Living with Wolves

[RandyBell]

I am going to try to write this for Raspy and the other guys that were asking!
My wife and I have wolves, or up until last month when we lost our baby girl Shadow, now we just have the boy Weasel and are having a heck of a time with him since her passing!
Back in April of 2002 we ran across a local ad for wolf pups, 100% pure wolves. We had to check it out and see them! We called the people and set up a meeting, they brought the male Thor, his mate for the life of me I can't remember her name, and the pups along with their 3 small children to a local park. They were amazing, they were very well behaved, nothing you would think of when you hear wolf! They let the children climb on them with no grumbling, they came to inspect us and went back to the children, so much for the vicious predator theory!
After a couple hours we had decided we had to have one, surprise huh, we had a little female adopt us, My brother in-law was adopted by big boy a male, the rest just wanted to wrestle amongst themselves. We took our little furballs back to the In-Laws on the way home, that was an experience. The first thing when we sat them on the kitchen floor and the cats came to check them out the look of terror on the pups faces and both peeied down their legs!
After everyone played with the pups for awhile we headed for home to introduce our little girl with our troop at home. We had a Samoyed Luckie, and Daschund Daisey Mae at home for her to play with along with a few cats of our own. Introductions went well and the picking order decided Daisey Mae ruled the roost, the Luckie and finally this new little furball, we never name an animal right away to see what their personality is going to be so she started out as Baby Girl! My wife Tracey worked out of home, so she would get the most time spent with her, baby girl proved to be hard headed and liked to butt heads with my wife. She house broke to pooping outside with no problems, the idea of not peeing in the house was where they butted heads!
She would follow Tracey everywhere which was good because they have to be socialized with anything and everyone that could come in contact with, a chore in itself. She finally got her name Shadow! The two of them would butt heads daily over the urinating problem, the rest of the time she played with the dogs and sometimes the cats and was always happy to see everyone. I think that 6 months of running the shampooer daily finally got Tracey to the breaking point, especially when Shadow came in from outside and squatted in front of the shampooer, Tracey lost it and beat her, rubbed her nose in it and threw her outside while yelling at her, whatever transpired it worked she was finally house broke!


Randy

 

[DABSGT]

Thanks Randy,
Its a start, looking forward to the rest of the story. I know it is difficult writing about a friend that passed, I still find it hard telling story's about my k-9 partner and he has been gone for several years.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[cqaigy2]

Thanks Randy. I'll be waiting for the next installment.

 

[RandyBell]

Thanks Randy,
Its a start, looking forward to the rest of the story. I know it is difficult writing about a friend that passed, I still find it hard telling story's about my k-9 partner and he has been gone for several years.

Yes it is very hard to write about it this soon, but if I don't I may forget parts. I wish I had the brains to keep a journal.

 

[GregbkH]

Do you have pictures?

 

[RandyBell]

At the time we lived in town and had grandchildren and neighborhood children to consider, so Miss Shadow had to learn to be gentle, as a rule we didn't rough house her, we figured that with being a wolf she didn't need any help being aggressive. Tracey taught her to lick on suckers and to be gentle taking food from her hand, she was very delicate eating from our hands, she loved McDonalds Chicken Nuggets, but would not take a whole one, she had to have it torn into quarters! To explain the suckers, you always have suckers with little kids, one get together we went to with Shadow we caught a little boy sharing his sucker with her he would take a lick then hold it out for her to lick, we had to stop it though he was getting carried away and was sticking the sucker clear in the back of her mouth gagging her!
She was always our mother hen stepping in when we had a little one around, weather it was human or animal! She was real good at washing faces, and loved giving kisses

 

[JESSE1]

Beautiful! What breed of wolf are they? They could almost pass for a white German Shepherd.

 

[Furu]

My wife Tracey worked out of home, so she would get the most time spent with her, baby girl proved to be hard headed and liked to butt heads with my wife. She house broke to pooping outside with no problems, the idea of not peeing in the house was where they butted heads!
The two of them would butt heads daily over the urinating problem, the rest of the time she played with the dogs and sometimes the cats and was always happy to see everyone. I think that 6 months of running the shampooer daily finally got Tracey to the breaking point, especially when Shadow came in from outside and squatted in front of the shampooer, Tracey lost it and beat her, rubbed her nose in it and threw her outside while yelling at her, whatever transpired it worked she was finally house broke!
Randy

Look forward to more of the story.
With our females pups we refer to it as "little girl bladder". People laugh but female pups have more trouble it seems with bladder control.

 

[RandyBell]

Beautiful! What breed of wolf are they? They could almost pass for a white German Shepherd.

Jesse she was arctic, tundra, and timber.

 

[RandyBell]

Furu I don't think she had any problems holding her bladder, especially when she would come in from going potty only to make a point of squating and pissing in front of Tracey! I think it was a dominance thing with her!

 

[PhysAssist]

Furu I don't think she had any problems holding her bladder, especially when she would come in from going potty only to make a point of squating and pissing in front of Tracey! I think it was a dominance thing with her!

Hi Randy,

Great writing so far, the subject (canids in general) is near and dear to us.

I also agree with the above. Our first Newfie, Maggie never peed except outside for me, but she had similar issues to your Shadow when she was alone with Pat.

Ironically, our Shadow was an Irish Wolfhound, a gray brindle about 40" at the shoulder and about #210 in his prime. The gentlest, sweetest most empathetic dog that I ever met.

Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Furu I don't think she had any problems holding her bladder, especially when she would come in from going potty only to make a point of squating and pissing in front of Tracey! I think it was a dominance thing with her!

Hi Randy,

Great writing so far, the subject (canids in general) is near and dear to us.

I also agree with the above. Our first Newfie, Maggie never peed except outside for me, but she had similar issues to your Shadow when she was alone with Pat.

Ironically, our Shadow was an Irish Wolfhound, a gray brindle about 40" at the shoulder and about #210 in his prime. The gentlest, sweetest most empathetic dog that I ever met.

Thomas

 

[Western]

Arctic Wolfs are born dark, almost a blackish blue.

Randy, That is a beautiful pup, but It doesn't look like the ones I have raised, Did you get a lab report (genetic test), Thats the only way to tell for sure. My Wolfdogs where certified 78-89% legal percentage is 98% "wolfdog" . 100% wolf is illegal to have in the US with out proper federal permits (endangered) Yours looks like it has a good "husky" presence, but is a beautiful pup.


Wolf crossed dogs are "not what people think" they are a hard commitment. (why I dont have any anymore) I have never had an animal that required so much attention and care. A high percentage (from what I have seen) is not the family , "play with the kids" kinda dog. This is not the kind of dog that "learns tricks" I am not trying to "bust anyone's " cahone's, I feel it is important that folks know what is "really" involved in handling a high percentage wolf-dog. Wolfs are in a class buy themselves, simply a beautiful animal, but certainly not a family type dog.

With mine, the higher the percentage, the harder it was to stay the "alpha" and control. They are unbelievably shy and lousy guard dogs, I dont think I have ever heard one "bark" like a traditional dog, many other sounds, but the "bark:laughing:

BTW, I got into the Wolfdogs, because my brother had bought a "100% wolf", it likely was a Husky/ Shepperd cross looking back now.

Please read through these couple of sites:
Wolfdogs: Comparison - Wolf-dog Education...

About Wolf-dogs

GrayWolfConservation.com - Wolf-dog Questionnaire

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

This is just so wrong "in my opinion" Wolf dogs living with small children and docile pets ? How long before something bad happens ? And will it be worth it in the long run ? Sooner or later those cats and little hotdog will look like lunch to them ? and even tho they look like they have been bred down to the level of a white Shepard How long before you have to pen them outside ? Finding a child sharing a sucker with them is just dangerous to the point when the "dog" wants it for himself ! Let alone what 5 animals will do to the inside of your house ! Vanity may just lead to a bad situation .

 

[RandyBell]

Thanks PhysAssist : Western the people had papers showing 100% wolf, but you have to remember she was the 11th generation in "captivity", and you are absolutely correct about High Maintance at least for the first few years! That is one of the big factors in us not replacing her. It is a24/7 job teaching them, and training them. I never saw them when they were first born but I know even though she was white she had one black hair at the base of her neck. I am a firm believer that just about any animal can be if raised right can be safe to a degree, Shadow never gave us a reason to ever doubt her! A wolf will not do good in a cage or at the end of a chain, they are a pack animal and being so need "togetherness" We became her pack and when we moved to where we are now she would lay on top of the hill and watch over the neighborhood like Royalty.

GRUMPY OLD MAN Everyone is entitled to their opinion!

 

[RandyBell]

As far as being a "vicious" predator, the wiener dog was more vicious than Shadow ever dreamed of being, she would search out rabbit nests and kill the babies, which Tracey beat all three of their butts for. Daisey Mae was the one that ruled the roost with the three of them, I had seen the other two rough housing and make Daisey mad and she would bark at them till they came to the couch where she could reach them from and she would bite them on the lip, she had her toys that they were not allowed to play with and that would invoke her rath as quick as anything! Shadow and Luckie were together most of the time and would run around to the point of knocking things over and they would get put outside to run it off, just like kids!
At the age of 1 Shadow became the unofficial mascot of a motorcycle group my cousin and some friends were in, and as such we had to go to cook outs and other functions they had, to bring Shadow, that really broke her heart to have everyone slipping her scraps!
The only times we had cause to worry was if there were Black people around, and we never could figure that one out, but she just was not pleasant around them, she would growl and lay her ears back and hold her tail between her legs! The only other time we saw her act like tat was a friend of ours had 2 black bears that we had gone up visit and Shadow would not let Tracey get between her and them. We couldn't stay to long there because Shadow was way to tense around the bears, I can't really blame her, even though I had been around the male enough for him to remember me from the time he was a little bundle to carry in the crook of your arm and feed the bottle to, he was now close to 7' tall on his hind legs and wanted tackle you if he got the chance. Needless to say I caught what for from Shadow for going in the pen with the bears and having their smell on me!

Wolves mature later than a "Dog" from what we experienced Shadow never really started maturing until about 5 years old, it was about like the terrible twos till then! Luckie and Shadow both loved ice cream and would love to walk to the Ice cream shop at the end of the road to get a cup of ice cream. They got a lot of attention considering Tracey made them eat most of it from a spoon, other wise they would gulp it down and be pestering for more.

 

[flamom]

Life with Shadow and Luckie sounds very rich! I am sorry for your loss of a good friend.

 

[RandyBell]

We ended up acquiring a black tortoiseshell kitten that Shadow decided was hers and would wash it whether she wanted it or not. Shadow would lay down beside her take a paw and hold her down, that cat became known as Trouble, it was the only thing that fit!
Trouble was just that, trouble and would hide in Shadows cage when the other cats were after her.

We finally broke down and had central air installed in the house and after a month started wondering why the living room was still warm, while the rest of the house cooled nicely. We found the culprit, Shadow took to laying on the register in the living room and would just get up from one side and put the other side over it! We ended up putting Tracey's embroidery machine over the register to keep her off it.
We took Shadow with us to Petsmart and let her pick out a toy to play with and she picked out a stuffed pink pig, Luckie always would wear out the nyla bones and Daisey had the Winnie the pooh collection of which piglet was her favorite. They all had their own favorites that they had fits if someone stole it, and the worst fight I can remember having was Luckie and Shadow were fighting over Daisey's piglet and tore it apart! Dasiey light into them both like a buzz saw I was surprised that neither one of them went after her that time!

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have experience with both first and second generation western wolves and I want readers to understand that Randy's wolves are 11th generation. We use second generation wolves on movie sets. And I would say unpredictable, strong and very aggressive would be a good description. As for first gen, I have some experience with Yellowstone wolves. In a long winded way I am saying all dog should be treated with respect, but in my opinion if you interact with true wolves, fear may be a better instinct. Do not let Randy's description be misconstrued with what a real wolf can do. Randy, I love dogs and wolves and I do not want this to take away from your wonderful pets. I am just cautioning people that we are going to have a lot more interactions with wild wolves and you need caution with these animals

Maybe this will give everyone a better sense of what I am getting at...

Domesticated silver fox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[RandyBell]

I have experience with both first and second generation western wolves and I want readers to understand that Randy's wolves are 11th generation. We use second generation wolves on movie sets. And I would say unpredictable, strong and very aggressive would be a good description. As for first gen, I have some experience with Yellowstone wolves. In a long winded way I am saying all dog should be treated with respect, but in my opinion if you interact with true wolves, fear may be a better instinct. Do not let Randy's description be misconstrued with what a real wolf can do.

Woodlandfarms you are pretty much correct mine are 11th generation, but you have to remember there is no dilution of domestic dog in them.
Shadow was extremely smart and well behaved, which was do to her upbringing, I can base this by comparison to her brother, which is totally opposite of her! I have found that males are harder to raise in that respect they have more dominance issues.
Shadow bonded with Tracey and was happy being second to her, a lot of times she would just look at me as if to be saying, And who are you to be talking to me! She was exemplarily with children it was extremely rare to hear her even grumble when she was with the grandkids, but yes you are not going to find or at least will be rare to find her qualities in a first or second generation! I have had dogs most of my life of different breeds and after having these two I would not have another "dog"!