After getting denali around Christmas time last year, I really hadn’t planned on getting another dog for a while. Then I came back to Memphis and met a friend’s wolf hybrid. He was a big beautiful four year old dog and I found myself really wanting one. I’m terribly impulsive when it comes to things like this. If I really really want something, I usually figure out how to get it. So I scoured the local papers and found a breeder with 7 week old pups, one of which was a beautiful blue eyed little girl cub. This was a few days before Railsconf so I figured I’d read up on them some more and make my final decision when I returned. At railsconf I ended up talking a handful of people’s ears off about how beautiful and wonderful these wolf dogs were. I think everyone thought I was a little crazy when I’d describe my desire to have a wolf. I even had an Engine Yard client tell me “You look like the kinda person who would own a wolf.” I don’t really know if that’s a complement or what…
So this is my new wolf dog . She’s 7/8ths Arctic and Timber wolf and 1/8th Husky, so she’s technically a ‘high content’ wolf dog.
EVERYONE seems to have an opinion on this. If only I had a dollar for every genius who told me “you just gotta be the alpha…” Animal behavior, especially psuedo-wild animals, is actually a hell of a lot more complicated than just being ‘the alpha.’ So I’ve been reading a bunch to expose myself to possible warning signs of behavioral problems and hopefully make the years to come really easy for our pack. :)
The silly thing is that I really didn’t find the resources that were most informative until after I’d had Cindy for a week or two. If you or anyone you know is ever considering getting a wolf hybrid check out Nicole Wilde’s Living with Wolfdogs, it’s extremely informative. If I’d read that book before I got Cindy, I might not have gotten such a high content wolf dog. I am a little weary of what she’ll be like from about 10 months to 2 years, a lot of the ‘wolfy’ behavior seems to come out when they hit sexual maturity. Specifically I’m scared about a Cindy/Denali alpha bitch clash at some point, I really should have gotten a male. I also pretty much committed myself to living in houses with 6 foot tall fences for the next 10-15 years, apartments just won’t cut it. There are just all of these little things you have to keep an eye out for because, well, they’re not dogs. :(
Anyway, she’s a simply wonderful little pup. I’m doing daily clicker training with her and Denali(separately of course). She’s got three labs to play with and a big back yard. She also gets to play with Hubble and Kioko practically every day. I really doubt socialization will be an issue with her. Her flickr set will grow in time, but probably not as quickly as she’s growing. She’s 13 weeks now, and I give her another 6-8 weeks before she’s bigger than Denali. I’m definitely have a shitload of fun with the dogs right now. :)
