Though challenging and complicated animals, wolf crosses can be fantastic companions for the right person. Before deciding to adopt a wolf-mix dog, please: read up on these animals first, then ask yourself if you are really willing to commit to all that living with wolfdogs requires. If the new addition hides beneath the futon for the first week, then proceeds to chew the furniture, dig holes in your yard, growl over his food dish, and ignore your commands...will you still want him? And, are you knowledgeable enough--and patient enough--to train him out of these behaviours? There are lots of good and bad facets to the wolfdog "breed".
Overall, most folks are largely uninformed about this type of dog, hence the great IMPORTANCE of learing about them before purchase or adoption. You'll often see strong opinions touted as "facts" ...frequently by people who have no experience at all with them(!) it's easy to SAY "Consider the source", but as these uninformed people tend to perpetuate myths that SOUND sensible, many folks take them at face value. Learn from successful owners, and get some hands-on first, in order to get a better idea of what life with these dogs entails! Let's erase the mythology, and replace it with the truth--both good and bad--about the animals.
Contrary to popular myth, most wolfdog owners don't get a wolfdog to "tame want a piece of the wild", or "look cool"...and many DON'T simply want to capture the "wolf look" while essentially living with a dog. (Some do. They will usually be disappointed.) These superficial guesses are usually way off base. Trust me when I tell you that I can show you plenty of reasons you may not want a wolfdog, WITHOUT resorting to half-truths or flat out baloney. <vbg> See the "bad facets" link above!
In their defence, there are many valid reasons for wanting these super-intelligent, sensitive, playful, intense, self-aware, interactive, communicative, "advanced handler" animals, whose love for you is worth the world because it is conditional.
There are plenty of *wrong* reasons to get them too! Like most kinds of dog, they are not "for everyone"...they are not easy keepers nor backyard showpieces...they take hard WORK and require great commitment. A "pet wolf" isn't like a boat, that sits mindlessly in your yard until you are ready to use it, or show it off. Are these the dogs for you? Read more about them to decide. Wolfdogs make terrible impulse purchases!
More about this misunderstood mixed-breed here:
Q&A Common Myths |
