Facts About The Mejestic Wolf, Forest Ostrander [miss read books TXT] 📗

loyal family pets. People selling these animals get much money from it and therefore will disclose the actual facts on hybrids. The ignorance of this animal has caused the deaths of not only many wolves and wolf-dog hybrids but also people.
It is estimated that there are 300,000 to 500,000 wolf-dog hybrids in captivity in North America. Unfortunately, most of these animals a put down or badly mistreated.
*Throughout these webpages the term "hybrid" will refer to a genetically high-percentage wolf hybrid, which will necessarily display primary wolf appearance and behavior..
Genetics

Wolves vs Dogs
Sometime between 20,000 and 100,000 years ago, a few wolves began scavenging around human encampments. Since that first association, humans have exerted great selective pressure (some consciously, some not) for canines that are less skittish, territorial, predatory and aggressive than wolves. Research has determined that the hormonal systems of canines with these traits (i.e. dogs) are different from those of wild canids. Those hormonal differences cause profound differences in behavior; they result in an animal that never really behaves like a mature canine. In a nutshell, a dog is a wolf in arrested development; they act very much like adolescent wolves their whole lives. An adolescent wolf is playful, adaptable, and able to form bonds with other species, takes directions readily, and is far less territorial and predatory than an adult wolf-all traits that make dogs such delightful companions. As an adolescent wolf's hormonal system reaches maturity (between 18 months and three years), it begins to exhibit all those normal adult behaviors that make wolves so difficult to deal with in captivity.
So, while many taxonomists recognize the dog as a subspecies of the wolf and the genetics of the two are quite similar, it is a misconception that these facts prove the wolf and the dog are the same animal. When hybrid breeders and enthusiasts argue that wolves and dogs are essentially the same because they share so much common genetic material, stop to consider this: ninety-eight and four-tenths percent (98.4%) of the genetic material in humans and chimpanzees is identical, yet our behaviors are radically different. Certainly no one would promote crossbreeding humans and chimpanzees as a way to create an animal that is "the best of both worlds."
Genetically high-percentage hybrids may be physically and behaviorally indistinguishable from a wolf. The smaller the percentage of wolf genetics in a hybrid, the more dog-like its appearance and behavior will be.
Ancestry vs Genetics
The wolf is the ancestor of all dog breeds that exist today. Wolves and dogs are very similar genetically, but the seemingly insignificant differences in their genetic structure create hormonal changes that result in vastly different behaviors.
Ancestry and genetics are not the same thing. While you can easily determine the ancestry of an animal (provided you know the parents' ancestry), it's impossible to determine the genetic makeup of offspring that result from breeding hybrids.
When a pure wolf breeds with a pure dog, each pup is genetically 50% wolf and 50% dog. At this point, ancestrally speaking, they're also 50/50. Pups receive half of their genetic composition from each parent, but whether they receive the dog half, the wolf half, or a combination is indeterminable. Each parent passes on thousands of genes. While a pup's genetic makeup is unlikely to be to be one extreme or the other, it may fall anywhere between 100% dog and 100% wolf. For this reason, it's grossly inaccurate for anyone to claim that their animal, in a genetic sense, is 63.5% wolf. Here's the bottom line: Any time you breed a hybrid to another canine, you're playing genetic roulette.
No test exists that can reveal the genetic makeup of a hybrid puppy. And remember, it's genetics, not ancestry that determines adult personality and behavior.
Environmental Influence
Environmental conditioning can modify any animal's innate behavior. A properly raised and socialized animal living in an interesting environment will be easier to handle than one that spends its days at the end of a chain. However, just as it is ludicrous to think that a cow raised like a tiger would grow up to act like a tiger, it is ludicrous (and more dangerous) to think compassion, tender love and empathetic nurturing can subvert wolfish behaviors that have evolved over millions of years. Hybrid owners may successfully raise and enjoy one hybrid, only to find that the next hybrid they acquire acts like a wolf, despite the similarities in how the two animals were raised. The difference lies in the genetics of the two animals: The first was primarily dog, the second primarily wolf.
Wolf vs Hybrid vs Dog

Physical Differences
Wolves have narrower chests, proportionally larger feet and teeth, and longer legs than dogs. Their eyes are more almond-shaped than dogs', and the inside their ears are well furred and never flop. Wolves' tails, while they may be held down or up, never have a curl to them. Dogs usually have some curve to their tails. In contrast to dogs which breed twice a year and can produce pups at any time, wolves breed only once a season. Wolf pups are always born in the spring or early summer. It is important to remember that there are no physical features that conclusively separate a wolf from a hybrid from a dog.
Training a wolf or Hybrid
Wolves and hybrids are much more cat-like than dog-like in their response to training. While they're perfectly capable of learning commands, they cannot be counted on to obey them in frightening or dangerous situations or when they've decided they're bored with the game. These are the times, of course, when it is most important to be able to rely on obedience. This trait is attributable to fact that they are expressing "adult" canine behavior as opposed to the more "juvenile" canine behavior of dogs. From an evolutionary perspective it is very important for young wolves to obey older pack members. However, as they reach adulthood it is important for them to assert independence.
Dangerous Behavior

Wild Animals!
A well-behaved wolf is not a well-behaved dog. The wolf behaviors discussed below have enabled wolves to survive as wild animals for millions of years. Unfortunately, these healthy, normal, natural drives are extremely difficult to deal with in captivity, and "proper" training doesn't eliminate them. While dogs often exhibit these behaviors to some degree, they've been greatly altered by generations of selective breeding. In wolves and hybrids, these wild characteristics are strongly expressed-it is unrealistic and inhumane for people to expect such animals to suppress them.
Dominance
As puppies, wolves and hybrids readily accept domination by their human owners. This makes sense because under natural circumstances a wolf pup's survival depends on its willingness to submit to elder pack members. However, by the end of their second year they have matured sexually; it is at this time that they often challenge their owners for the dominant role. In the wild, wolves have a strong incentive to become dominant because usually only the strongest female and male members of the pack-the alphas-breed. Subordinate pack members may attack a dominant wolf that displays signs of weakness. In interactions with its human "alpha," a captive wolf or hybrid may interpret clues as subtle as fatigue, frustration, or a twisted ankle as weakness and initiate a dominance battle that is potentially lethal. Dominance battles also occur between wolves, hybrids, and their canine companions, be they dogs, wolves or hybrids. In the wild a subordinate wolf may choose to leave, but obviously this avoidance behavior isn't an option within the confines of an enclosure. Therefore, it is not unusual for captive wolves and hybrids to seriously injure or kill pen mates. Additionally, the proper social manners of a wolf or hybrid can harm a child. When two wolves greet, they lick faces, bite muzzles, and straddle one another to communicate dominance. Such "greetings" from an animal that weighs 100 pounds or more can easily frighten and potentially endanger a child.
Predatory behavior
In North America there has never been a verified account of a healthy, wild wolf killing a human. Unfortunately, this is not the case with captive wolves and hybrids. A child running, screaming, stumbling or crying may trigger a predatory response (even in an animal that has always been "great with kids"), resulting in serious injury or death of the child. Once this predator-prey response has been stimulated, the animal may never again view children as anything but prey. Other animals also arouse wolves' and hybrids' predatory instincts. Cats, small dogs, chickens, sheep and other domesticated animals are not safe in the presence of a hybrid or captive wolf. While we all know many dogs who exhibit this behavior, it is to a lesser and much more controllable degree.
Territoriality
Wild wolf packs maintain territories and drive off or kill trespassing wolves. This behavior ensures that packs do not compete for prey within a territory. In captivity, mature wolves and hybrids display territorial behavior by being extremely aggressive with strange dogs. Any meeting is potentially lethal to the dog.
Nuisance Behavior

Scent Marking, "destructiveness", possessiveness, excessive shyness, pacing, digging, howling.
Several other wolf characteristics, while not necessarily dangerous, constitute behaviors undesirable to humans. Scent marking (urination and defecation) may occur anywhere the wolf or hybrid wishes to establish territorial boundaries, which may include the living room sofa. Chewing behavior is another common complaint of hybrid owners, as jaws powerful enough to crush the femur bone of an adult bison quickly dissect any interesting object. An owner rapidly learns that once a wolf or hybrid has taken possession of a favorite shoe, no amount of discipline will help recover it, and an attempt may in fact lead to a serious bite. To a wolf, possession is 100% of the law; YOU DON'T TAKE THINGS AWAY FROM A WOLF OR HYBRID unless you're prepared for a fight. Additionally, wolves and hybrids are often quite suspicious and uncomfortable around objects they weren't exposed to as puppies (again, a powerful survival adaptation in the wild). Things that most dogs take in stride, such as umbrellas, people wearing backpacks, overhead ceiling fans, or who-knows-what can panic wolves and hybrids. Extremely shy animals may panic simply at the approach of a stranger. Frightened wolves and hybrids have been known to scale fences that had contained them adequately for years. Panic can cause destruction of property, injury to the animal or loss of control of the animal with resulting injury to someone else. Finally, wolves and hybrids are active and curious. If not given plenty of exercise and mental stimulation (several hours daily-especially during their most active times, dawn and dusk), they can be depended upon to continually pace, move prodigious quantities of earth and howl incessantly.
Consequences

Maturity
Wolves and hybrids often don't begin to exhibit mature behavior until they are two or three years old. Therefore, problems associated with maturity such as aggressiveness, extreme shyness or predatory behavior are often not seen until the animal becomes an adult. If it's really a genetically high-percentage wolf hybrid, odds are its behavior will undergo a radical transformation. A preliminary study in Washington state revealed that the average age of privately owned hybrids was much lower than the average age of dogs; this indicates that people don't hold on to hybrids as long as they do dogs. The reason for this, based on anecdotal evidence, is that as hybrids mature, people find them increasingly difficult to handle. The end result is that they are euthanized or, in an act of extreme cowardice, turned loose.
Killings
While it is true that dogs can and do exhibit many wolf behaviors, in general their behavior is genetically altered so that they are much less likely to "follow through" with predatory, dominant and territorial behavior. While many dogs stalk and chase