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That's awesome, thanks for sharing that!

Seems the other dog was the one who was asking for a fight.

And even though no one was injured (thankfully) I'm sure if anything had happened, the poor wolfdog would have received all the blame, despite his history of being a sweet-natured and gentle animal.

Everyone would jump right to, 'well, it's a wolfdog, it was bound to happen eventually', and that's the thing that infuriates me the most.

I've never owned a wolf dog before, do I want to in the future? Probably not xD I'm NOT a fan of shedders, at all, never will be.
But I do agree with both sides of the story. There is a good and there is a bad to everything.
And why I wish everyone would take example of MW Roach's experience, there are tons of people out there that don't take it serious
they just flip out and demand an exotic breed. If you know how to take care of one properly, I saw go for it, if you just want one because they look 'soo awesome and cool' then don't do it. You'd be quickly overwhelmed and be all confused and pretty soon the wolf-dog would be top dog in the house hold. If more people took the time to study and LEARN how to maintain the breed, then we wouldn't have bad stories about them and such, now on the flip side, not ALL wolf-dogs are the same and while many of them are kind, and good pets, others may not be the same. I think MW would agree with me when I say, owning a Wolf-Dog takes time, dedication and lots of research :'3

Wolf-Dog hybrids should be treated like an exotic pet in all circumstances.
It would be stupid and irresponsible for someone to own a tiger and have it lay on their couch and walk it in the park (although I know people have been that stupid in the past.
A few people having good experiences with wolf hybrids shouldn't mean anyone should recommend them as pets - ever.

There were plenty of alternatives posted on the first page and they're all infinitely a better idea than an actual wolf hybrid.
I'd like to bet if someone went and talked to someone who really knew what they were talking about (i.e. a zoologist) they'd get the opinion it's a bad idea to keep a wolf hybrid as a pet.

In fact, here - http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/

The way you talk, why, you must have gone through dozens of evil, malicious wolfdogs. Exactly how many wolfdog hybrids have you owned? Were they all that terrible?


I just can't help but feel that you're calling me irresponsible. My 3 wolf hybrids don't agree with you.

Seems to me like you're just going by a few bad stories from dumb people who had no right owning a wolfdog.

Yet, when you're faced with someone who actually knows what they're doing, and has happy, healthy wolfdogs, you still insist that all wolfdogs are no good, because some stupid people raised theirs incorrectly.

Biased much?

Using a tiger as an example is not the same thing. At all. Not even close.

Pure wolves don't make good pets (that would have been a better example, by the way). I would never recommend pure wolves as pets to anyone.

I never once said that everyone should own a wolfdog, perhaps you should go back and read my post better. I said they make wonderful companions for those who know what to expect of them and how to handle them.

Have you ever heard of Wolfdogs Magazine by any chance? Likely not. It's a monthly subscription (much like Horse Illustrated or Dog Fancy) dedicated to wolfdogs and their owners. It's FULL of articles and photos of HAPPY people and their HAPPY wolfdogs. Even wolfdogs with kids (and no, the wolfdogs don't EAT the kids ).

I suggest reading that rather then all the anti-wolfdog stories that seem to intrigue you so much. It's just better to get both sides before deciding that all wolfdogs are evil and shouldn't be owned by anyone.

Some people may get quite offended at your insinuations that anyone who owns wolfdogs is irresponsible and stupid. Though I don't think a tiger on the couch is a very smart idea, I know PLENTY of folks who share their homes (couches included) with their wolfdogs and have no problems whatsoever (unless their wolfie is shedding, that's not a fun time of year).

Perhaps you believe that because there are stupid people out there who train their pitties for fighting, it means all pitbulls are bad and no one should ever own them either?


I'm really not trying to be disrespectful, I'm trying to defend the breed I love. I just hate it when uneducated people try to dictate what dog breeds people shouldn't own because they 'heard stories'. What's worse, when faced with positive notes on the breed they despise, they simply turn it away and insist that anyone who owns said breed is irresponsible and stupid.

Wolfdogs make FANTASTIC companions for people who are patient, responsible, educated and most of all, for those who have a true love and understanding for them.

I would never recommend them to someone who has such a negative view on them, and especially someone who refuses to even try to be educated properly.

Oh, and by the way, my mother has a degree in Zoology, and she's a retired Vet Technician. She graduated with honors.

Just because adults who've read up on them have happy wolf hybrids who aren't aggressive does not mean they should be convincing young teens to go ahead and see if they can get one because "they're really great pets if you put in the work!". Surely instead the approach should be one of "You're a bit young to own such an animal, perhaps buy a breed of dog that's easier to care for and properly read up about wolfdogs, the pros and cons, before thinking about getting one. My own do fine, but I didn't rush into getting one."
No, I've never owned one myself. I have, though, read about them - on many different sites that list both positive and negative views on owning them. (I'd link to one of my old favourites here that I was a member of but it appears to be gone. :/ Links to some silly ad site now.)
I also talked with a man named Shaun Ellis, who has several, about them at the Wildlife Park at Coombe Martin and he also warned about owning wolfdogs as in most cases they don't make great pets at all.

I don't recommend anyone buy a pet fox either (which is another silly thing that's becoming popular now). I'd also recommend a better breed of cat than a Bengal to someone who posted a picture of one going "omg these are so cool I want one!!" too.
The fact remains wolfdogs are classed as Exotic Pets, and in many places would be listed under a "Dangerous Wild Animals Act" (that's what it's called here).

It would be a much better idea for anyone who fancies them to buy a more domesticated breed of dog and go looking for a wolfdog rescue centre to volunteer at.

And yeah, obviously pit bulls that've been abused like that are evil horrible things and should be banned everywhere. You do realize silly digs like that make you sound like just as much of an uneducated idiot as you insinuate I am? Your entire post kind of reeks of the same kind of person who makes finding good information about animals like wolfdogs so hard to come by as it's full of snarky, sarcastic digs and lines about how oh so wonderful your wolfdogs are.
If you truly want to educate people and are as "passionate" as you claim you'd quit with the snark and maybe try posting helpful informational unbiased articles about wolfdogs. All you've done is (sarcastically) mention a magazine you subscribe to.

Speaking of, here's a good one that talks about the kind of care a wolfdog requires and why it's an exotic pet - http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/wolfdogs/a/wolfdogs.htm
Another that's got a ton of information in it - http://www.dogexpert.com/Wolf%20Hybrids ... 0pets.html

Okay...it is quite obvious that you mistakenly believe that ALL wolfdogs are created equal.

So please allow me to educate you in the different CONTENTS of wolfdogs.


LOW CONTENTS:
A low-content wolfdog is an animal that has no more then 34% wolf blood. These wolfdogs are very dog-like in both appearance and personality. The only real way to tell if these particular wolfdogs have any wolf blood in them whatsoever is either the breeders' extensive knowledge of the animals' parentage OR (more accurately) to get a DNA test (yes, there are good DNA test kits out there that actually CAN tell you if your dog has any recent wolf blood in it).

A low content wolfdog is fairly easy to raise and train. Aside from recent wolf DNA added into the bloodline, the low-content wolfdog is more dog then anything (obviously) and is a GREAT starter wolfdog for someone who's never owned one before. These lower-content wolfdogs very rarely show any kind of wolf phenotyping and exhibit very little wolf behaviors.


LOWER-MID to UPPER-MID CONTENTS:
The wolf content in these animals are between 35%-49% for lower-mids, 50%-74% for upper-mids.

Many of these have quite a few physical characteristics of a wolf (lighter-colored eyes then that of a low-content, long, flat face, thick coat), but they can still have some dog-characteristics (blue eyes, curly tails, small feet, etc...) The personalities of any mid content wolfdog can vary from very dog-like to very wolf-like. You can pretty much predict what pups will be wolfy and what pups will be dog-like simply by observing them. The ones that will grow up to be wolfier (and will require a more experienced home) will be shy, withdrawn and cautious. This is all wolf behavior, and I wouldn't recommend pups like this for the first-time wolfdog owner. The pups that are happy to see you, excited, and overall very friendly will be very dog-like and therefore easier to train. They just didn't get as many wolf genes as their shyer siblings. But pups like this will prosper in a home that is at least familiar with northern breeds like huskies and malamutes.


HIGH AND VERY HIGH CONTENTS:
These guys can be anywhere from 75%-94% for high contents and up to 99% for very high contents. These guys are just shy of being pure wolves, so naturally, they are not meant to be house-pets and should NOT be owned by anyone who doesn't have extensive knowledge AND experience with exotic animals. These particular wolfdogs can actually be considered exotic, since they require expensive enclosures and, more often, permits. They require an all-raw-meat diet, whereas the lower contents can get away with having a good-quality, high-protein dog food. Because these are so wolfy in both appearance and behavior, they can't be in the home and are near-impossible to train.

Unless the kids' parents are wolf biologists who have the money, property and proper permits to own them, I wouldn't recommend these hybrids for anyone.


I also want to add that CONTENT and PERCENTAGES are 2 different things. Percentage describes how much wolf/dog ratio is in the animal. Content is how much wolf behavior/appearance each wolfdog possesses. 2 pups from the same litter will be the same percentage, and yet they can be different contents.


But really, to believe a lower-content wolfdog (who wants to live in the house and can be trained like a dog) should be treated like a high-content wolfdog (that is essentially a stones' throw away from being a pure wolf) is a gross misunderstanding of the wolfdog breed.





I never suggested this. I never told any young teen to go out and get one because 'they're really great pets'. In fact, if you go back and actually read my posts instead of just skimming through them, you'd see I never ONCE referred to wolfdogs as 'pets'. I always refer to them as 'COMPANIONS.' Besides, a young teen couldn't very well make a purchase for such an animal without the proper parental consent.



Then again, asking their parents to help them do the proper research and starting out with a LOW-CONTENT wolfdog isn't a bad idea either.

If one wishes to add a wolfdog into their family, the entire family must be in agreement.




I've been a wolfdog owner for 14 years. I have listed the pros because no one on this topic had bothered to list them, only the many, many cons (most of which pertain ONLY to the higher-content wolfdogs). What contents does Shaun own?--highs or lows? Or maybe mids? Were they rescues? Rescue-wolfdogs often have bad habits because--once again--the original owners were uneducated and had no business getting one in the first place.

Using a rescue animal as an example for the entire breed is the biggest mistake anyone can make. Just because the rescue has issues caused by a bad owner doesn't mean the entire breed is going to act that way. Every animal is an individual.





I refer you to my explanation on the DIFFERENCES between low-content wolfdogs and high-content wolfdogs as stated above. Again, just because it has wolf in it doesn't make it a wild animal. Keeping a high-content wolfdog in your home is as ridiculous as keeping a wolfdog that has only 15% wolf in it out in an exotic-animal enclosure. It's not only ridiculous, but is also very cruel. That low-content wolfdog has more dog in it then anything, and it wants to be with its owner in the house.






I used the pitbulls-thing as an example. Most people's hatred towards pitties can be compared to your disdain for wolfdogs.

And, there's no need for name-calling UK. You're a mod. You're supposed to be better then that.





Well, I could say the same about your posts. You try so fervently to find everything wrong about wolfdogs and you refuse to even attempt to understand that they are just as misunderstood as the bully-breeds. My wolfdogs are wonderful because they have a good owner. I am sorry you find that so offensive.

I can link you to the magazine if you'd like. I didn't because I thought simply copying and pasting "Wolfdogs Magazine" into ones' search engine wouldn't be a difficult task. But, here you go: http://wolfdogsmagazine.org

And, unfortunately, with so much misinformation and biased articles about wolfdogs, it's very difficult to find a site with positive information about them especially since most wolfdog sites make the mistake of clumping all wolfdogs of different contents together as one, and that's a major mistake LOTS of people make.

I won't link to any breeder-pages, even the really good and responsible breeders who have an extensive knowledge about the differences of wolfdog content. No matter how good or responsible a breeder is, everyone (especially those who work at rescues and shelters) sternly believe that all breeders will tell you anything just to convince you to buy a puppy.

So I guess the biased opinion of someone who dislikes wolfdogs would get in the way of actually trying to be open to anything positive a good breeder has to say on the matter.

However, for the sake of people who actually like wolfdogs and would like to learn more, I did manage to dig up a few sites that explain the differences in content:

http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/wolf ... tents.html
This page has the opinions of many different wolfdog owners and their discussions on the difference between high contents and low contents.


http://www.fullmoonfarm.org/what_is_a_wolfdog.php
This page is particularly helpful, especially the section "How Much Wolf Do They Have in Them?"

http://southfloridawolfdogs.com/differe ... /wolfdogs/
Another site that explains content differences.




I hope this shows you that not all wolfdogs are the same and shouldn't be treated the same. A high-content wolfdog and a low-content wolfdog are 2 totally different animals that have different needs, and that the low-content wolfdog can hardly be considered a "dangerous exotic animal".

Now wasn't that easier than being elitist about it?
Thank you for the links, I will be reading them when I have more than 10 minutes to spare. Still of the opinion it'd be better to buy a 100% dog breed seeing as there are so many that have been bred to look like wolves, but with any luck those links will explain everything further.

Not replying to the more personal arguing bits as I don't want to argue further.
(Although I will add - I'm not a mod. I've not been a mod here for over a year now, I left ages ago (before that "overhaul of the staff" thing) because this site is run horribly and it was like fighting a losing battle all the time. I didn't actually mean to call you anything pointedly, sorry if I upset you with that.)

My bad....I keep forgetting that very few people know there's a difference in wolf content -_-' And I shouldn't, because I get people all the time who ask me 'how do you make a wolfdog? Do you mate a pure wolf with a dog?' In actuality, very few wolfdogs nowadays have a pure wolf parent and a pure dog parent. So, yes, I really should have opened up with the whole content-explanation thing.

But, I must add that owning a pure dog is really no different then owning a dog who also happens to be 15% wolf. Same trainability; not enough wolf to make it dangerous or difficult. That is why low contents (and even some mids) are arguably the best kind of wolfdog to own.

I'll admit, I also didn't really know about the different contents. I'd spoken to someone who also owned a couple of wolfdogs briefly on dA when I was confused when they said theirs were about 60-something % (and I previously thought it was always 50-50 - dog x pure wolf = 50-50 and I had no idea that was wrong) but they didn't have any links to a site that explained it.
And Googling proved useless because every site I found was the usual "wolfdogs are better than any dog ever" OR "wolfdogs are evil demon beings and should be killed" and there was just 0 information.
And trying to ask wolfaboos on dA who own a husky but call it a wolfdog is, well, you can imagine how pointless that is.

Oh gosh...don't even get me started on wolfaboos! Truly, the most annoying people anyone can encounter. (they look at pics of my boy, Phantom and they insist he's not a wolfdog....boy does that get annoying real fast).....

The first wolfdog I ever owned was around 30% wolf---the rest was chow (wolf/chows are NOT the best crosses!!) But that little guy taught me a lot about patience! Had him for 14 years before he passed on. The next wolfdog I owned was a mid-content, 45% wolf, 50% German Shepherd and 5% malamute (his mother was 95% wolf and 5% malamute and his father was a purebred German Shepherd). Had him for 2 years before some nasty little brat broke into my house when I wasn't home and let him out. He went searching for me on the highway and was killed by a motorcycle. Lord, that was devastating....

We got Tsume (my big male) from Northern Oregon and his female Sitka from Texas.



Those two belong to my mom.



Phantom [below] is my boy.




Don't let his appearance fool you; he's the friendliest one in the pack and he loves meeting new people.

Naturally, I do not recommend a first-time wolfdog owner to get one that's as high content as Phantom. Just because he's a good boy doesn't mean all 75%'s will be!

Having read a bit more (not all, I don't have much spare time. :c ) I now think a lot of it has to do with people being fed the wrong kind of information. Any information I'd previously read about wolfdogs was from little-known news articles/blogs I'd found through seeing other people's comments and almost all were usually of the "omg someone was attacked by a wolfdog! this is how terrible they are!" variety.
I still don't think *I* would own one at this point, my German Shepherd can be enough of a handful, but I'm glad I got some decent information about them now. (Not that I could own one here anyway, they're banned in the UK.)

Phantom is beautiful, btw. <3 Gorgeous eyes.

An interesting thread, we were just discussing this on the GSD forum I belong to. My question is this, what is the purpose behind people breeding Wolfdogs? Is it simply to have a dog that looks more like a wolf...and if so could not that desire be satisfied with say a Husky, Saarloos Wolfdog etc. I mean no offense, I'm just curious as to why people really want to own a wolfdog. They are beautiful to be sure, but I do think there are other breeds out there that can be more easily managed (for lack of a better word.) and still have that wolfy look. So again is there an actual purpose behind breeding these animals other than looks? That's what I would be most interested in finding out...anyone able to enlighten me?

That's like asking what is the purpose of breeding chihuahuas or pomeranians other then the fact that they look cute. "Non-Sporting" breeds pretty much fill in that quota; dogs bred for no other specific reason other then looks or companionship. (by the way, the Sarloos wolfdog IS a wolfdog. So is the Czechoslovakian wolfdog and the Tamaskan wolfdog...they are actual wolfdog 'breeds' and have around the same behavior as that of a mid-content wolfdog).

Wolfdogs make superb companions. They are insanely brilliant, CAN be used as working animals (they are powerful and very smart) and yes, they also happen to be gorgeous to look at.

Once again, please don't make the mistake of thinking all wolfdogs are created equal. There are different contents that all act in a different way.

Low-content wolfdogs are no more difficult to manage then a husky or German Shepherd.

Why mix wolf in there? My answer is...why not? Why mix a lab and a dalmatian? Why mix a spaniel and a poodle? Why mix a mastiff and a terrier? No real reason other then the fact that some people like mixed-breeds. Hybrid vigor also contributes to a healthier and sturdier animal that's naturally more resistant to disease then a purebred.




High-content wolfdogs act more like a pure wolf and should only be owned by someone who is experienced with exotic animals.



It's really hard to explain unless you've owned one before (and were prepared to do so).

Preparation and research is necessary to own ANY breed of dog, from a wolfdog to a poodle to a lab to a pit-bull. Wolfdogs are not the only breed that one needs to carefully consider before buying. EVERY breed needs to be carefully considered before getting one

This is definitely a rather interesting conversation. I like your points Roach, but there's something that bothers me a little. xD

This is a good point, but it kind of bothered me a little how you compared mutts to hybrids. Labs, dalmatians, spaniels, poodles, mastiffs and terriers are all the same domesticated species, bred to be our helpers and companions. Wolves are a very different species to dogs despite being related to them -- heck, the whole reason we created the species was so they could be as less wolf-like as possible. I think Breeze's question was extremely legit, especially since I don't entirely get the hype of breeding dogs with wild animals either. xD Because that's what wolves are: wild animals. As wild as tigers or crocodiles, which most intelligent people would advise not to keep as pets. I have nothing against wolfdogs (even though I'd never ever own one myself -- not that I'd be able to since it's illegal in Britain), but I think comparing mixed breed dogs to hybrids is a little far-fetched. No matter how similar wolfdogs act like certain breeds, the fact of the matter is that they're still wolfdogs - part wild and part domestic, something which people shouldn't take lightly. You clearly know what you're doing, but many people don't, so it's best not to glamourise it. Mixing two (or more) different breeds isn't the same thing as mixing two different species. I don't mean to start an argument or anything, but that's just my two pence. ^^