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Post by Crickie on Jun 5, 2005 17:04:06 GMT -5
There needs to be a little more than love and facilities in order to keep a wolf hybrid. I would love to rescue the little buggers someday if I ever had the money and the room, but I would NEVER, EVER completely put my trust in one, especially around my small children.
One must consider the social structure in which a wolf or direct-descendant of the wolf comes from. It's a hierarchy in strength. Dogs like wolf-hybrids, Rottweilers, pit bulls, etc need owners that are physically strong and don't take any shit. The moment you show weakness, cower in the presence of one or falter in your control, they WILL challenge you for the alpha position and they WILL win. After all, would you want to follow someone who was weak?
I think that wolf hybrids could be completely suitable pets....for one person willing to put up the time to train them, have the strength to control them, to have the energy to keep up with them. Not a family, not anyplace where they may have to compete for your attention.
Granted: some just luck out and get personalities that make them lovable, loyal and possessing all the qualities that we bred out of the wolf and wolflike creatures in order to get dogs today, but I think it's better safe than sorry to assume that they all have wolf-potential and should be treated with the care that we would a wild wolf.
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Mugetsu
Wolf
Wolf of the Moonless Sky
Posts: 398
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Post by Mugetsu on Jun 7, 2005 20:58:59 GMT -5
Actually, wolf hybrids do make as good a pets as any mutt does - just as long as you have the facilities to let them run (no city environments), and plenty of love. One of my better friends has a wolf hybrid, high percentage, I think. That animal is just the friendliest you'd ever come across. This is in Kansas, wide open spaces, y'know. I know what I'm talking about, I have a rescued wolf hybrid (low percentage, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 wolf). with the average wolf hybrid you've got something with the wildness of a wolf and a domestic dogs lack of natural fear towards humans. it has a prey drive, and because of that even if I get another rescued wolfdog I can't get one that's over 1/2 wolf, because I'm disabled and my disability could potentially trigger that prey drive in one with a higher percentage of wolf in it. small pets and children can also trigger the prey drive. granted, even domestic dogs can have a prey drive, but it's more common in domestic/wild hybrids than in pure domestic strains. you also have other lovely things that come with those wolf instincts, like howling, excessive chewing (you wouldn't believe the ammount of rawhide bones my wolfdog goes thru), agression towards those outside of it's 'pack', and the instinct to dominate those lower in the 'pack' pecking order than itself. plus, even if it DOES lack a prey drive it will treat children like pups, meaning they'll nip, and humans don't have the thicker skin and fur of an actual pup to keep a nip from causing serious damage. multiple children have been scarred or killed because people didn't realize that. because many people who get a wolfdog think they can treat it like any other dog they're illegal to own without a permit in many states, and completely illegal to own (unless you owned one before the law passed) in several others. this is done with good reason, they're partially wild, they are NOT fully domesticated. sure, they can act like a normal dog, but the moment their instincts kick in they can act all wolf instead. if you ignore that potential you're setting up a situation where something bad could happen and more likely than not even if it isn't the wolfdog's fault it will still have to be put to sleep. |
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Post by OnlyFuture on Jun 8, 2005 8:49:58 GMT -5
There needs to be a little more than love and facilities in order to keep a wolf hybrid. I would love to rescue the little buggers someday if I ever had the money and the room, but I would NEVER, EVER completely put my trust in one, especially around my small children. well its just like any type of dog with small children...it works both ways........ little kids don't kno what there doing therefore they can't tell or don't understand what there doing to the animal maybe discomforting or even hurtful the same goes with a dog/wolf...they don't understand that is a little kid and that they have no intention of harming them...its tough to call but trufully unless u have a very friendly animal kids usally aren't good to have around... example...my little brother (4 at the time) was going to pick up the food my dog knocked over (at my dads house brother lives with my mom) my one dog has never really seen much of my brother and started to growl and bark at him (its a beagle so there usally friendly) i'm not trying to say ur wrong i'm acutally agreeing with you but i'm just saying you can't judge an animal by other ones a little dog could be the most violent thing you've ever seen... its a tough call but kids are usally not good around dogs speacailly dogs that aren't used to kids |
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Post by Crickie on Jun 8, 2005 9:38:46 GMT -5
I know that.
I only didn't address small dogs because small dogs weren't the topic of the discussion at hand. Wolf-hybrids were.
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Post by Soul on Jun 9, 2005 19:17:08 GMT -5
Actually, wolf hybrids do make as good a pets as any mutt does - just as long as you have the facilities to let them run (no city environments), and plenty of love. One of my better friends has a wolf hybrid, high percentage, I think. That animal is just the friendliest you'd ever come across. This is in Kansas, wide open spaces, y'know. I know what I'm talking about, I have a rescued wolf hybrid (low percentage, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 wolf). with the average wolf hybrid you've got something with the wildness of a wolf and a domestic dogs lack of natural fear towards humans. it has a prey drive, and because of that even if I get another rescued wolfdog I can't get one that's over 1/2 wolf, because I'm disabled and my disability could potentially trigger that prey drive in one with a higher percentage of wolf in it. small pets and children can also trigger the prey drive. granted, even domestic dogs can have a prey drive, but it's more common in domestic/wild hybrids than in pure domestic strains. you also have other lovely things that come with those wolf instincts, like howling, excessive chewing (you wouldn't believe the ammount of rawhide bones my wolfdog goes thru), agression towards those outside of it's 'pack', and the instinct to dominate those lower in the 'pack' pecking order than itself. plus, even if it DOES lack a prey drive it will treat children like pups, meaning they'll nip, and humans don't have the thicker skin and fur of an actual pup to keep a nip from causing serious damage. multiple children have been scarred or killed because people didn't realize that. because many people who get a wolfdog think they can treat it like any other dog they're illegal to own without a permit in many states, and completely illegal to own (unless you owned one before the law passed) in several others. this is done with good reason, they're partially wild, they are NOT fully domesticated. sure, they can act like a normal dog, but the moment their instincts kick in they can act all wolf instead. if you ignore that potential you're setting up a situation where something bad could happen and more likely than not even if it isn't the wolfdog's fault it will still have to be put to sleep. Although they can be taught to become hospitable pets, I cannot stand the breeding of these creatures. What people fail to understand (or more accurately: what they choose to ignore) is the fact that in order to create one of these hybrids, a full-blooded wolf was kept in a secured enclosure, and was forced to breed time and time again, to endure a completely unsuitable lifestyle for the creature we consider to hold such majesty. They are raised and captive, lacking any pack structure (as that system of social grouping is not conducive to breeding and raising hybrid pups). They live, in the context of a normal wolf's life, a sub-standard, and almost cruel existence. These are also creatures that can never be placed in homes; they're either of full wolf decent, or have such a high percentage of wolf's blood in them that the wild in them cannot be tamed. I can only see myself supporting a family who rescued a wolf-hybrid(like you did), as one who purchases from a breeder is only adding to the problem. I'm not trying to come off as offensive, but as I've stated before, I firmly disagree with the captive domestic ownership of wild animals. I will forever remember this newspaper image I saved from when I was 8. It was of a wildcat, large, perhaps caracal, who was purchased by a man from a pet store. The man, in order to transport the large animal home, strapped it to the roof of his car like a Christmas tree...that picture made me sick then, and it makes me sick now. You can never underestimate the disrespect that man will show for other living creatures, especially those that don't belong in captivity. |
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Post by Scarred Wolf on Jun 9, 2005 19:33:27 GMT -5
That's awful... wild animals should never be made as pets, considering how much "wildlife" we have for them anyway. What you said Soul, really sickens me. People like that need to have done to them what they do to those poor animals.
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Nayru
Cub
the white female wolf
Posts: 11
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Post by Nayru on Jun 12, 2005 15:28:39 GMT -5
I heard of a person that had a pet wolf once. it killed her cat. wild animals should be kept in the wild where they belong. that's why it's called wildlife.  |
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Post by crymsm on Jun 28, 2005 0:21:26 GMT -5
[  that site is TERRIBLE... it makes it out that wolves/wolf hybrids make GREAT pets and the photo of the one with the kid makes it look like they're good with kids. it idealizes the wild/domestic hybrid to the point of fallacy!] I didnt read it i was just showing u all what she probly was ok, i owned a hybred once so relax. Depends on the owner |
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Post by Crickie on Jun 28, 2005 7:16:55 GMT -5
I didnt read it i was just showing u all what she probly was ok, i owned a hybred once so relax. Depends on the owner It depends on the owner and the animal. People don't have the ability to control everything they get their hands on. |
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Post by chezamaiden on Jun 28, 2005 11:43:14 GMT -5
It depends on the owner and the animal. People don't have the ability to control everything they get their hands on. I agree...I once had a friend that had a half wolf, and she was superb with animals. The dog was really sweet, but I also noticed that she didn't keep him outside the large fence they had built for him, unless walking him or such. |
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Post by OnlyFuture on Jul 4, 2005 22:49:30 GMT -5
I heard of a person that had a pet wolf once. it killed her cat. wild animals should be kept in the wild where they belong. that's why it's called wildlife. unforently we are running out of wild for wildlife and i can't say our current president (not naming any names) isn't helping the matter...yes you shouldn't keep them as pets but still sooner or later wild pets are gonna have to be put in shelters reseves or canada...which ever coast less |
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Post by crymsm on Jul 21, 2005 19:58:09 GMT -5
ok ok calm down u guys, hybreds arnt for everyone just those who are smart geez dont bite my head off
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Post by Crickie on Jul 21, 2005 20:30:12 GMT -5
ok ok calm down u guys, hybreds arnt for everyone just those who are smart geez dont bite my head off Um...no, again. Hybrids aren't for anyone. There should not be hybrids. Dogs are domestic. Wolves are wild. Two separate worlds that should be kept separate. There is absolutely NO reason for there to be hybrids except for the ignorance of humans to manipulate and play God and to look cool and be able to say "Look at me. I tamed a wolf. It obeys me. I'm so cool because I own wildlife and so few others do." A smart person could easily be mauled by a smarter hybrid. People can't even handle their own domestic dogs nowadays. |
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Post by Machiavelli on Jul 21, 2005 22:20:44 GMT -5
I find it amusing every time a liberal such as yourself is misinformed on such a level. You do realize that we have large expanses of protected land, right? The way you are writing someone would believe that George Bush is rampaging through Yellowstone national park in a bulldozer while taking shots at squirrels with an elephant gun.
If irony had weight, this statement alone would have caused this forum to collapse in upon itself.
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Post by Lady Amalthea on Jul 22, 2005 7:47:28 GMT -5
I just had a mental image and it made me giggle.
As much as I hate George Bush he is not really the one to blame here.
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