Tundra, my little spider eater wolf

Haha Tundra has come in handy! Yesterday I saw a spider on the ceiling (which is a common thing around here being up in the mountains) so I swatted it down with a boot and called to Tundra.

Spying the spider she jumped on the spider both paws landing SMACK on the spider squishing it dead. Then she ate it. No legs left over haha!

How to stop your dog from pulling... oh - and Tundra is a destroyer of bugs!

Today I want to talk about how to stop your dog from pulling on her leash. Its a frustrating problem most people have with new pets, and its one Im still struggling with myself.

Tundra learned a lot this weekend, two interesting things were:

1) How to hunt and kill bugs (This is more of a funny story than anything)

2) How to NOT pull on the leash (I know many people have problems with this - so let's address how to correct it)

I'll start with the first - mainly because its kinda funny ;)

We live out in the country side, so Tundra hasn't experienced a ton of "new environments". We are slowly getting her used to it by driving her into the country, but she seems to have a fascination with anything that moves - and moves quickly. Thankfully, this does not include cars - but it does include animals, bugs and anything else that runs, crawls or flies. Training her to catch them was rather simple, we just needed bait :) Anytime a bug would come into the house, instead of catching it ourselves - we simply let Tundra do the catching for us. She sees the creature run along the floor and within seconds theres a paw, a pull and some random chewing noises. What actually impressed me wasn't the fact she could catch bugs like spiders, ants and so forth - but flying critters like Moths. Im a bit afraid how its going to go in the summertime when hornets are active but Im sure she'll figure out which ones stings before too long.

Unfortunately - as I mentioned above she also likes to chase cats around the yard, which brings us up to our second point from above (and how to fix it). If your dog is pulling while on leash, the proper correction is a very hard pull WHILE the leash is tight followed by huge praise to the dog for "backing off" her target. This is very important. It may seem a bit harsh, because really - as hard as you can pull her (without waiving your arms - since the leash is tight it should be one swift motion to your chest) may cause her to really be fired back and it looks... unpleasant. It doesn't hurt her though and she knows chasing animals such as cats is not permitted. This also keeps her directly next to my leg when other people are walking by. I don't want my dog to "go" to every person she sees, it isn't polite and some people really dislike it.

So, again... the motion/situation is as follows.... Dog is pulling very tightly on the leash - trying to pull you. Dig your heels in, pull the leash directly up against your body very hard and very quickly (this obviously varies based on the size of the dog. Don't kill the poor thing if you have a poodle) :) We have a wolf-hybrid, so the strength has to be increased. Make sure you aren't heaving your arms to pull her, but more a fast-jerking motion. The dog will flip back towards you, THEN PRAISE HER very much - very excited!!! To make sure she knows you guys are still best pals and you're only explaining she has to listen. Also very important.... myself and our dog trainer (as well as good friend) did this 2 or 3 times and afterwards the cat could walk right past her (within her reach) and she wouldn't move. Very impressive.

Hope you all enjoyed our story! Look for more pictures and videos of our ever growing pup very soon!

Cheers!

She's Gettin' Bigger!

Tundra is growing like a weed! We just had to take off her collar today to adjust it as her neck is getting larger around as she grows. Here's a couple videos:


Tundra @ 4 Months old

I'm very proud of her, shes starting to listen a lot better now and have less accidents inside. I would highly recommend kennel training a puppy as they grow to LOVE their kennel and it's not a cruel way at all to keep them clean & free of accidents.


Tundra @ 3 ½ Months old learning to "Lay Down"

Kennel training will also let you have a peaceful sleep without waking up to poop or chewed up items in the morning. Your wolf-hybrid will howl to let you know when it needs to pee or poop during the night so have it close enough to your sleeping arrangements to hear. Although, be warned - wolves are very smart and will sometimes make the sounds of having to go out but really don't have to. It sounds ridiculous (and its probably the same for babies) but you almost know the difference between the whines/howls/yelps if they need to go to the bathroom or if they're just pulling your chain for some attention while you're catching up on your beauty sleep.

As you'll see for the photo above I slipped on some ice while walking Tundra. It doesn't help that where we live right now is a complete ice-rink... oh that sooo stereo types Canadians... but in truth we live up a mountain with a higher altitude. Whenever it rains in this beautiful city, it will snow where we live. Tundra loves the snow.

So my next training session with her is to teach her how to properly walk. I'm already giving the command to "slow down" so at least she'll get used to the word and the gentle resistance. When she gets bigger I'm not sure that I'll be able to control her pulling and that worries me a bit. Maybe buying a spring litter would have been a better idea? Nah, wouldn't trade her for the world.



Here's a decent comparison in heights from this old photo in front of the oven.
Tundra @ 7 weeks old vs 4 months old (sorry for her slouching)

Well - Tundra is now over 3 months old and I feel like she's getting noticeably bigger every day. We'll attach some pictures - but it obviously won't do it justice.

Today, I decided to go outside with her, but without a leash. The first time - it went rather well... she never went more than a few yards in any direction away from me. Tonight though, she had other plans :) Soon as I opened the door, and she knew she had freedom - BAM - she was off to the races. I honestly tried to catch her but there's no catching a wolf-hybrid ;) That little girl is like lightning... thankfully as soon as I went inside, she was at the door asking to get in. I believe the rewards of things like food pretty much sway the battle in my favor. lol

Wolf-hybrids are a lot of responsibility and she's sometimes a hand-full - but we both love her to bits. Nancy is over trying to teach her some more tricks, while I get out of trouble by writing a blog post ;)

Hope you enjoy the pictures - she's growing up to be a beautiful little creature. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Cheers!

J.

High Content Wolf-Hybrids are hard breeds to raise!

Wolf-hybrid dogs are not easy to raise, they take a lot of time and proper learning of how to disciple them to have an obedient companion.

I was told by our breeder that raising a high-content wolf-hybrid is one of the hardest breeds to raise. Course... I must have not heard this part before I decided to get a dog. I've never owned a dog let alone a wolf before so it would have had to have been Murphy's law that I would have picked the most difficult breed.

We're struggling right now with Tundras potty training. Its hard because she's inside all day in a caged off area so she thinks its okay to go bathroom indoors in this spot. Because we live so far out of town, we're not able to let her out at lunch and kennel her all day.

Thankfully she will be put into the kennel with the other wolves/German Shepards in a month when she's a bit older and it's a bit warmer out but until them we're getting very frustrated teaching her to go outside so what we've resorted to is kennel training her the best we can. We are putting her in her kennel if she goes outside and does NOT go pee or poop and we will leave her in there until she cries and then we'll let her outside.

Now obviously this doesn't always work out as she's been in her little area all day and wants some love and attention and sometimes we'll turn our head for a second and she decides that she has to go... sometimes she'll run over to the door but she's not vocal unless she's in her kennel.

Tundra had her second set of shots on Friday and was much better than the first time. Our friend (and breeder) was with Jason to help him look/react properly so that she won't bite. I had to work so I wasn't there to report on what she did/didn't do but hopefully Jason will write an entry explaining what he learned.

Tundra has now learned "sit", "no", and plays ball/brings the ball/football/Frisbee back. Still a lot of work to do with her but I can already tell shes going to be a great dog.

Questions from YouTube on our High-Content Wolf-Hybrid!

 I'm happy to hear back from anyone that has questions. I know that I've been busy over the Christmas holidays but I do encourage any feedback or questions anyone has about raising a high-content wolf-hybrid dog so please feel free to drop me a line and ask!

Your puppy

Hi, i am very interested in getting a hybrid. I was wondering what are there special needs, and what is her diet?

Thanks for your time.

 My Response:

Hey!

High-content wolf-hybrid dogs are wonderful! Jason & I are really enjoying raising our little wolf female. Our landlord breeds them and I had similar concerns before I made my final decision to get one.

They do take a lot of work so you should know how to handle them properly. The only special needs they NEED to have is an owner that has a lot of time to dedicate to raising them, with a lot of love. Wolf-hybrids are not like dogs; you can not use the same disciplinary actions with them like you can with dogs. This breed is VERY intelligent and will analyze people and situations and make a decision based on what she thinks; whereas, a dog will go do what its told (our landlord can explain this better haha).

Wolf-hybrids get the same shots as a dog, they have the same care needed for their nails and teeth as well as they eat the same food a dog does.

The only other special thing about wolf-hybrids is that you get them at 4weeks old whereas a dog you usually get around 6 weeks old. When we first got Tundra, we were told to buy some milk from the vet and feed her 3-4 times a day for 2 weeks (small portions of milk made with warm water). We slowly introduced her to water and now we have her completely off of milk. Because Tundra is a puppy, we were recommended by our breeder to feed her the iams puppy pet food "chicken" and the iams dry puppy food. 

You can read more about Tundra and how we have been raising her at raising-tundra.blogspot.com. I will post your question for anyone else out there that needs to know.

I have never owned a dog let alone a wolf so I thought it would be fun to blog about raising her and post what I learn so that others that decide to get a high-content wolf will know what to do too, because I think we all have the same questions.

Tundra just turned 10 weeks old and I'm still learning how to raise her. Our vet has told us things that we came back with questions about and our breeder/trainer/landlord told us that the Vet was wrong and that the form of discipline was for DOGS.

We are currently in the process of training her so we will post techniques as well.

In other good news, I've asked Jason to help out with creating this blog as I'd love to post some videos on how to train your wolf-hybrid (thank you YouTube). We are learning "down" for when the puppy jumps up.  This is great this time of year when they're tracking mud throughout the house and when guests come over for Christmas dinner you'll want your little wolf to make a good first impression as many people stereotype this beautiful breed without giving it a chance.

I like to joke with Jason that we should have company over ALL the time as Tundra is such an angel when there are people around and loves to play with kids the most. I must admit I'm still nervous with Tundra playing with children as she still likes to bite hands (gently) but sometimes doesn't know her own strength. If you don't know how to properly play with wolf-hybrids they will attack your hands (with love). Thank goodness a wolf-hybrids puppy teeth are sharper than its adult ones!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Wolf-Hybrid Training

Wow, where has the time gone?

Since starting a full time job we have blocked a section of our home to Tundra so she has her kennel to sleep in, a place to do her business and a little section to play.

So far we've come home twice to her creating an absolute mess with her puppy training pad as I'm assuming she got bored. She is already starting to become our little guard dog barking at the cats outside.                    Tundra 7 weeks old --->

This Saturday we had her in doggy obedience as her first Vet visit caused her to freak out at the vet and bite when the vet when to check her lymph nodes (her throat area). A normal dog usually does well but with a high-content wolf breed, you must be very careful when approaching the jugular as they take this as a threat to their life.

Tundra 8 weeks old (Sorry for bad pic of me lol)

After coming home, thankfully, our breeder had an appointment the exact same day with all 4 of his dogs/wolves. He asked which vet was ours and after his appointment reported back that this vet had no idea what she was doing when handling wolves and not only his full grown (well behaved) wolves wanted to bite her face off but also his German Shepards too!

I use the analogy of going to a doctor with humans. If you don't really feel comfortable with your doctor or you get the wrong vibe from them (not matter if they did something wrong or not) you generally don't go back to that doctor. The lady that cut Tundras nails was very good with Tundra and she was a very good girl for that step at the vet.

Well I'm at work so I must run but I will keep postings of how we are training our little wolf (and hopefully Jason will help me out!).

Tundra 9 weeks old --->

Another cute video of our wolf-hybrid busy playing

Tundra being a playful wolf

Here is a cute clip of our wolf-hybrid getting her toy stuck under the couch. She's very vocal lol

Tundra - 7 weeks old - Slept all night

Last night was the first night that Tundra slept all night without needing to pee. She woke us up at 8:00 am whereas she usually wakes us up at 5:45 am or once at 1:30 am and then at her normal quarter to 6.

Jason took her outside the other day without her leash on and aside from running a bit far she did and always came back with a bit of coaxing and praise from us.

I have just recently landed a full time job so I will be gone all day at work. This saddens me in a way to not be there for Tundra but I think in the end it will be more healthy for our little wolf-hybrid.

I've noticed that she's been my shadow a lot lately. Even when Jason is home Tundra is always asleep at my feet while I'm working. I have an old towel thrown down on the tile so she's not too cold.

Tundra has outgrown her puppy kennel and with the start of a new job, we have went ahead and bought her a kennel that is her full blown size. We have decided not to keep Tundra in her kennel while we're both at work, instead, we are going to be sectioning off an area of our place so that she has a place to pee, a place to sleep and a place to play. Update: That went well but be aware that baseboards could end up chewed.

Tundra also bit too hard today. She drew blood on my ankle while "playing" with me. I've been trying to get Tundra to look at my face to read my facial expression that I'm NOT in the playful mood. To do this I simply move my hands toward my face as she seems to look at my hands a lot for direction. I think Tundra will be very good with the hand signals when she's a bit older.

Her paws are slowly getting larger. I had to take a pic to remember how small they are now. Her Dads hands are the size of mine to give you a comparison.

So far tone of voice seem to work and clapping my hands (sort of like the 1,2,3 method taught to children-- 1 being NO! 2 being a clap and three I will take whatever away and gently tap her nose and repeat "NO!"). This method is working very well as I usually don't need to get past clapping my hands together for her to listen... here's hoping "NO!" will start working better (:

Tundra is now a part of our family & we love her. This is our first family pic. Tundra is 6 1/2 weeks old in this picture to the left.