[mobileXterror]

Was wondering if anyone on the board has any experience with them. I've been researching into Wolf/Husky hybrids for quite some time now and am planning on obtaining one in the future when my girl and i buy a house. Obviously, i am not planning on getting one until we have the proper land for it to live. I know i will have to go through the legal process and meet the proper requirements before being able to own one. Anyone here have one or know anyone that does?

[TJamz]

No, but cool. I think they have a tendancy to be more "wild" or aggresive for obvious reasons. I now remember there was a wolf cross in my home town. It had a beautiful gate(walk)to it. Almost looked like a panther the way it walked.

[ChewyXJ]

I had a Shepard/Wolf hybrid for 15 years. My screen name is in memory of him. Best dog I ever met, for the right person. I would not recommend a wolf hybrid for most people. They require more from a person than a regular dog. You need to be very thoughtful and consistent with both training and day to day life. I lived and worked in the mountains, so I had a great lifestyle for this type of dog.

I would never have a wolf cross unless I had a lot of room for it. I hate seeing these very intelligent and active animals living their life in a cage. They need room to run and will likely cause problems if they are confined. If raised correctly they can be the most loyal friend you'll ever have.

Here in Montana I did not need any special permits, just a regular doggie license. Your state may be different. I should also add that I did not trust Chewy around children. He never hurt any kids, but the risk was too high to take a chance. Kids don't always treat dogs well and one bad move could prove disastrous. Other folks may feel different given their particular situation.

To sum up I would say the most important things to consider would be your mentality and lifestyle, having enough land for a large active animal, legal issues and your previous experience raising large dogs.

Good luck with your decision.

PS. The only digital pic I have of Chewy is on page 2 of my gallery. He loved deep snow.

[larry408]

Here is a picture of my Shepard/Husky mix. I picked him up for a local shelter 3 years ago when he was 1 year old.

[jeepsarecool]

Before you get one, read this book: Amazon.com: Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution (9780684855301): Raymond Coppinger, Lorna Coppinger: Books

If you still think you want one, then go for it.

[sitdwnandhngon]

I would say it depends on if you have kids or old folks around at all. I would love one too, but I couldn't risk it. I prefer hound breeds because it seems like no matter how much a kid pulls the ears, steps on the toes or tries to ride them they just shake it off and keeps on playing with them.

My coonhound will actually bite me and play rough when we wrestle, when a kid grabs him to play he just lays there and rolls around, very instinctive to be gentle.

It probably depends on they type of trainer you are too. Some dogs respond well to a little bit of corporal punishment, and others will snap your hand the second you raise it to them. I would imagine a half wolf being one of the latter.

[Indy]

I guy I used to work K9 with had 2 of them. He had some good stories about some knock-down drag out fights with them. He was a great dog guy, trained daily etc. but the wolfies he hated for some reason.

[Xtremjeepn]

It REALLY depends on what the mix is and how it was raised.

I have a wolf mix (Samoyed/Malamute/wolf). He is the sweetest Hybrid on Earth. We know the whole litter, they are all very sweet. Even the mother that is the highest content wolf (Wolf/Malamute mix) One of my best friends bred the litter for me.

Almost all of the hybrids from the litter (6+the mother=7) live in housholds with kids/small kids or are around kids daily. They are all 5+ years old at this point. Never an issue, not one. But every owner has been VERY responsible in donig the RIGHT type of training for the dog. They hybrids are much better around kids than our Aussie has been.

PROPER TRAINING, SOCIALIZATION and CARE will determine your success with the wolf more than anything.

Too often people get these mixes because they think they are cool, then never train them, don't socialize them enough and don't care for the dog properly. Then they blame the breed for the problems they have.


Couple of pics.

[Ross]

I had a friend that worked with a group that would "rescue" wolves. He would only hold them for a year or slightly more. His explanation was they were a wild animal and can only be expected to behave in that manner. They were beautiful animals but dangerous. I would fear that some of these traits would be there in any wolf hybrid. Domestic dogs have been breed to be just that, wolves haven't. .

[Fett]

Originally Posted by Xtremjeepn

Couple of pics.

That last picture is great.

[ChicagoGuy]

Originally Posted by Xtremjeepn

PROPER TRAINING, SOCIALIZATION and CARE will determine your success with the wolf more than anything.

Too often people get these mixes because they think they are cool, then never train them, don't socialize them enough and don't care for the dog properly. Then they blame the breed for the problems they have.

^ this. Heck, it's true of non cross-breed dogs too.

Beautiful animals in those pics too!

[2006_Sport]

Your homeowners insurance may go up for having a potentially dangerous dog in the house. That's what my father told me

[thantos858]

My wife's best friends brother has one. Its a beautiful dog but they can be hard to control and there's still the fact they are part wolf which is a wild dog which has the power to kill a person. It will raise your homeowners insurance you will need to follow all the local, state and city guidelines for having a dog breed classed as dangerous as well. Like others have said if you have the time and knowledge to train the dog it will behave for you just know its still got a wild nature so be very careful around other dogs and people since its still a animal.

[ChewyXJ]

Originally Posted by 2006sport

Your homeowners insurance may go up for having a potentially dangerous dog in the house. That's what my father told me

I never saw a change in my insurance. If you think about it all large dogs are potentially dangerous. How they are raised makes the difference.

The only reason I didn't trust Chewy around kids was because he was not conditioned to kids, as I don't have don't have any children myself. Had he been raised with kids I'm confident that he would have been very protective of them.

Because some people tend to freak out at the word 'wolf' I usually said that Chewy was a Shepard/Wookie mix. He looked a lot like Chewbacca so it fit and got a few laughs.

Xtremjeepn- Beautiful animal you have there and I agree with Fett about the last pic you posted.

[vtjeepguy97]

My brother has had a few. I don't know the cross breed, but they were wolves. maybe even 3/4 wolf, he got them from a guy who lives up in the woods somewhere in Montana. the thing was he has the ability to train wolves. He always told me you can't leave them, they have to be with you constantly and the biggest part is you have to be the alpha, hands down. It was always funny watching these giant wolves cower under just his gaze if they even stepped one paw out of line. He had one that was 130lbs, but the biggest baby in the world, they were wonderful dogs he trained them all from pups. As far i I know he only had one he couldn't control, the thing wanted to be the alpha and was vicious to the point he could barely control the thing. This was back when I was born, he was about 24 and there were a lot of little kids being born in the family. So he put the dog down himself, because he knew that it would have gone after one of us. (that one was a huskey/wolf mix.)
If you have the ability to take care of a dog like that, meaning you have a job were the dog can be with you always, (my brother does post and beam contract work where he could have a dog with him.) and you have the personality to take care of the dog; go for it. Because the dogs my brother had were wonderful.
My favorite story was from christmas with one of his dogs names Swill, it had walked out our backdoor and was nosing upto a fence with a little rat-dog on the other side. My mother thought that the wolf was gonna jump the fence and go after the little thing, but it ended up barking at Swill; who inturn jumped straight up in the air and ran inside the house and cowerd for the rest of the day under my moms bed. Swill was a great dog.