles do. So I did a little research, and yes, wolf hybrids and wolves are legal to have in DE and PA, but you need a permit. However, the biggest issue I see with having an animal like this is that there is no approved rabies vx so if your wolfdog bit someone, it would most likely have to be euthanized right away to check for rabies. Then I was thinking, what if people who have these hybrids or wolves bring them to a dog park - I just don't think it's good to mix a wolf with a domesticated dog because dogs were bred to want to please people. Wolves are timid by nature and are independent and belong in the wild. I have heard that the hybrids generally have very little wolf left in them (although breeders tell buyers that there's more wolf in the puppy than there actually is), but this could be dangerous because if someone actually gets a hybrid with a high percentage of wolf, or 100% wolf, I would imagine it would be nothing like having a dog and most people probably wouldn't be prepared or able to manage a wolf.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

While you "sat and picnicked"????? Right. You're sitting on the ground with food right under the nose of your well-trained but perpetually starving chowhound, and instead of sitting there staring and drooling, he's going to run off frolicking into the woods.
Are you taking your prenatal vitamins? What is going on with you? I will chalk up "flea the scene" to that goofy voice-thing you use, but.....
I couldn't lose Jack if I tried, in the woods or anywhere else. When we're hiking up in the forest preserves, he is more concerned about losing track of me than vice versa. When he gets a bit too far ahead of me, he comes circling back to check that I'm still behind him. That's one sign of a dog who's strongly bonded to his owner. I'm sure the same is true of Mr. Rosco!

[Adina P]

LMAO...okay so the FOOD in the equation might change things ;-) Let's change it to 'if I just sat and made out with a guy on a blanket" ... HA!

"Flea" was my actual TYPO -- sad sad sad...I turn my eyes away in shame.

Rosco is very bonded to me. If Clark goes outside with the dogs and I haven't joined them he waits for me. He waits till I wake up to get up...he follows me everywhere. BUT--he's also incredibly independent and I could leave him in a dog park and he wouldn't notice. Heck until I got INTO my car and turned on the engine he probably wouldn't leave an empty dog park if he was off leash. Not kidding...I've done it before (though it was a fenced school yard) and he didn't even blink until he heard the motor of my car. So yeah, bonded or not, this doodley dude of mine could easily get lost exploring the woods if I allowed it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We will call that "distraction"; he really wouldn't mean to get lost, and he would definitely intend to see you again soon, lol. (And if you "just sat and made out with a guy on a blanket", he would definitely attack the guy. Clark told me to say that.)
I don't know about the pilot's wolf-dogs, but I really think wolves would deliberately run off if they could. I don't think they care two cents if they ever see a particular person again, as long as someone brings the food. I would expect that a hybrid might have that same quality to a greater or lesser degree. But this is just my own idea, I'm sure there are lots of people with wolf-hybrids that would tell you that their wolves just love them.
Probably, as with all hybrids including ours, each one varies in the amount of traits they inherent from each parent. The unpredictability is fun with our doodles...with a wolf-mix, maybe not as much.

[Adina P]

Wellllll... Dear Clarkipoo knows that in the Rosco story..HE would be the guy I'd be making out with :-D

The wolfies I had experience with would get walked off leash often...I remember going on a run with him and his wolves (groan...I hated when he'd bring them!) and they'd come back to a whistle every time they went too far. But in any case I agree that wolves and wolf hybrids don't belong as companion animals. Seems too risky to me too.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Adina, do you use a dictation program? I would have had to retire long ago if not for Dragon Naturally Speaking.

[Adina P]

I did. Last year I developed horrible tendinitis from so much time online...eventually I just bought a laptop with Windows Vista that has such a program built in. I also got Dragon for use at work. I like them both in different ways but haven't needed to use either in a while.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Don't use it here but I do for reports. The programs have come alooog way since I started trying them out. Too bad I never became much of a typist.

[20xlhzzaoccks]

My husband and I visited a wolf sanctuary in southern Colorado. They have many wolves and wolf/dog hybrids at the mission. Their stance is that wolves/hybrids do not belong in captivity. All of the wolves at the sanctuary were born in captivity and imprinted on humans so are not candidates for release into the wild. What they said about hybrids is that as they age, they become too large/unpredictable for most people to handle as pets. It really was a neat experience to visit the mission and I would encourage anyone that is in the area to visit.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I've visited a wolf sanctuary here in NJ and it was very interesting. They had about five packs of wolves and to hear them howl was impressive and spine tingling. but they are large and powerful. These wolves were partly fed on roadkill and they told us each pack finished off a deer in a few minutes and only a couple of the hardest bones, the mandible was one I think, are left over.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

One of the first times I went to training there were two wolf mixes that the other trainer (not the one I use) was training and the owners were not very knowledgeable about dogs and training let alone wolves. While we were standing there watching the man that was training the male wolf did several things that my trainer said would eventually get him bitten. They haven't been back since, but I just can't imagine wanting to own a wolf or a wolf hybrid unless you were very knowledgable about dogs and wolves as well as needing to be an expert in training. Just didn't make sense to me either.