Once wolves start to undergo sexual maturity in their natural setting, they begin preparing to break off from their family pack to find a mate, secure a territory, and start a pack of their own.
It is at this point in their lives — especially during the breeding season — that they will begin acting out and challenging rival animals for the above-mentioned resources.
When these changes starts to occur, many owners are uncertain of how to handle them. It should be noted that while many of these solutions seem like a legitimate option for most people, they often are not. Shelters and Animal Control agencies will rarely take in wolfdogs due to the high liability of working with such animals, and even fewer will feel comfortable trying to adopt them out to homes, meaning owners are either turned away or animals are taken in to be euthanized.
Sanctuaries and similar rescues are constantly full due to the high volume of animals that require rescue — a number that grows with each passing year. Wolves are master escape artists and require a special type of containment. These animals can jump, climb, or dig their way out of almost any enclosure and are smart and observant enough to quickly figure out how to open most types of gates.
Many of the animals at Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary know how their gates work and periodically test the latches and locks. We are able to ensure a high level of security by constructing our enclosures in compliance with USDA guidelines. Enclosure walls are built with heavy duty chain link or horse panel and they are at least 10 feet high on all sides. We also have dig guards buried along the perimeter of enclosure floors. These extend inward a minimum of 3 feet and combat any attempts to dig out of containment.
Some facilities may even utilize hotwire as an added preventative but here, we do not. Lastly, our enclosures are all constructed within a large Perimeter Fence, which will securely contain an animal if it escapes its primary holding for any reason, such as enclosure damage due to a fallen tree.
Proper enclosures can be expensive, however, and most people cannot afford to build something like this. Many veterinarians refuse to service wolves and wolfdogs.
Again, there is a huge liability issue among animal care professionals in regards to dealing with potentially dangerous animals like wolves and wolfdogs. This is a huge obstacle for any exotic pet owner to overcome because wolves and wolfdogs require essentially the exact same care as a regular dog would, but they often live longer, which means that owners should have a reliable form of veterinary care for at least 15 years in order to properly care for their pets.
Wolves and wolfdogs may not be legal to own. Exotic ownership laws are not uniformly regulated across the United States; in fact, laws may vary from state to state or even county to county, which is the case for us here in Texas.
This has been the case with several of our rescues, many of which were owned by extremely capable and qualified owners who were forced to surrender their pets for this exact reason. Beware of Misrepresentation. Across the country, a number of irresponsible owners and breeders falsely label their mixed-breed dogs as wolves or wolfdogs, often coming up with exotic sounding names to create a sense of credibility Canadian Silverback, MacKenzie Valley, etc.
These individuals are often seeking to boost their profits or their status, but the result of misrepresentation is extremely damaging. Wolves love small children, but they might get excited, jump on them, and try to carry them with their teeth by the head or arm. This could cause injury to the child when the wolf was only showing affection. Build the proper living conditions. Wolves like to roam, and they will hop fences, break off chains, and dig their way out of yards. This can be very dangerous, because the wolf might be mistaken for a wild wolf or coyote and be shot.
Or it might kill neighbors' livestock or pets. Never let the wolf roam free. LC and some MC wolves can exist in a normal fence without breaking free. MC and HC wolves are most likely to try to break free. They need feet fencing, along with other security measures. The fence cannot have any footholds for the wolf to climb because they can climb out of fenced in enclosures. Some LC will break free while some HC will stay in the fence.
It depends on how bad the animal wants to be free, how bored they are, and how much outside the fence excites them. A large fenced in enclosure is ideal. Wolves and wolf dogs need a lot of room to run and play. Socialize the wolf dog. Wolves are social, pack animals, so they require canine companionship. Just as important is socializing your wolf or wolf dog to people and places at a very young age.
This starts training the wolf or wolf dog to be around people in a domesticated setting. The wolf dog needs to be taken from its mother at 2 weeks old and bottle fed. They need to immediately start being socialized to both male and female humans so they will be used to humans for the rest of their life.
Wolves need another canine for companionship and to meet their emotional needs. You need to place the wolves with another canine of the opposite sex around the same size. This ensures the wolf or wolf dog will not be lonely.
Become the Alpha. You have to be the Alpha of your wolf. When the animal is a puppy, start training them to submit on cue. This doesn't mean that the adult will always submit - wolves are very independent and self-assured.
But the wolf or wolf dog will know you are the Alpha and the one in charge. While training the pup, never hit, bite, shout, or pin or shake the puppy by the scruff. Wolf parents don't punish their pups for chewing and biting; they are very tolerant parents. Try to refrain from physically dominating the wolf, because this could damage the relationship. Feed them the right food. Wolves exist on a meat diet.
Pure wolves and HC hybrids won't be able to exist on dry dog food. Most wolves and wolf hybrids eat pounds of meat daily. Venison is great for wolves. You can feed them fresh road-kill deer, but this requires a permit. Provide entertainment for the wolves. Wolves can get very bored, which could result in them breaking free from their enclosure to find stimulation. Build things inside their enclosure area to keep them active, like platforms.
Wolves need to be mentally stimulated on a regular basis. Another good idea is providing swimming areas, like water troughs, swimming pools, creeks, or ponds, for them to lay in and to dig inside.
Sandboxes or dirt piles are great for them to dig in. Leash train them as pups so you can take them out on a leash. You should use two leashes when you walk them - one on the collar or harness, the other a slip leash. You should walk them every day. Make sure you have available veterinarian care. Most vets don't know how to care for wolves or wolf dogs. Many will even refuse to provide treatment on these types of canines.
Yes, that should be plenty of space for your wolf. Just make sure that the area is properly fenced. Not Helpful 15 Helpful If you are not going to feed or take care of it, then you should not get a wolf or any other animal. Not Helpful 51 Helpful The common grey wolf Canis lupus can live for seven years in the wild and up to 17 years in captivity. Not Helpful 26 Helpful It's unlikely, but not impossible.
When their eyes open and they see their first sights and hear their first sounds, the first creatures they see become their pack; their entire world, and all they know.
Any pet is a major commitment. Large dogs can be rather burdensome for this reason, requiring lots of food and ample space to run and exercise.
But no dog needs nearly as much space as a wolf. While dogs will benefit from large backyards, wolves require a good square miles of space to stretch their legs! Moreover, wolves need nearly constant attention. It looks similar to other puppies, though even now, its needs are far more intense.
Human males may not be able to approach the wolf during certain times if there are female dogs in the same home.
The wolf might become very aggressive and territorial, even if it has been fixed. Additionally, wolves start to destroy everything once they reach sexual maturity. Everything gets chewed up and scratched up. This is one of the hardest parts of wolf ownership to deal with.
Everything you get will be destroyed pretty quickly, so you might want to forget about updating your home! There are many legal issues involved with keeping a wolf in the U. It is felt that wolfdogs are not only the most misunderstood animals in the U. Though some feel they are wonderful pets, many opponents argue that they are unpredictable, impossible to train and inherently dangerous.
Because of this, having a wolf or wolfdog as a pet is illegal in many places and is often associated with many rules in others — and with good reason. Sadly, there is no federal law regarding the ownership of a wolf or wolfdog. Laws are left to be determined by the individual states. It is illegal to keep them in Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland and several other states.
In Alaska , it is illegal unless your wolf has been grandfathered in. Some states, like Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina, do not regulate ownership on a state level, but rather, leave it up to individual counties. This often leads to wolves and wolf hybrids falling into the hands of caretakers who find they cannot care for these semi-wild creatures, causing them to abandon or abuse these animals.
It turns out that there are no approved rabies vaccines for wolves or wolfdogs. Though owners are encouraged to vaccinate their pets, they have two options when doing so.
They can either lie to their vet about what breed the animal is, or they can sign a waiver that states they understand the vaccinate is not approved, so if their animal bites someone it will be impounded, often ending with euthanasia.
Wolves also require much more exercise than dogs, as they usually walk or run up to miles a day in the wild. Their intense prey drive, however, makes it nearly impossible and often illegal to have these animals off-leash. Many wolf or wolfdog parents end up overwhelmed and underprepared for the challenges that come along with caring for such intelligent and cunning animals.
A combination of wolf and dog can lead to any number of personality traits and characteristics.
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