# Wolf puppy in the suburbs



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I adore my neighbors, but I am still worried about their wolf hybrid puppy who is now five months old. Sedona comes along on socializing missions with Finn, Tally, and Tango, goes to PK- but she still bites Keller, the seven year old animal-loving girl who owns her. She raises her hackles and bites her adults too, if they take some prize possession away. I REALLY wish they'd chosen a golden or a GSD, even though I think Sedona is beautiful. I am worried.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

She's gorgeous. She should be with someone who knows and understands these hybrids. Some dogs/hybrids need a firm handler and owner. One wrong move on this girl's part and she could be put down.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I agree. Sometimes she stalks Tango, and then runs at full momentum to try and body slam her like a lacrosse/hockey defender checking an opponent. I step in every time, though usually I am relaxed about all kinds of rough-seeming playing. She does that same low-belly, hackles up stalking to Keller now and then. This is different and very intentional. I love my neighbors, but I think disatster is coming with/for the hybrid pup.They have tried very hard to do everything right, but I agree she needs to be with wolf/hybrid specialists rather than growing in leaps and bounds in town.


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## Old Gold Mum2001 (Feb 25, 2007)

Ljilly28 said:


> I adore my neighbors, but I am still worried about their wolf hybrid puppy who is now five months old. Sedona comes along on socializing missions with Finn, Tally, and Tango, goes to PK- but she still bites Keller, the seven year old animal-loving girl who owns her. She raises her hackles and bites her adults too, if they take some prize possession away. I REALLY wish they'd chosen a golden or a GSD, even though I think Sedona is beautiful. I am worried.


Any breed can exhibit that behavior  even our loving fuzz face goldens!

I agree with Kim, it takes a very special hand to raise one! We got real lucky with ours, while she was a training nightmare, she was very loving and highly protective of our kids as well as any other child at the house. She hated being inside, except at night to sleep. She'd yip at about 11-11:30 to come in, and wanted out by 5 am, and if you didn't get up with a face washing she'd pull the covers right off you, lol 
Only one she couldn't stand, was my ex, lol, she'd show her teeth to him all the time, and he's the one that brought her home :doh:


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## Old Gold Mum2001 (Feb 25, 2007)

Ljilly28 said:


> I agree. Sometimes she stalks Tango, and then runs at full momentum to try and body slam her like a lacrosse/hockey defender checking an opponent. I step in every time, though usually I am relaxed about all kinds of rough-seeming playing. She does that same low-belly, hackles up stalking to Keller now and then. This is different and very intentional. I love my neighbors, but I think disatster is coming with/for the hybrid pup.They have tried very hard to do everything right, but I agree she needs to be with wolf/hybrid specialists rather than growing in leaps and bounds in town.


That would seriously worry me, and I could not have an animal in the house that actually "stalked" my own child, how scary!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

She's such a nice pup in so many ways, and can be very affectionate and sweet, especially after a long hike. It's hard to differentiate beteen puppy stuff and warning signals for them- they're, of course, attached to Sedona. She knows"wait"/"free", "go to your mat", and all kinds of great stuff. But she really gets intense with Keller, no matter how much Keller works on Sit, down, Wait, etc. _We got real lucky with ours, while she was a training nightmare_What was hard about training yours?


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

My daughter's boyfriend has a wolf hybrid female who is adorable but we have voiced our concerns about having her around children.

Lexie mouths alot like wolves do with each other. They have worked on this and she is better now that she is over a year old but I think it is much more prevelent in a dog who is part wolf.


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## Susan6953 (Jun 9, 2008)

I can't imagine keeping a dog/wolf that bites your child! sd


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

There is a dog living next door who bit my old Golden. Fortunately, it wasn't serious but these two dogs were seperated when Amber was alive. This same dog doesn't get too close to my Goldens now either. I have a fenced in backyard.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

She is a beautiful animal but I wouldn't want one. What was their reason for getting a wolf hybrid? I have seen GSD's look very much like her.

Diesel stalks Willow alot and will try and bodyslam her but she is wise to that trick and drops to the ground! It is scary how intense these guarding dogs can look with their wolf features and erect ears. Diesel has never done it to a person.


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## capbach (May 21, 2008)

*Capbach*

I totally agree with your concerns. We had a german shepherd/wolf/husky for 14-1/2 years. He was a great dog, but always growled around food/bones, didn't socialize well w/ other dogs. We had to keep him and our 2 year old daughter under strict supervision in our home. It was very stressful. He had jaw cancer and died Dec 2007. Now we have our GR and have no fears. I wouldn't let your children or your friends' children be with your neighors' hybrid unsupervised. And be aware of the food obsessive. That's a big concern with the hybrids.


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## Old Gold Mum2001 (Feb 25, 2007)

Couldn't "house break" her (urine only tho) she would never poo inside. Had a private trainer come out, one I had used on many occasions, she tried, then said nope can't be done. So whether Wolfie really couldn't "just get it" or whether she was just HIGHLY stubborn, we'll never know. There was 1 command I could give her to make her sit and not budge, but only if I had good eye contact, and that was "come", LOL. No she wasn't deaf, she knew her name well. She LOVED to wander, the Inv Fencing was totally useless, and overhead runs were useless, she'd snap them like a hot knife going thru butter. But I did notice that she would not jump a baby gate, just howl. So I forced ex (wasn't ex at the time) to put up a fence, boy did he HATE that! But she loved it, free to a degree. Only time she ever got up on the fence, was to try to grab the "fill in" lawn man, he came to close to the kids. I'd get 3 fetches out of her with a frisbee only, she would run and catch them, but 3 times was her limit, lol.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

It is reassuring that others have experience with the whole stalk/body slam. None of my GR have played that particular way, and Sedona will drop low, stalk, and then body slam Tango, but she is utterly respectful of Finn who shows her his teeth and growls. This is the first time I have seen Finn, who is five, and lives/plays with a bazillion dogs and just made it through two puppyhoods of Tango and Tally cheerfully, growl at another dog nevermind show his fangy fangs. And it is true that their invisible fence does nothing to keep her in and they are still struggling with housebreaking. I wish they would reconsider before Keller or one of her friends is bitten seriously. The wolf/gsd pup bit Keller's hand this morning for just petting her near her tail . I think they are wishfully confusing what they've read about puppy biting with hackles up snarling biting! Also, much of the time she is doing really well, and is smart and nice- she's even nice with Nelson the kitty. They are so attached to her, that I can sympathize with how hard it would be to say goodbye at this point. But it will be much harder than that if Keller or one of her friends is badly bitten.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Tucker doesn't go down low, but he body slams Shadow when he gets the opportunity. When he first came to live with us I was really concerned about this. Shadow had two hip surgeries. What I've found is Shadow really knows how to deek Tucker quite well. If I'm outside and I see Tucker running full speed near Shadow, I do a eh, eh, and he stops. I sometimes yell, "Shadow, he's coming!" Works too.
I'm very vocal. Ask the RR crew. LOL


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

I still believe that wolves and wolves hybrids should remain in the wild or at least,with people who know and understand what they have and how to train and socialize them!.Even though I find them gorgeous,I know i couldn't own one cos they are too unpredictable!.Most people can't deal with a golden,let alone a GSD so how do you want them to care and train a Wolf Hybrid!.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Wow, your neighbors are in some state of denial if their own child is being bitten by their pup. A friend of mine is very involved with wolf hybrids in Virginia, and he would probably say at this point to rehome that dog to someone with experience. There may be legal implications is she bites Keller badly enough to require medical attention; they could be accused of child abuse for knowingly having a "vicious" dog with the prior bites.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Finn's Fan said:


> Wow, your neighbors are in some state of denial if their own child is being bitten by their pup. A friend of mine is very involved with wolf hybrids in Virginia, and he would probably say at this point to rehome that dog to someone with experience. There may be legal implications is she bites Keller badly enough to require medical attention; they could be accused of child abuse for knowingly having a "vicious" dog with the prior bites.


Do you think your friend in Virginia could recommend a place for Sedona? We are in Maine. She's so young -5 months- that they are definitely viewing it as puppy issues that she will outgrow. I, on the other hand, am worried by several things.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

I'll check with him and see if he deals with folks as far north as Maine. His wife is involved with golden retriever rescue and they have three goldens as well as a wolf hybrid....and a large, ultra-fenced area for safety!


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

Ljilly28 said:


> It is reassuring that others have experience with the whole stalk/body slam. None of my GR have played that particular way, and Sedona will drop low, stalk, and then body slam Tango, but she is utterly respectful of Finn who shows her his teeth and growls. This is the first time I have seen Finn, who is five, and lives/plays with a bazillion dogs and just made it through two puppyhoods of Tango and Tally cheerfully, growl at another dog nevermind show his fangy fangs.


I have found that many dogs react like that to Diesel. I notice all the time how different Diesel plays compare to other breeds. Willow plays because she is goofy, Diesel plays like he has a mission! Watching him with another GSD ia amazing because he is so in tune with them. In all the meetings I have had with other GSD's with Diesel they all start to trot in the same pace and vocalize to each other. Very wolf pack like.

Here is some bad pics of Diesel stalking. He normally crouches low for longer and slowly speeds up all the while giving focus to nothing but his poor 'pray' Willow!



















Willow loves this game and will run up to him and leap over him until he chases her!

I don't have many pics of Diesel with his hackles up but it makes him look huge!









I can see why it could intimidate other dogs (and people).


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Willow plays because she is goofy said:


> So well said- It is like serious business to her, as well as playing.


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