Our position on wolfdogs

(If you believe that you have a genuine wolfdog and have problems or questions then we are happy to help and advise in absolutely strict confidence).

This is a complex subject and not suitable for snap replies. Let's deal with it under a number of headings and get the controversial stuff out of the way first.

Is the AWS for or against wolfdogs ?
We recommend strongly against wolves and wolfdogs as 'pets' for the average person but that is all. If you are an anti-wolfdog zealot then you're going to be disappointed. Sorry, the AWS does not do 'hate' or 'ideology' and we are not into righteous hysteria or witch hunts; We do not hate wolfdogs or any other animal and we do not believe that all pet wolves and wolfdogs should be destroyed in an orgy of needles and gunfire by arrogant enforcement officers and in front of sobbing owners.

We disapprove of anti-wolfdog 'experts' who preach bans and compulsory destruction at home whilst flying off to other places every year to play with socialised wolves and wolfdogs themselves. We would prefer that the people concerned practise what they preach - or preach what they practise.

Now we've got the emotive and political stuff out of the way, can we drop it and consider wolfdogs themselves ?

What is a wolfdog (used to be called hybrid dog) ?
Dogs, wolves, coyotes and Jackals have the same number of chromosomes and can interbreed. Dogs are, of course, a sub-species of wolf and were at some time in the past selectively bred by humans either from wolves or from animals which were close relatives of - but already different from - the wolf. At various times in pre-history, humans again crossed dogs with wolves in order to emphasise certain characteristics and in recent history, the cross has been made again many times by fur farmers and to produce designer pets and better sniffer dogs etc. Wolfdogs are usually shy to a greater or lesser extent (and are totally useless as guard dogs!). Coydogs are uncommon and are reputed to be rather more friendly, and less shy than wolf dogs. Jackal-dogs are very rare and there is very little information about them. All are potentially dangerous.

There is an old saying that a fool and his money are soon parted. If you have parted with money to obtain a wolfdog in mainland Britain then it is a racing certainty that you have just proved the truth of this addage. Last year, the AWS obtained the phone number of one breeder claiming to sell 50/50 wolf/dog puppies. We posed as mugs and asked some dumb, basic questions about keep, reliability as family pets and problems. The advice we received was frankly, trash. If the animals in question had indeed been genuine then the advice would have been fatally irresponsible and useless. We are not going to reveal what we were told because a) we'd like the breeder to carry on telling people such obviously exposable rubbish and b) as the animals involved are just dogs, the advice will do no harm if anyone does take it seriously.

There are, in fact, very few genuine wolfdogs in mainland Britain. What little information is available points to the likelihood of a small number of low(wolf)-content dogs being in the hands of people who are, by and large, capable and caring owners. There is no "wolfdog problem" in Britain. As a canine behaviourist, in my work and study I regularly come across dogs which have attacked or bitten people or other pets. These dogs are of every breed you can think of but none of them has been a genuine "wolfdog".

Are wolfdogs difficult to keep ?
It takes specialist knowledge and skills to care for a captive wolf or genuine wolfdog. With the exception of very low 'content' animals, you cannot treat them as dogs. Low content animals are ones in which the last wolf crossed in to the line was several generations ago and/or its parents have only a small amount of wolf content in them. In most cases, evidence from the USA points to the fact that these animals are relatively easy to live with and unlikely to cause any problems that any other breed wouldn't. For higher content dogs (more recent wolf), the skills and knowledge required are far beyond the time, abilities and patience of most people to acquire - and there are very few places where you can actually acquire them anyway. One of the silliest things we hear regularly is people saying that they bought this wolfdog puppy <in a pub etc.> in Manchester and it's dad was a wolf. Forget it. An F1 wolfdog (therefore 50-plus percent wolf)  would, by definition, be beyond the management and training abilities of anyone who would buy a puppy <in a pub etc.> in Manchester.

Go-on then, what do they do that's so 'difficult' that I can't cope with it ?
Although wolves and dogs share the same basic behaviour set and communication methods, wolves take everything seriously and further than dogs do. No matter how well socialised they become to humans, wolves are still wild animals, they do not have any of the built in, domesticated, mental checks and safety latches that dogs have. Wolves have a strong inquisitive instinct and will dismantle anything to get at something that interests them - and you can't stop them (if you want to live!). Wolves also have more intense prey behaviour which involves chasing and killing small animals much more readily than most dogs do. 'Small animals' for a pet wolf (not a wild one) includes pets and small children and if these release the wolf's prey behaviour then they will be pursued irrespective of whether the wolf 'knows' or 'loves' the animal or child involved. Another difficulty is the wolves' hierarchical instinct. They are much more intense about it than dogs and are quite willing to escalate to a full fight in response to what they may perceive as a threat to their status - and you can threaten their status easily and unknowingly if you don't fully understand canine behaviour. (Trust us, you won't survive ten minutes of a relationship with a wolf or a high content wolfdog unless you fully understand their body language and can control your own appropriately.) There are also a number of other major nuisance behaviours which are inevitable and which you must either avoid or distract. Producing the wrong response to them even once can mean the end of the relationship.

But I can show it who's boss can't I ?
If you even think this let alone believe it then you're lost before you start.

But my friend's got a wolf that's lived in his house for years and it's good with the children!
Sorry. If you believe this then you and/or they are living in la-la land.

Imagine for a moment that you are one of the only 12 people who have ever walked on the moon and someone comes up to you and says they just walked on the moon. You don't need to assess whether they might have; You just know that they haven't. Similarly, everyone who has worked closely with socialised wolves knows that it is impossible to share a house with one. Anyone who tells you that they share a house with a wolf either hasn't got a wolf or hasn't got a house. No exceptions, no maybe's, no way! It doesn't happen; Got it ?

There is a confusion factor involved here. Many people in the USA own wolfdogs and over there, mis-representation of percentage by breeders is virtually universal. The great majority of wolfdogs in the States are in the 10% to 30% range - even though most of their owners fondly believe that they have 75's, 80's and 98's (pure wolf) and what-have-you. Phoney (but impressive-looking) breeders' certificates and 'pedigrees' are commonplace and even many genuine, intelligent, responsible owners who sincerely believe that they have a 'high' or a 'pure' actually haven't. These very low percentage animals are often amenable and may not cause much trouble unless their owner is wholly incompetent. The real problem often comes when someone has had what they believe to be a high or a pure and managed to keep it out of trouble and it dies and they get another; only this time, it really is a high or pure and suddenly they can't cope. That's when they discover that pet-wolves don't live in houses - they just get put to sleep in rescue centres and animal pounds.

The big problem with determining the percentage wolf content is that you cannot do so by just looking at the animal. When you cross a wolf with a dog, the genes don't mix evenly like stirring milk into coffe; you get a kind of lumpiness in the genetic spread. If, for example, you crossed a wolf with a spaniel, you could get a dog which has the coat and tail of a wolf, the head of a spaniel, the long legs of a wolf, the brown eyes of a spaniel, the predatory behaviour of a wolf, the amenable social character of a spaniel etc. etc. You could equally get an animal that just looks exactly like a spaniel but behaves exactly like a wolf and vice versa. Again, a seriously wolfie looking dog with yellow eyes and the head and coat of a wolf may, in fact, be of such low wolf content that it is, in effect, just a dog despite its looks. In short, you can't just look at an animal and decide whether it will or won't be livable with.

In Britain, one of the easiest ways to tell if a dog is a genuine wolfdog is that if someone tells you they have got one then they definitely haven't ! The law in Britain makes ownership of anything that has enough wolf genes in it to be recognisable as a wolfdog illegal. The few people who own these animals outside the law are well aware that they will lose their dogs if they don't keep their mouths shut.

What about the Czech Wolfdog - they're registered as dogs aren't they ?
The Czech wolfdog was bred as a working sniffer dog for the Czech army in the 1950's and 60's. It is the product of a number of crosses between GSD's and Carpathian wolves. It has about 20% residual wolf in its lineage. The breed clubs in Europe claim they have the whole recorded breeding lineage. In most countries in Europe, they are now a registered and fairly common dog breed. On average, they can be a bit sensitive and there used to be a problem with shyness in the line but the breeders are now claiming that they have managed to breed that problem out. It is probably fair to say that they are not a first-timer's dog but there no longer seem to be as many problem reports as there used to be with this breed.

Why are so many people opposed to pet wolves and wolfdogs ?
Partly for the reasons outlined above - those who know wolves know that whilst it is perfectly feasible to have a good relationship with one kept the right way, most people are incapable of keeping them the right way. There is also substantial opposition by ideological extremists to the presence of wolves (or any other animal) in captivity at all and, additionally, many wolf-aware people are opposed to the private ownership of pet wolves and wolfdogs because when one does attack someone, it is inevitably the 'wolf' that gets the blame - not the owner. Wolves do not need any more negatives attached to their public image. Organisation like ourselves expend a great deal of effort publicising the truth about the nature of the wolf and one attack incident caused by an incompetent owner can undo years of our work.

What does the law say ?
We believe that the present law in England concerning private ownership of wolves and wolfdogs is adequate and constructive and provides the right balance of deterrence, support, safety amd welfare considerations. To keep a wolf or any animal with wolf in its immediate ancestry, you will need a Dangerous Wild Animals license. You will only get one if you build suitable pens which pass a vet's inspection and in most places you will simply not get planning permission to build such containment. Deterrence is therefor built in to the system and little - if any - more is needed.

What about wolfie looking dogs ?
We believe that people have the right to choose what kind of dog they want to keep. If you want something with a pug nose, curly tail and skin wrinkles then that's your choice; if you want something that looks a bit wolfie and has nice goldie/yellow eyes then good luck to you. Nowadays, there are plenty of wolfie looking dogs around. Husky crosses are becoming increasingly popular and there are at least two groups of people intentionally breeding dogs to have a wolfie look. Given the amount of effort that the human race has put into shaping gross deformities into dogs for showing and working reasons, it is not surprising that there are also people who are selecting for the original - "ancestral" if you like - look. You will find links to their websites on our links page.

At this point, it does have to be said that huskies, malamutes and their crosses are not necessarily "easy" dogs to keep as house pets. If you work eight hours a day and/or do not have a reasonably large garden then you should no more try to keep a husky as a house pet than a collie. Huskies and malamutes and also the dogs now being bred to look wolfie are not as easily trained as the more conventional breeds - and you definitely will have to train them. They are sensitive, very, very intelligent and have quite a different angle on life and learning from, say, a GSD or Lab. The relationship you have with these kinds of dogs is only as deep and lasting as the training work you put in with them. If you don't get yourself and them to regular puppy and obedience classes then you will finish up giving them up to a rescue centre.

Wolfdogs in the USA
The wolfdog scene in the USA is an unholy brew of politics, ideology, dishonesty and ignorance. Hard facts are very difficult to come by and the public have little chance of discovering much of the truth about wolfdogs there without a lot of personal research and expense. Also, the reliability of web research itself is heavily compromised by the sheer quantity of misleading and biassed information which is presented on a plethora of 'expert' looking websites. Wolfdogs are now illegal in many states and counties in the USA. If you are interested in researching the subject (sorry again, zealots - the AWS believes that people have the right to research any subject they choose to; we don't do 'taboo'!) then the following sites present accurate and unbiassed information:

Wolves, Wolfdogs and Children

The Wolfdog Project

Kerwood Wolf

Wolf Park

Wolves and other predators (Jessie Zgurski's site)

Wolfdogonline (USA site)

(For a detailed reply to some of the less sensible criticisms of wolfdogs see Dr. Stephanie Porter's article )