[QUOTE=Magrus]Sounds like you have my ideal pet there Chanak.
[/QUOTE]
Back on the animal topic. I think I would be remiss if I did not attempt to discourage you from keeping a wolfdog. Not because I don't think you would be able to take care of one...but as someone who kept one until his third birthday, I feel I should share my experience and ask you to put yourself through the test before you would seek one out.
Wolfdogs are not your ordinary dog. They are more intelligent overall, and share an independent spirit with their wolf parent, not unlike felines. In fact, they are independent just like a cat. While their canine bellies can rule their head at times, they are not prone to overeating like domestic breeds do. When they come across more food than they want to eat, they bury it, just like wolves do. You might see normal dogs do this - it's their ancestor's instincts at play. Wolfdogs will dig holes...and I mean, they can dig holes.
They have big, wide paws and they act like shovels. Zabiel could exacavate a hole big enough for him to lay down in in less than a minute. What this means to a lawn in suburbia or the city...well, it will be ruined, I guarantee it. Try as you might, you cannot break a wolfdog from digging holes. You might be able to pull it off, but you would have to be cruel. No way.
I'm sure you agree.
Also, keeping them in a fenced backyard is a joke. The fence had better be at least 8 feet high, because they can jump a 6 foot fence easily. They can also climb alarmingly well. They are better at these things than a German Shepherd, who are famous schutzhund champs. Also, they can dig their way under a fence easily. And let me say that unless you latch a fence gate with a padlock, a wolfdog will figure out how to unlatch it eventually (my friend's female wolfdog was famous for that) . They are inquisitive by nature and when they are restrained or penned in, they devote all of their energies to finding a way out. Most domestic dogs will resign themselves after a time, but not a wolfdog. They will keep trying. Consider this fair warning.
Consider this story. An older friend of mine told me of a time when he was young up north many years ago. Some ranchers had trapped a pair of wolves - a male and a female. They were placed in a pen with an 8 foot-high fence. They were going to slaughter them for their pelts. The first night in the pen, the female wolf escaped by jumping the fence. The male, however, was much larger and couldn't pull it off. My friend said he went out to see the wolves and saw the female sitting outside of the pen, waiting for the male inside. He didn't tell anyone about it, and came back to watch them over the next two days. The female wolf paced outside of the pen for all of that time, waiting on the male. Eventually, however, she left. The male was slaughtered later that week.
Wolfdogs can't stand inactivity. If left inside of a house with no way out, they will end up wreaking havoc and destruction inside. They will tear furniture to shreds, and I do mean shreds, wood and all. If it's a male, he will lift his leg on everything. The only time I ever allowed Zabiel inside was during tornado season, when I would sit with him while the tornadoes blew by the area. He was calm during those times, his usual burning curiousity absent. He sensed the storms and while thunderstorms didn't bother him, tornadoes frightened him. That, and firecrackers. He hated them. Out in the country, it was rare for firecrackers to be set off. Around towns and the city, it's a different story. He would bark his head off whenever firecrackers were set off, and his bark was the kind of bark that boomed and made your insides quiver.
Wolfdogs do
not make good pets. They are not consumed with pleasing you. While they are not aggressive nor unruly dogs, they will nevertheless ignore you when they can. They like to do their own thing. You must therefore establish and re-establish dominance over them, to let them know that when you speak in a certain tone of voice, they had better listen. You must allow them a good deal of freedom, and only use commands when they are needed - such as, when they jump right in the middle of a flowerbed and start digging.
Or, when you both are walking and he finds a child's doll laying on the ground. All I had to do was say, "Zabiel, drop it", and he would let go of whatever it was he had found - even food. He had snatched someone's hamburger off of a plate one time, and was trotting away with it when I told him to drop it. Drop it he did, but the owner of the burger didn't want it back, understandably. Zabiel was sitting there looking at me sheepishly, aware that he was in trouble. So, I pointed at the burger and said, "Zabiel, eat." He gobbled it in one bite. However, I never allowed him around people and food again. It was too tempting for him. I had to keep him restrained during get-togethers when food was around, and he hated it. I hated it too. Be warned.
Wolfdogs also make terrible guard-dogs. They are not aggressive by nature at all and unless their protective urges are engaged, they will not attack anyone. They are protective of those they consider pack-mates, but otherwise, they look to you as being the one in charge, which you should be. They can function as good watch dogs, though. Zabiel had a German Shepherd's genes when it came to barking at strangers who approached. His hearing was awesome. Other than that, all bark and no bite.
Wolfdogs are not well-suited to life in the surburbs or the city. There's too much around that interests them, and they will stay in constant trouble. It's why I gave Zabiel a new home when I left the countryside. It might be possible to keep one that does okay in an urban setting...but all of the ones I knew were miserable in the suburbs. Too confining. A wolfdog's territory is like a wolf's territory...very broad and wide. They despise limits.
Keeping a wolfdog is a committment. They are long-lived and usually last beyond 20 years of age. Captive pure wolves can live close to 30 years. Unless you live in the country, Magrus, I would not keep a wolfdog. That's my parting advice to you.
