Wolf-Dog Facts

I'm writing a book on my experiences with wolves and dogs over the years. I will go into much more depth in the book on many subjects. Much more than this short article can do. I hope I'm able to help you learn how great having a wolf-dog can be.

I have seen many people on Facebook that have been breeding wolves and dogs to produce wolf-dog pups. I have seen people adopt a wolf-dog and it is full of fear of sounds and people.  They are asking for a solution. These problems can create very bad and sometimes dangerous situations, including "fear attacks," when the animal is so fearful they attack a human. These attacks hurt people and they also led to more government regulations and laws on wolf dogs.  I hope this article will help in understanding why some of these problems exist. 

You may be wondering, who am I to be advising anyone? I adopted my first wolf-dog cross in 1972.  It was a wolf-malamute cross.  It proved to be a great companion.  A few years later, I purchased a wolf-dog that was said to be about 90% wolf, from Jim Merritt of Charlotte, North Carolina. Merritt referred me to a man by the name of Gordon Smith to get more information. Gordon was an elderly man that had raised wolves most of his life and had written a book called "Slave to a Pack of Wolves."  Between Marritt and Smith, I learned such invaluable lessons.  I fell in love with raising and breeding wolves and wolf-dogs. I now have over 50 years of experience which has given me the insight and knowledge to help others as they raise and breed animals. 

Is a wolf-dog a wolf hybrid?                                                                                                                                        

 I hear many people mislabeling wolf-dogs by calling them hybrids.  Back in the 1990s, many states and local counties across the US were trying to outlaw wolves and wolf-dogs. They made the same mischaracterization of what wolf-dogs were.  We were able to use this to our advantage in our fight to stop them from outlawing wolf-dogs and killing off our wolf companions.  Governments kept passing laws against wolf "hybrids. " I'll go into more detail in the book on how we fought them, but in short  ,Our defensee was scientifically we did not have wolf "hybrids."  And it paid off. A hybrid occurs when two different species are bred together and the resulting animal cannot produce offspring. An example is when a horse and donkey are bred together to get a mule.  You cannot breed two mules together and get another mule. Breeding a lion to a tiger results in a liger, another example of a hybrid.  All dogs come from wolves.  They are all of the same species, so you can breed wolf-dogs together and get offspring.  That offspring can breed and have pups, therefore wolf-dogs are not wolf hybrids. I guess words can change in meaning over the years. I am old school. 

People who breed wolves and dogs together can produce some wonderful animals. However, because wolves in the wild have a fear of humans,  you may end up with an animal that has a wolf-like fear, but not enough fear to prevent them from being aggressive.  

Breeders today have an advantage that we did not always have decades ago.  Back in the 60s & 70s & 80s and even the 90s, we were breeding wolves that came out of zoos and fur farms and even out of the wild. They were sometimes very wild wolves. Because of what we did back in those days, you now have very social wolf-dogs.  We are the ones that came up with the labels people use today. 

This is the best way I can explain what is going on...

The brain, whether human or animal has different parts. Each part has its own function. One part of the brain runs the heart, another runs the lungs, and so on. It's very much like a computer with different programs.  In a wolf's brain, there is a program or a part that says that humans are killers and dangerous to be around. It says, "Fear humans so you can survive."  At birth, this program is only slightly active because it has not been fully activated yet.  A mother wolf has an inborn instinct to teach the fear of humans to her cubs for their protection. When she does this she activates that program. 

When we would raise wolves, we took the pups away from the parents at 5 days old and hand bottle-fed them, giving them lots of attention and love. Hand feeding is a big part of socializing them. I would sometimes let them go to a week old before taking them away from their parents. But over the years we learned leaving them with their parents resulted in pups with more fear of people.  We had to take them away and not let them have any contact with their parents. Also, it did not matter how friendly the mother was or even if she has a low percentage of wolf. She still had the instinct to teach fear just like she knows how to nurse her pups. We knew that handling the pups, hand bottle feeding, and loving them makes a great deal of difference in their behavior but isolating them from their parents was the big deal. Those that have been only bottle-feeding them without isolating them from their parents have had some great results, but even now, sometimes a pup still inherits that fear program intensely and the mother still will teach fear and that does not make a good pet. That is where a problem can arise. 

When this is done correctly, the pups grow up with less fear of humans. When breeding those pups the fear program starts to diminish or get weaker. It never goes away completely. It just becomes inactive. I have found in breeding AKC-registered Alaskan Malamutes that this fear can even raise its ugly head. Alaskan Malamutes come from the Alaskan Malamute Indians breeding sled dogs with wolves. So this program can be more active in a Malamute than other dog breeds. It's not the same fear that wolves would have, but it displays in their shyness and skittishness. They can exhibit fear of sudden loud noises. That's why a true reputable malamute breeder will do all he or she can to socialize the pups from birth. Bottle feeding is not necessary, but handling from day one and lots of sounds and socialization helps eliminate their instinct to fear. This is something we are known for here at Bowen Malamutes. 

This short article gives a taste of what the book will include. In the book, I will explain and prove how wolves have ESP. I will tell about my life with dogs and wolves, including the fun times and some tragedies. You will understand what dogs can mean to a child and even what wolves can teach humans. 

Finishing the book, "From Dogs to Wolves to Dogs" will take some time. If you have some interest and would like to be added to our contact list, please send an email to bowenwolf@bellsouth.net so I can keep you informed on our progress