Pet Wolves?

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Permalink Reply by Pavlor on July 20, 2011 at 2:48pm

I'm all for having any animal as a pet as long as the conditions are right for the animal. Most people cannot deal with rabbits (report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/21/pet-rabbits-cruelly-neg...), let alone pet wolves...

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Permalink Reply by Toadster on July 20, 2011 at 2:52pm

I'm on the fence with this one..I love animals and have to help when I can..But I also beleive they need to be in there natural environment..I don't think it's right to cage them for our amusement..

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on July 20, 2011 at 3:00pm

That's why i've never liked zoos. I think if it can't be reintroduced to the wild, then a rescue center should be contacted, and then if they don't have the resources to help, a foster home can be considered. I've seen/read a few cases where foster homes were able to sucessfully release the animal, and other where the animals were perfectly happy with their human family.

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Permalink Reply by Kari on July 20, 2011 at 8:31pm

agree with you both -

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on July 20, 2011 at 2:53pm

Many people don't take into consideration how much a pet will affect their lives. I had to give up my Corgi last year because my step mom didn't want to walk her and play with her while i was at work. She got enough exercise while i was home, but it wasn't fair for her to be locked up all day. Now she's on a farm where a dog of that energy level should be. That just makes me wonder how people can keep up with wolf and wolf-hybrids, you have to be a special kind of person.

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Permalink Reply by WolfGoddess on July 21, 2011 at 9:22pm

Yup - you do.  You ca't treat them like a domestic dog because they aren't one.  The one I used to co-habitate with (you don't own them either) saw me as a member of his pack whom he used to challenge fairly often for leadership.  At the same time he would defend me if he needed to -I have no doubt that he would have given his life to do so if need be.  On many occasions he would "plant" himself in front of me if he sensed anything or anyone threatening me.  He also recognized any other naimals in the house and in my parents house as members of his pack.  

 

And let's not forget the warped sense of humor.  Lol! 

 

Hybrids are definitely not for everyone though.

 

I miss him :( 

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Permalink Reply by Mary Reinhardt on July 20, 2011 at 3:04pm

wolves are pack animals and the pack as a whole does a lot for each individual animal - social skills are taught, discipline etc.  Without the pack, wolves have great difficulty learning these things.  Then of course, there is the freedom to roam as they please.  Wolves are not domestic dogs, they must be allowed to roam or they will simply take off whenever given the chance.

I known two different people to have wolves as pets - in one situation, the wolf was a mess and had to be removed and given to a sanctuary.  In the second, the wolf was always escaping and roaming around town.  She is a wonderful animal and very social, but still a wolf - she is lucky no one has ever shot her.

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on July 20, 2011 at 3:11pm

My boyfriend rescued an abandoned wolf pup a few years back. She adapted wonderfully, he never had any problems with her, and she adored his 1 year old son. She eventually did get out and go 'exploring' and was hit by a car. It was sad, but not surprising, despite long a regular walks she was still a wild animal, she needed more room.

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Permalink Reply by Kixs on July 20, 2011 at 4:26pm

We have a wolf hybred. You can see his pic on my profile page. His name is Wisper. Wisper came to us threw our animal rescue.

Now there is a huge difference between a hybred and a pure blood. Hybreds have very doggy tendency's. Such as acceptance of humans as their pack and accepting the foods that domestic dogs eat and remaining healthy.

With the addition of Wisper to our family my wife became very involved with the wild wolf in the US. She has found out the last 3 years that approximently 90% of the so called wolves in captivity are actually hybreds or not wolf at all but a combination of two domestic dog breeds. Most usually Husky, which are great wonders and love to run away, just to be running. The Husky is crossed with either a German Shepheard or a Malamute to get a domestic wolf looking dog, which un-scrupulous breeders pass off as wolves or wolf hybreds. Then the unsuspecting new owners then treat this domestic dog as a wild animal which usually makes the animal either ill, or mentally unstable, simply because domestic dogs are not wolves. Just their distant cousins.

If you believe you have a wolf or wolf hybred, I suggest you get a DNA test. If there is any wolf in your animal the DNA test will come back as unidentified as part of your animals DNA. Simply because wolves are domestic dog cousins, the difference between there DNA is very small. But they do have DNA profiles for about 99% of all domestic dogs. So if it's unidentified, you can assume that part is wolf. This isn't infaliable testing, but it's as good as we have at the moment.

 

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on July 20, 2011 at 6:23pm

Thats how my boyfriend found out the pup he found was a wolf, he thought it was a husky mix and took it to the vet. She gave him a funny look, made a few phone calls, and then he had MASSIVE amounts of paperwork, and vet bills, to keep her.

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Permalink Reply by Kixs on July 20, 2011 at 8:54pm

Did the Vet pull blood and have a DNA test done?
Many Vets mistaken hybreds and some domestic crosses as wolves and with out blood work to prove it, I would question their decision.
We had a Vet actually argue with us, until we showed him the paper work that showed the dog was 50% husky and 50% germane shepherd.

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on July 20, 2011 at 11:58pm

Yes, that's what the phone calls were about, a second opinion on the matter before approaching my boyfriend about testing. I dont know where he was living at the time, but the local animal rescue wasn't to happy to let him keep it. Im sorry that your vet argued with you. You would think in a matter as serious as hybrids they would test instead of making assupmtions. I had a similar problem with my Newfoundland. He was the runt and it showed- only 100 lbs, and my vet kept telling me he was a border collie mix. Wrong. I saw his paperwork when i got him, the owners gave him up to avoid an animal cruelty charge (negligence) so since they gave him up i just didnt bother to get the papers. But he was purebred.

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