GERMAN SHEPHERD/ WOLF HYBRIDS - Page 4

Lizbeth,

The most important thing I learned about wolves is that they depend on the pack for everything.  They need a highly structured social network to function and be complete.    Without this structure they seem lost and try to make up for the loss by overly attaching themselves to the only animals that interact with them.  We just can't fill that void ourselves.

Your boy looks nice, clean markings.   Mine had a lot of arctic in the lines and was heavy coated with less distinct markings.   About the same color tho, grey with some white and black markings.

May there always be wild places where man doesn't go.  

I started in Dogs with Siberian Huskies... and the breeder I got my 1st dogs with and I talked extensively about Wolf hybreds. She had been part of a program in New Hampshire and still had one of the progeny.  An amazingly beautiful 1/4 wolf, 1/4 Mal, 1/2 siberian which she  still used as lead on her sled team.  HOWEVER... she went on to stress that these hybreds are NOT DOGS!!  even diluted to 1/4 wolf they remain feral... the only way we were able to see this amazing animal was to go into the house with only Beryl going outdoors. She trusted nobody else.  They also do not easily housebreak.  Anyone even considering a hybred had best know a great deal about wolf nature.  While a dog will forgive over and over errors in your corrections Wolves remember.  They give their trust cautiously, and once that trust is violated are not quick to forgive and renew that bond. 

  My friend did not work, and spent many hours every day with her "pack" of Siberians.  Wolf hybreds do not do well with seperation issues, as they mourn for the pack, and  their pack leader.  To Live on the Tundra with a team of Sled dogs which live outdoors, and share all of their person's life is very different than most of us who live in a house with dogs either inside or outside, and who have to go off to work for hours every day.  99% of the time I'd say DON'T to people who consider hybreds.

  I also agree with the posts who say that a lot of people dealing in Hybreds are either conartists of deluded...  Had one person try to tell me that my Shepherd was part wolf because his canine teeth were longer than a dog's because Wolves have to capture their prey and dog's don't... *shakes head*  and another who insisted that my White Shepherd was part artic wolf cause German Shepherds weren't really white...  think that same person explained to me that all the black Shepherds were really Belgians... I'm so glad that he set me straight!!  LMAO

Yeah, I spoke to my vet about the issue. They said they would do a DNA test to prove if the animal is part wolf. Plus, they said they are not allowed to treat that kind of animal at my vet. I hope when people do buy they ask the breeder for a DNA test results for proof otherwise they probably are going to get scammed. Now a days, its happening a lot. Hope they do extensive research as well.

she didnt necessarily break the law even if her dogs do have that much wolf in them. she could have bought a wolf highbrid from someone else who broke the law. or she could have let the wolf/dog sex happen in the wild. she could have set up a wolf sperm collection site somewhere in the woods.

there are just... options.

Gretsch. I suggest you go back up and read what I wrote - not what you think was written. I am very careful in my use of language.

Plus all I can say is OMG - what's that old saying about not having the good sense God gave you. Can you possibly be serious in your comments???? If so no wonder the scam artists get away with it.

your statement  "she could have let the wolf/dog sex happen in the wild." Well, all things are possible. Probablility however? Hmm let see this is not happening on  a leash or in a confined space which means you let the bitch run loose. Now how you going to tell me that it was a wolf that nailed her. Could've been the dog down the street or a coyote.  Plus once again if you go back and do the math to get the percentage of wolf claimed the vast majority of breeding animals would have to be pure wolf. Would one just release that back to the wild ( a violation of most state laws) and just hope that it would return? Give me a break!!!

And this one just takes the cake "she could have set up a wolf sperm collection site somewhere in the woods"  May I ask what universe you live in? Get real and if you don't don't ever complain about getting scammed whether in dogs or hybrids if you can not apply more critical thinking than that.

Gretsch,

I spoke to my county animal control and it is considered breaking the law if you owned one. However way they mated the owner is responsible and the animal will be taken away. If someone reports that so and so has a wolf hybrid they will investigate according to animal control.

I owned one once when I was younger.  I loved her dearly. but agree that it should not be done.  She was mostly wolf and you could see the wild in her.  She would never have harmed a human, but she didn't like them period.  She would hide from any human.  In fact, she wanted part of no human but me.  I was her only friend.  She needed to be in the wild and in the end I gave her to a facility that offered her other wolf companionship and freedom.  Wolves are meant to be in the wild living wildly and freely.  Dogs are meant to be by our side protecting and loving us.  Thousands of years of breeding has made our dogs into pets and loving companions.  Thousands of years of breeding has made wolves into beautiful wild creatures that don't need or want us.  Really breeding a chihuahua to a mastiff would be more appropriate than a wolf to a dog.

But, I do have to say to all of those "oh, hybrids are kid killers" out there.  In the US there are many MANY more dogs than wolves that kill and/or mame/injure children.  Generalizing the wolf in such a way is ingnorance at best.  Wolves have a natural fear of humans and human related things dogs do not.  

JMO it may not be much, but I do have hands on experiance.

Windy

The law can be very strange regarding wolf/hybreds also... the Local Audubon Center is one of the teaching centers in the US, and they had a pair of "wolves" (one was 1/2 wolf the other 1/4 wolf actually) which had been seized from illegal homes, and were being used in a wolf education program.  They had been vaccinated as you would a dog... HOWEVER durring an active rabies period a  rabid raccoon fell into their kennel.  They could have been  isolated for the required 6 months for dogs, but because they were legally Wolves... they would never be allowed to be presented to the public again.  Nobody could ever give me an answer as to their fate, but from what my friends who worked there didn't say... I believe their lives ended.  There was no law regarding exposed wolves...  

im not saying it is a good thing to mix wolves and dogs.

tig,  i did read your post and did see the part where you said that the lady claimed to have the wolves she was breeding.

the other comment was not all serious.

i also agree that there are many opportunities for scam artists out there.

honestly... nobody should want a wolf hybrid, it has been tried and tried with an unhappy ending more often than not.

but to prove that the mateing happened in the wild with a wolf you could use a collar mounted video camera....

why do these people that sell wolf hybrids get away with it? why isnt animal control breathing down their necks?