Wolf Hybrids

[rjvamp]

Stryder is a beautiful dog!!!! Congrats on getting a GSD They are awesome dogs!

[Powell]

Just like the GSD at Newberry earlier last year that was found wandering, skinny and had part of a chain attached to him. He was older and VERY smart. When I walked him he heeled *EXACTLY* to my right. He got adopted to someone up in the NE. Hans at FMF is a GDS mixed with some other Shepherd.... he would make a good working dog, but needs some more work on socialization. IF I were totally retired I would take and train him. Working at the radio station prevents that.

I think there needs to be a TEST to have an animal sometimes.

I wish Jolene could tell me what someone did to her as a pup.




Powell

[SunCzarina]

Originally Posted By: jelpyOne is the one Wayne 2 pointed out, which is that there will always be a portion of "I'm too tough for my jockstrap" guys who will think owning a wolf or wolf hybrid shows what a tough guy they are. These folks are likely to be-lets just say unpromising as potential pet people.

Funny how you put it but quite true.

I sitting here thinking of 2 rotties I know. Litter mates owned by a friend and her xbf's friend. My friends dog is a normal sweet goonie defiant rottie. I have no doubt he'd step up if my friend or her children were threatened but other wise a loving family dog.

Now the brother, he's vicious and I don't say that lightly. Owned exactly by a too big for the jockstrap type - stereotypical short guy napoleon complex IMO. The dog wears one of those freaky leather with the big studs harness and acts like a junk yard dog. I love rotties, wouldn't go near this one without a 10 foot catch pole and half a side of beef.

[Toffifay]

There is a 97% wolf that lives near my grooming shop, his name is Wooley and he's a least 110 lbs, and I'm guessing conservatively because he has so much fur.

He belongs to a man that looks like a grizzly mountain man, lol! The wolf is always friendly and sedate and never is leashed. He is so deeply bonded with his owner that the two of them are rarely apart.

On the rare occasion he is cruising the block scavenging for who knows what, I am never worried about him being aggressive. Our local bank lets dogs inside of it and has bowls of dog treats for the visiting dogs, Wooley is so tall he puts his head in the tellers cubby on the counter and begs for treats!

He is quite impressive looking! The mans niece used to work for me and she bathed Wooley at my shop ONCE, lol. It was her uncle's B-day present...first and last time he's had a bath!!

[SunCzarina]

Eisis, your mountain man and his wolf is a great story. That has to be the personality type of the first dogs. Still when humans are messing with the wolves, we really need to be careful to select that outgoing wolf that wants to be with humans, not just the good looking wolf.

[mjbgsd]

One of my friends has a wolfdog. He's very friendly but would rather be outside then inside. He's such a friendly dog, loves playing with Cody at the park.

[sit,stay]

Although I think it is awesome that there are people who have had positive experiences living with a hybrid, I think it would be irresponsible of anyone to claim that raising and living with a hybrid is the same as living with any strong-willed, domestic dog breed. That just isn't the case.

It has been my experience that a good 85-90% of the people who *think* they have a hybrid, really don't. So a lot of the "well, I had one once and it was awesome with my little cousin, and my cat and the mailman" statements aren't even valid as examples of how it is to live with a hybrid. I am not saying that anyone who has posted their first hand accounts of living with one here are mistaken. You could all be part of the small percentage of people who really do have actual hybrids.

We have many wild wolves here in Idaho, and there has never been a known spontaneous breeding between a wild wolf and a domestic dog. Ask any bear or mountain lion hunter who uses hounds what happens when a domestic dog enters a pack's territory. They don't breed the dog, they don't integrate it into the pack. They kill it.

I can't for the life of me understand why a hybrid would be an attractive pet. Wolves are fantastic in the wild. Dogs are fantastic in my home. That is the end of the story for me. I had a gentleman bring in what looked like a Husky/Malamute mix to the shelter I worked at. There had been a very publicized mauling death in Boise of an infant by a hybrid (an animal that was often kept chained up by the owner, which is a whole other topic). This guy's wife flipped at having this "hybrid" in her home and demanded he surrender it. Anyway, he comes in and starts on this great big long commentary about how he has always felt a mystical attachment to the wolf, that wild spirit speaks to him. Blah, blah, blah. And in honor of that wild spirit he purchased his "wolfdog"...and kept in in a back yard kennel.

I don't think I will ever get over the sense of absolute irony I felt as he made his little speech. I thought it even more ironic when he told me that the sire of his dog was a pure white, 100% wolf owned by a former room-mate. They bred it to the "half-wolf and half-police dog" that lived down the street. What do you think the chances were of that animal having ANY wolf in it? And yet he spoke in glowing terms of all the time he spent "communing" with his wolf out in the kennel.
Sheilah

[sit,stay]

I hope this link works. There are some very interesting thoughts raised throughout the whole article or presentation. There are multiple pages, so be sure to continue if you read it.
http://www.wolfpark.org/wolfdogs/Poster_intro.html
Sheilah

[selzer]

I think that once a wolf and domestic dog are mixed, and have lived dependent on people, it is irresponsible and dangerous for them to be expected to live in the wild again. So at that point, a wolf/dog rescue is necessary.

I guess there will always be people, laws or no laws that will mix the two.

I am utterly against doing this on purpose. Think about a GSD and what is the one trait that if you could wave a magic wand an eliminate, what would it be? For me, it would be fearfulness/shyness, poor nerve. I am guessing that the vast majority of bites and injuries from dogs are becuase of this. That wolves have poor nerve, I don't know. In their element, there are probably excellent specimens and some less so, and by natural selection those best suited for life in the wild will continue. But that they are shy is well known and no one here seems to be saying anything different, save that some wolf-dogs seem to be fine with people.

Why would anyone want to inject something likely to put more shyness into domestic dogs. Doing this deliberately in my opinion is very irresponsible.

[Hoxy]

I own a Husky/Wolf MIX. who is the sweetest timid dog in the world, not to mention drop dead gorgeous. All white with bright blue eyes. She'll go up to anyone who's willing to give her a good pat on the head. However, that is just my dog. I wouldn't recommend a Wolf mix to anyone without experience. Just because my dog is this way, doesn't mean yours will be.

But none the less, great obedient dog. And both people & dog friendly.
Also incredibly good with kids, you can hang all over her & she'll be as gentle as a golden retriever.

Cant say the same for small animals though.. She killed the family duck at my mothers.. You cant be 100% sure owning one. That's what I mean by I wouldn't recommend a Wolf mix to anyone without experience. Wolf mix's as nice as they can be are still partly WILD animals. Do your research before buying one.

Heres a picture of her. Juneau is her name.