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Wolf dogs

1K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Bonn1997 
What exactly is a wolf dog? Is it where a dog and a wolf mate and produce offspring? I thought having them was illegal. Just curious because I hear a lot about them here but don't really know what they are.
 
Contrary to popular belief, the vast, vast majority of wolfdogs don't have a pure wolf parent; they are the result of a wolfdog-to-wolfdog breeding. It is not a "wild wolf meets a chained-out female dog" scenario, as is often romanticized. The working definition of a wolfdog is, "any dog with recent wolf ancestry".

Very, very few wolfdogs are first-generation offspring, since wolves are (were?) federally protected and require extensive licensing to own in most states. This is how we end up with wolfdogs of different percentages of wolf in them... not to mention that the more generations away they are from pure, typically the less intense they will be.

Wolfdogs are NOT illegal across-the-board. The states, counties, and cities have the authority to choose to regulate them, just like other forms of BSL (breed specific legislation). Where I live, they are classified as Domestic Dogs and require no additional licensing, and are subject to all the laws pertaining to dog ownership (leash laws, vicious dog laws, impounding laws, licensing and vaccine laws).

It is my personal opinion that they should NOT be illegal, for the same reasons that pit bulls and other misunderstood canines should not be illegal. They are not inherently dangerous canines, no matter what folks choose to believe. They ARE different, and require extensive research and preparedness. They have more specialized and difficult needs. Their body language is more exaggerated and their behavior is more intense, but when raised well and socialized well, they can be as trustworthy as any well-raised dog. Sadly, the socialization period is much shorter than with completely domestic dogs and many irresponsible owners miss it entirely, ending up with a fearful animal. Punishment and harsh training also takes its toll on their temperaments, as does irresponsible containment such as chaining (the effect is the same as a normal dog). Unfortunately, you'd be amazed at how many wolfdogs end up on chains, because their owner was not prepared for a dog that likely could not live in the house full-time, and was appaled at the difficult housebreaking period, or the amount of destructive chewing that occured.

Now, even though I think they should be legal - on the other hand, I do not believe that wolfdogs should be bred (I believe there IS a way to be responsible about it, but it's beyond the scope of this post, and I would say only 1% of breeders would even meet my criteria). There are too many wolfdogs in rescue that need homes, and far too few qualified homes.

If wolfdogs were to be made illegal in more places than they already are, the number of qualified homes would drop even further, with more perfectly sweet, perfectly well-behaved wolfdogs being put to sleep. That's why I believe they should not be banned, although I wish that people would do more research (but unfortunately, we can't legislate our way out of stupidity).

Plus, ban laws hurt the responsible owners (like myself) who have taken the steps to research wolf behavior, dog behavior, and "apprentice" under others who know what they are doing. In my view, "responsible" means adequate containment for the animal (a quarter-acre or more, 8' high fence with a dig guard, chew-proof 6 guage fence material, hotwire on top to prevent climbing out), experience with wolfdogs or pure wolves (I'm helping an experienced person with wolfdog rescue, and I'm going to Wolf Park this year to attend their week-long seminars, plus volunteering at a wolf education facility to interact with their pack), a solid grasp on canine learning theory, a network of experienced people standing by to support the owner, and a hefty dose of book knowledge.

It's not enough to just think wolves are "cool". They require an ultimate, lifelong commitment to learning about their unique needs.

This site should prove useful for learning to ID wolfdogs -

http://www.wolfpark.org/wolfdogs/Poster_section1.html
Wow, thanks. That's great info. You should log into to wikipedia.org and change their info. (anyone can do that): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfdog
I looked wolfdog up there. It looks like they have some inaccurate info. They're portrayed as dangerous and illegal virtually everywhere in the US. I trust you more than them but lots of people use wikipedia and are being misled IMO about wolfdogs.
 
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