Wolfdog

Wolfdog

An Arctic wolf/Alaskan malamute hybrid from Lobo Park, Antequera
Other names	Wolf–dog hybrid Wolf hybrid
Traits
Classification and standards Not recognized by any major kennel club
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

A wolfdog (also called a wolf–dog hybrid or wolf hybrid) is a canid hybrid resulting from the mating of a gray wolf (various Canis lupus subspecies) and a dog (Canis lupus familiaris). The term "wolfdog" is preferred by most of the animals' proponents and breeders because the domestic dog was taxonomically recategorized in 1993 as a subspecies of Canis lupus, which includes gray wolves. (By extension, a wolfdog is also a member of Canis lupus.) The American Veterinary Medical Association and the United States Department of Agriculture refer to the animals as wolf–dog hybrids.^[1] Rescue organizations consider any dog with wolf heritage within the last five generations to be a wolfdog, including some established wolfdog breeds.^[2]

In 1998, the USDA estimated an approximate population of 300,000 wolfdogs in the United States (the highest of any country world-wide), with some other sources giving a population possibly as high as 500,000.^[1] In first-generation hybrids, gray wolves are most often crossed with wolf-like dogs (such as German Shepherds, Siberian Huskies, and Alaskan Malamutes) for an appearance most appealing to owners desiring an exotic pet.^[3]

History

Prehistoric wolfdogs

Evidence for prehistoric domesticated wolfdogs in the Americas dates back at least 10,000 years^[4] while fossil evidence in Europe points to their use in hunting mammoths.^[5]

Teotihuacan wolfdogs

In 2010, experts announced that they had found the remains of many wolf-dogs that had been kept by the warrior class of the Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico's central valley about two thousand years ago, and that, in light of this evidence, certain animals commonly depicted in the art of that culture and which had been thought to be strange dogs or coyotes were likely instead wolf-dogs.^[6]

British wolfdogs

Wolfdogs, as illustrated in The Menageries: Quadrupeds Described and Drawn from Living Subjects by W. Ogilby, 1829

The first record of wolfdog breeding in Great Britain comes from the year 1766 when what is thought was a male wolf mated with a dog identified in the language of the day as a "Pomeranian", although it may have differed from the modern Pomeranian breed. The union resulted in a litter of nine pups. Wolfdogs were occasionally purchased by English noblemen, who viewed them as a scientific curiosity. Wolfdogs were popular exhibits in British menageries and zoos.^[3]

Documented breeding

Today, at least seven breeds of dog exist that acknowledge a significant amount of recent wolf-dog hybridization in their creation. One breed is the Wolamute, a/k/a Malawolf, a cross between an Alaskan Malamute, considered to be quite possibly the oldest domesticated breed in the world, and a Timber Wolf. Four breeds were the result of intentional crosses with German Shepherd Dogs (one of the original intentionally bred wolf/dogs crossbreed), and have distinguishing characteristics of appearance that may reflect the varying subspecies of wolf that contributed to their foundation stock. Other, more unusual crosses have occurred; recent experiments in Germany were conducted in the crossing of wolves and poodles.^[7] The intent behind creating the breeds has ranged widely from simply the desire for a recognizable companion high-content wolfdog to professional military working dogs. Typical examples include:

German Shepherds

The breeding program that created the German Shepherd included wolfdogs

Among the dogs used in the development of the German Shepherd at least four were either wolfdogs or partly descended from wolfdogs. In 1899, Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College, was attending a dog show when he was shown a dog named Hektor Linksrhein who was allegedly one-quarter wolf. Renamed Horand von Grafrath, the dog and his progeny were used to create the Alsatian Wolf Dog, currently known as the German Shepherd. Horand became the centre-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits. Although fathering many pups, Horand's most successful was Hektor von Schwaben.^[8] Hektor was line bred with another of Horand's offspring and produced Beowulf, who later fathered a total of eighty-four pups, mostly through being line bred with Hektor's other offspring. In the original German Shepherd studbook, Zuchtbuch für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SZ), within the 2 pages of entries from SZ #41 to SZ #76, there are 4 Wolf Crosses.^[9] This is the first 'documented' use of pure wolf genes to create a domestic dog breed, the German Shepherd, which is historically thought to be the first documented intentionally bred wolfdog.

The Saarloos Wolfdog

A Saarloos Wolfdog

The Saarlooswolfhond traces its origins to the efforts of a Dutch breeder in 1921.^{[citation needed]} Dutch breeder Leendert Saarloos started crossbreeding a German Shepherd male to a female Mackenzie Valley Wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis). He aimed for an improved version of the German Shepherd that would be immune to canine distemper. He succeeded insofar that the Saarloos wolfdog is known today as a strong imposing breed that has kept its wolf-like characteristics; it is cautious, reserved, and lacks the ferocity to attack. It is not, however, the dog that Leendert Saarloos hoped to get, as nearly all the first-generation hybrids succumbed to distemper. Until Leendert Saarloos died in 1969, he was in full control over the breeding of his "European Wolfdog". The Dutch Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1975. To honor its creator they changed the name to "Saarloos Wolfdog". In 1981 the breed was recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). Some Saarloos Wolfdogs have been trained as guide dogs for the blind and as rescue dogs.

The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog

A Czechoslovakian Wolfdog

In the 1950s, the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog was also created to work on border patrol in the countries now known as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is recognized by the Foundation Stock Service of the American Kennel Club, the United Kennel Club, and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, and today is used in agility, obedience, search and rescue, police work, therapy work, and herding in Europe and the United States.

The Lupo Italiano

A Lupo Italiano

The Lupo Italiano was created in 1966 by crossing a wild wolf from Northern Lazio with a German Shepherd.^[10] Its maternal genetics and gestation was from the wild wolf.^[11]

The Kunming Wolfdog

A Kunming Dog

The Kunming Wolfdog (Chinese: 昆明狼狗; pinyin: Kūnmíng lánggǒu), also commonly known as the Kunming Dog (Chinese: 昆明犬; pinyin: Kūnmíng quǎn)^[12] is an established breed of wolfdog originated in China.^[13] Unlike most other wolfdog crosses, Kunming dogs are suitable as guard dogs and working dogs due to their German Shepherd dog ancestry. They have been trained as military assistant dogs to perform a variety of tasks such as detecting mines. Some are also trained to be fire dogs and rescue dogs.^[14] Today they are commonly kept as family companions by many pet owners in China.

New World Black Wolves

Genetic research has shown that wolves with black pelts owe their coloration to a mutation that first arose in domestic dogs

Genetic research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, Los Angeles revealed that wolves with black pelts owe their distinctive coloration to a mutation that entered the wolf population through wolf-dog hybridisation.^[15] Adolph Murie was among the first wolf biologists to speculate that the wide color variation in wolves was due to interbreeding with dogs;^[16]

"I suppose that some of the variability exhibited in these wolves could have resulted from crossings in the wild with dogs. Such crosses in the wild have been reported and the wolf in captivity crosses readily with dogs. Some years ago at Circle, Alaska, a wolf hung around the settlement for some time and some of the dogs were seen with it. The people thought that the wolf was a female attracted to the dogs during the breeding period. However, considerable variability is probably inherent in the species, enough perhaps to account for the variations noted in the park and in skins examined. The amount of crossing with dogs has probably not been sufficient to alter much the genetic composition of the wolf population."

— The Wolves of Mount McKinley by Adolph Murie, 1944, ISBN 0-295-96203-8, 978-0-295-96203-0, 238 pages

In 2008, Dr. Gregory S. Barsh, a professor of genetics and pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine used molecular genetic techniques to analyze DNA sequences from 150 wolves, half of them black, in Yellowstone National Park, which covers parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. It was discovered that a gene mutation responsible for the protein beta-defensin 3, known as the K locus, is responsible for the black coat color in dogs.^[17] After finding that the same mutation was responsible for black wolves in North America and the Italian Apennines, he set out to discover the origin of the mutation. Dr. Barsh and his colleagues concluded that the mutation arose in dogs 12,779 to 121,182 years ago, with a preferred date of 46,886 years ago after comparing large sections of wolf, dog, and coyote genomes.^[15] At the University of California, Los Angeles, Robert K. Wayne, a canine evolutionary biologist, stated that he believed that dogs were the first to have the mutation. He further stated that even if it originally arose in Eurasian wolves, it was passed on to dogs who, soon after their arrival, brought it to the New World and then passed it to wolves and coyotes.^[18] Black wolves with recent dog ancestry tend to retain black pigment longer as they age.^[19]

Random-bred wolfdogs

Cases of accidental breeding of wolfdogs are known (though this is very rare), where a domestic dog female on oestrus strays and is mated by a male wild wolf.

Breed-specific legislation

The wolfdog hybrid has been the center of controversy for much of its history, and most breed-specific legislation is either the result of the animal's perceived danger or its categorization as protected native wildlife.^[20] The Humane Society of the United States, the RSPCA, Ottawa Humane Society, the Dogs Trust and the Wolf Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission consider wolfdogs to be wild animals and therefore unsuitable as pets, and support an international ban on the private possession, breeding, and sale of wolfdogs.^[3][21][22]

According to the National Wolfdog Alliance, 40 U.S. states effectively forbid the ownership, breeding, and importation of wolfdogs, while others impose some form of regulation upon ownership.^[23] In Canada, the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island prohibit wolfdogs as pets.^[24] Most European nations either outlaw the animal entirely or put restrictions on ownership.^[25][26] Wolfdogs were among the breeds banned from the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton and elsewhere after a fatal dog attack by a pit bull on a child.^[27]

Wolfdogs in the wild

Hybridization in the wild usually occurs near human habitations where wolf density is low and dogs are common.^[28] However, there were several reported cases of wolfdogs in areas with normal wolf densities in the former Soviet Union.^[29] Wild wolfdogs were occasionally hunted by European aristocracy, and were termed lycisca to distinguish them from common wolves.^[30] Noted historic cases (such as the Beast of Gévaudan) of large wolves that were abnormally aggressive toward humans, may be attributable to wolf-dog mating.^[1] In Europe, unintentional matings of dogs and wild wolves have been confirmed in some populations through genetic testing. As the survival of some Continental European wolf packs is severely threatened, scientists fear that the creation of wolfdog populations in the wild is a threat to the continued existence of European wolf populations.^[31] However, extensive wolf–dog hybridization is not supported by morphological evidence, and analyses of mtDNA sequences have revealed that such matings are rare.^[28] In 1997, during the Mexican Wolf Arizona Reintroduction, controversy arose when a captive pack at Carlsbad designated for release was found to be largely composed of wolfdogs by Roy McBride, who had captured many wolves for the recovery programme in the 1970s. Though staff initially argued that the animals' odd appearance was due to captivity and diet, it was later decided to euthanise them.^[32]

Description

Skeleton of a wolf-dog hybrid from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The physical characteristics of an animal created by breeding a wolf to a dog are not predictable, similar to that of mixed-breed dogs. Genetic research shows that wolf and dog populations initially diverged approximately 14,000 years ago and have interbred only occasionally since, accounting for the dissimilarity between dogs and wolves in behavior and appearance.^[33] In many cases the resulting adult wolfdog may be larger than either of its parents due to the genetic phenomenon of heterosis (commonly known as hybrid vigor).^[1] Breeding experiments in Germany with poodles and wolves, and later on with the resulting wolfdogs showed unrestricted fertility, mating via free choice and no significant problems of communication (even after a few generations). The offspring of poodles with either coyotes and jackals however all showed a decrease in fertility, significant communication problems, and an increase of genetic diseases after three generations of interbreeding between the hybrids. The researchers therefore concluded that domestic dogs and wolves are the same species.^[7]

Hybrids display a wide variety of appearances, ranging from a resemblance to dogs without wolf blood to animals that are often mistaken for full-blooded wolves. A lengthy study by DEFRA and the RSPCA found several examples of misrepresentation by breeders and indeterminate levels of actual wolf pedigree in many animals sold as wolfdogs. The report noted that uneducated citizens misidentify dogs with wolf-like appearance as wolfdogs.^[3] Wolfdogs tend to have somewhat smaller heads than pure wolves, with larger, pointier ears that lack the dense fur commonly seen in those of wolves. Fur markings also tend to be very distinctive and not well blended. Black coloured hybrids tend to retain black pigment longer as they age, compared to black wolves.^[19] In some cases, the presence of dewclaws on the hind feet is considered a useful, but not absolute indicator of dog gene contamination in wild wolves. Dewclaws are the vestigial first toes, which are common on the hind legs of domestic dogs but thought absent from pure wolves, which only have four hind toes.^[31] Observations on wild wolf hybrids in the former Soviet Union indicate that wolf hybrids in a wild state may form larger packs than pure wolves, and have greater endurance when chasing prey.^[34] High wolf-content hybrids typically have longer canine teeth than dogs of comparable size, with some officers in the South African Defence Force commenting that the animals are capable of biting through the toughest padding "like a knife through butter".^[35] Their sense of smell apparently rivals that of most established scenthounds. Tests undertaken in the Perm Institute of Interior Forces in Russia demonstrated that high wolf-content hybrids took 15–20 seconds to track down a target in training sessions, whereas ordinary police dogs took 3–4 minutes.^[36]

Health

Wolf-dog hybrids are generally said to be naturally healthy animals, and are affected by fewer inherited diseases than most breeds of dog. Wolfdogs are usually healthier than either parent due to heterosis.^[1] Some of the established breeds of wolfdog that exist today were bred specifically to improve the health and vigor of working dogs.

There is some controversy over the effectiveness of the standard dog/cat rabies vaccine on a wolfdog. The USDA has not to date approved any rabies vaccine for use in wolf-dog hybrids, though they do recommend an extra-label use of the vaccine.^[37] Wolfdog owners and breeders purport that the lack of official approval is a political move to prevent condoning wolfdog ownership.^[38]

Temperament and behavior

Wolf-dog hybrids are a mixture of genetic traits, which results in less predictable behavior patterns compared to either the wolf or dog.^[1] The adult behavior of hybrid pups also cannot be predicted with comparable certainty to dog pups, even in third-generation pups produced by wolfdog matings with dogs or from the behavior of the parent animals.^[1] Thus, though the behavior of a single individual wolf hybrid may be predictable, the behavior of the type as a whole is not.^[1] The majority of high wolf-content hybrids are very curious and are generally no more destructive than any other curious or active dogs.

Aggression

A wolf’s behavior is typically more socially shy and timid toward humans than that of a dog.^{[39][40][41][42]} Due to the variability inherent to their hybridization^[1], whether a wolf–dog cross should be considered more dangerous than a dog depends on behavior specific to the individual alone rather than to wolfdogs as a group. In addition to innate behavioral tendencies, learned behaviors and environment can lead to (or mitigate) aggression. Any risk to public safety is affected by the socialization of each individual wolf–dog cross, and the socialization of each individual is affected by training methods.

There is no conclusive evidence to show that wolfdogs are more aggressive toward humans than other big dogs (e.g., Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Chows, and Pit Bulls).^{[citation needed]} The behavior of a wolf-dog is not directly proportional to its percentage of wolf content. A high percentage wolf–dog cross may have behavior more typical of a dog. Conversely, a low-percentage wolf–dog cross could behave more like a wolf. The behavior of a wolfdog is not determined by its genotype or phenotype.^{[citation needed]} The innate behavior of a specific animal can fall anywhere within the broad spectrum of its genetic background. There is no scientific, peer-reviewed statistical evidence that suggests wolf-dogs pose any greater threat to humans, animals, and property than other domestic breeds of the canine family. Most incidents of canine attacks involve irresponsible ownership, such as the lack of proper containment, or unsupervised contact or contact with the wolfdog without the owner's knowledge or consent.^{[citation needed]}

Trainability

The view that aggressive characteristics are inherently a part of wolfdog temperament has been contested in recent years by wolfdog breeders and other advocates of wolfdogs as pets.^[43][44] Proponents of wolfdogs as pets say that the higher wolf-content animals are naturally timid and fearful of humans, but that with proper human association, training, and responsible ownership nearly all wolfdogs can become good companions, especially if their association and training begins at an early age. Even in cases of wolfdogs displaying consistently dog-like behavior, they may occasionally retain some wolf-like behavior such as digging dens, chewing up household items, climbing fences, and, to varying degrees, displaying some difficulty in housebreaking in relation to how high their wolf genetic content is. Low wolf-content wolfdogs rarely have these problems any more strongly or significantly than any other large-breed dog.

Further reading

• Living with Wolfdogs by Nicole Wilde
• Wolfdogs A-Z: Behavior, Training & More by Nicole Wilde
• The Wolf Hybrid by Dorothy Prendergast
• Above Reproach: A Guide for Wolf Hybrid Owners by Dorothy Prendergast
• Between Dog and Wolf: Understanding the Connection and Confusion by Jessica Addams and Andrew Miller

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wolf-dog hybrid.

• Black wolf
• Coydog
• Coywolf
• Domestication of the dog
• Interbreeding of dingoes with other domestic dogs
• Jackal-Dog Hybrid
• Wolves as pets and working animals

References

External links

• Wolfdog Rescue Resources
• Wolfdogs Magazine
• Wolfdog Education: the Basics
• Wolf-dog Education