What is it like to own a high content wolf-hybrid? This breed is smart! So I figured I would compile a list of some things that Tundra has learned, needs improvement on and other things every six months.
Things She CAN do:
Sit
Laydown
Speak & "Say Please"
Shake a Paw
Belly (Laydown while exposing the belly)
Stay (half the time)
Open doors (apparently)
Walk Nicely
Potty Trained
Certified Bug Eater/ Exterminator
Not to jump up when serving her food
She'll retrieve a ball/frisbee already
Things she needs IMPROVEMENT on over the next 6 months:
Stay
Come
Stay "Off"'
Words she understands:
Food/Hungry/Eat
"Water"
"Don't Bite"
"Gentle", "Take it nice" (feeding food from hands)
"Belly", Laydown, Sit, Paw, Speak (Say Please)
"No Speak", "No"
"Kennel"
"Go to bed"
"Shoes"
Her Toys: "Slipper","Ball","Football", Frisbee","Red Bone"
Walking without a leash (she does this now only on our property with us)
Putting her toys away (haven't yet attempted)
Close the door after herself
The food on nose trick (Jason had his old dog [Boston Terrier] learn that trick)
Get Jason a Beer (nah, I'm kidding, she'd help herself too)
For being only 6 months old, that's a pretty impressive list of things a dog can do. I might have missed a few things as its all off the top of my head but think about it... a human baby at six months can only crap itself and drool... wolves have to learn fast in the wild in order to survive. High content Wolf-Hybrids are a very intelligent breed. They can be a bit harder to train because, unlike dogs, they seek your respect/friendship every day... its hard to explain until you experience what it's like to live with a wolf.
So, our little Tundra has to go into surgery tomorrow to get spade. Im sure everything will work out ok but I still feel bad for the little fella, at least these things are now usually routine.
For anyone else planning to get your dog spade/neutered, the vet advised us of the following:
1) Get your pet done at almost exactly 6 months if at all possible. We had to book a month in advance, however, Im not sure if this is common for all veterinarians. Either way, I'd advise calling ahead to make sure you can get their appointment close to the date. The reason... is a great segway for tip #2 :)
2) Have the surgery done before she starts going into heat. Once the dog first starts going in heat it increases the chances of diseases (like cancer) and causes additional strain on the pup. That's why we were advised by our local vet to get her done around the 6 month mark to avoid any complications.
3) The night before the surgery ie: Tonight for us :( Make sure to feed them no later than 5 pm the night before (water is fine) and take away their water in the morning. They need to have an empty tummy before they can perform the operation.
Hopefully tomorrow goes smooth - wish us luck! We don't normally leave Tundra alone with strangers overnight, so I can only hope she behaves herself the same way she does at home :) She's a real sweetie, I can't wait to bring her home safe and sound!
Hi Isaac! Thank you for your note! I must admit I've been busy and haven't had much time to write updates on our Raising Tundra blog... Tundra is getting spayed on tomorrow as she's already 6 months old! Enjoy having a puppy as they grow alarmingly fast!
I've noticed that our little wolf didn't hear very well until both of her ears stood up so keep that in mind and have lots of patience with your pup. One thing I would recommend is when you pick up your little wolf pup make sure you have a tiny little kennel for him. Tundra to this day loves to hide in small spaces and loved her tiny little kennel until she grew out of it. From the small kennel she had we automatically upgraded her to her full adult sized kennel and I noticed that she doesn't like being in it. So if you can afford to keep slowly upgrading kennel size as he grows, that would be one recommendation (you can also find used kennels for a decent price). If not, at least make sure that you have a smaller sized kennel for the first couple months if possible. Reading online a dog should only have enough room to turn around in a kennel. If I had my time back, I would have slowly increased the size of her kennel instead of jumping her from a small puppy kennel to a full-sized adult.
For food, I was told to feed Miss Tundra as much as she can eat for the first 3-4 months, in saying that I've heard stories of other pups (male) from the same litter (same Mom & Dad of your new addition) that are abnormally HUGE... now what/how much the person was feeding that wolf-hybrid? Your guess is as good as mine but he was the size of a 5 month old by 3 months and we wonder what that person was feeding him! Males can get very large as if you've ever seen Simba (Dad) in real life, standing on his back legs he's taller than I am (I'm 5' 5") yet Tundras Mom (Celina) was the runt of her litter. Be prepared, especially if you're getting a male, that he will be a big boy!
As for food, iiams puppy wet & iiams puppy dry is what you should be feeding your wolf as switching dog food can give your dog diarrhea. If this happens two days in a row, starve your wolf for a day and then feed him boiled chicken and rice for dinner that night. If persists, a vet visit. Only feed the dog water/vet milk (feeding a wolf-hybrid pup normal human milk can kill it).
With Wolf-Hybrids I would strongly suggest to get yours neutered. Wolves behavior will change if you don't spay or neuter so if you want their behavior to be consistent this is another recommendation. To be around the male Alaskan Tundra Wolf this year with Celina in heat he was VERY over protective and ready to snap at ANYTHING that came near his female. He will challenge ANY male dog that comes near her... that being said if you decide not to neuter him please be very careful with him around other male dogs -- especially if there is a female around that is in heat.
To potty train your wolf, if you live close enough that you can kennel train your wolf-hybrid, this is what I would suggest. Unfortunately because we live 35 minutes from work we weren't able to do that and it was very hard to get her fully potty trained as she was used to being able to do her business on her mat in section of the house we blocked off for her. Saying that, make sure that they always have water to drink in their kennel. If you can let him out for a pee just before leaving for work and then coming home at lunch time/after work the dog should be able to hold their bladder after a couple months. I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be unemployed when we first got our wolf-hybrid so I was able to be home full time for the first 3 months of having her.
Also, make sure you have a secure fenced yard. Recently we heard that a pup from Bandit/Celina's litter (less content wolf & more German Shepard) got shot by a neighbor. It makes me angry to even share this because that wolf-hybrid looked more like his Dad who was a full German Shepard. I could understand if it was from Simba/Celinas litter looking so much like a wolf thinking it was wild and after cattle but if you don't know for sure, your pet could be killed mistaking it for a wild wolf.
As for shots/vaccines you can treat a wolf-hybrid like a normal dog. It is recommended that you don't take the dog into public and have people handling him/her until she/he has final shots. If you let just anyone pet and handle a wolf-hybrid from a pup, it could get a disease and die young.
Get your wolf-hybrid used to its paws, ears, teeth, tail being pulled, pocked, touched etc. If you do this they will be used to the human contact from a young age and should be better with younger kids if pocked and pulled on.
And finally... if you've never owned a dog before (let alone a high content wolf-hybrid), I would recommend getting a female as they don't challenge you as much. Even to this day, Tundra will challenge us and push her limits. Shes not like a dog that will just listen to every command, this breed is very intelligent and will analyze EVERYTHING before making a decision. Male dogs will try and dominate you so you will have to be firm with your commands/training. Do not get a wolf-hybrid if you're looking for an easy breed to raise. We love our little wolf but she is not always obedient (she is still young yet). Do not get a high-content wolf hybrid if you don't have the time every day to dedicate to training and attention. Keep the dog close and around you as these are PACK animals that need that bond, don't lock the wolf-hybrid in a room by itself if you need time for yourself have it in a kennel near you.
Hope that helps, Isaac, you're welcome to keep in touch if you have any questions. If I don't know that answers I will ask our breeder/trainer as he has trained over 2,500 dogs/wolf-hybrids and is full of knowledge.
Tundra is now 6 months old and has her appointment to get spayed. We decided to go with the laser surgery they have for dogs now where they use lasers instead of cutting with knifes which help the procedure be less painful. I've never owned a dog before... other dog owners haven't heard of it yet so it must be a state-of-the-art technique.
The other night our little wolf was dog-sat by our amazing friends (and wolf-trainer) Keyhan of SunValleyWolfKennels.com and the breeders of Tundra. Keyhan has little time so he puts his Wolves and German Shepard on a lease attached to his quad. This way the dogs and wolf-hybrids get exercise they need during the day.
Keyhan said Tundras very large fathers' first impression of the quad was to attack it. He's now used to it and looks forward to his runs. Having heard this reaction to exercising a dog I was curious to see how Tundra would react. Tundra was very good, mostly because the other dogs were used to it and she wanted to fit in with the pack. She didn't show fear for long as soon as she was used to the noise and watching the other packs reaction to the situation.
While Tundra was being looked after she ran with the dogs a couple time x a couple kilometers... she was exhausted but soo happy and content. Now I've heard that running wolves/dogs too young can cause hip conditions later in life in some breeds. I trust Keyhans judgement on this breed as I have no idea. If wolves run at this age in the wild, I'm not going to restrict my wolf-hybrid to that pleasure.
I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Tundra with her Mom & Dad below:
Tundra has now lost all her baby teeth and now has a full set of adult teeth. I ended up saving a lot of her baby teeth I would find. I think I vacuumed up the last one accidentally this weekend.
Tundra is not a vicious dog so our trainer/friend said we just need to use a chock collar on her. Our largest hurdles with Miss Tundra so far is:
Jumping up, getting her to "come" when we're outside, listening...
Shes really smart... apparently too smart in some cases because unlike a dog, she will THINK before she obeys a command... our trainer tells us that dogs don't think they just DO whereas wolves always think and evaluate their circumstances before executing what THEY decide to do.
Tundra has an outside kennel near the other wolves. She is now an escape artist as she attempted to dig her way out and succeeded in digging a small hole... if she were any smaller she would be free! We fixed it with a big rock but chicken wire under dirt will also correct this new bad habit.
Now in saying that Tundra isn't vicious, she's VERY protective of her home. Our landlords informed us that when one of the ladies came to take some readings from our meter, she saw Tundra and remarked "What a beautiful puppy" as she was heading over to pet Tundra. As soon as she spoke those words Tundra showed her teeth and started to growl at the lady wanting to pet her.
Yess!! We've succeeded in having a protector! Exactly what I want if I take her for walks when Bears are out or if someone attempts to break into our house/yard.
Our little wolf-hybrid is also at the stage now where she doesn't like to be alone anytime. She wants to be in the bathroom when I'm in the bathroom, laying in bed when we are etc. Its almost like the 2 year old stage that children go through.
And like having kids... I let out a huge sigh this morning coming outside to find my new bamboo rug for under our table set already chewed... you can't have nice things when you have puppies/kids.
Tundra's favorite treats are liver, chicken, wieners and CARROTS! haha yes... she loves the crunch noise of eating a carrot.
A couple weekends ago we were invited out to sit by the fire with the other wolves/German Shepards...
Tundra didn't need to be on leash until it was too dark to have her roaming... she loved it! I'm still kicking myself that my camera battery was dead and we didn't get any decent pictures of her and her parents!
More bon fires to come as the days slowly get warmer. This morning in APRIL it snowed!! I do believe it will be the last snow fall of the year. It better be!
