The Wolf Hybrid: Percentages

Are percentages
of wolf meaningful?

wolfdog, any animal, will be the product of its parents. However, genetics will result in a certain amount of variation around a given norm. A hybrid's pedigree is nothing more than a probability figure as to what can be expected. It is not an accurate assessment of how an individual will turn out, but is a general guideline. However, a hybrid out of a pure wolf should be considered more difficult to work with. Most "first generation" animals are generally less suited as a good pet by most people's standards and expectations. These "poorer pet-quality" animals often do not "work out," for such hybrids generally exceed the ability of most people to socialize, contain, and generally provide a safe home. The same can be said of hybrids whose pedigrees indicate a wolf-content somewhere above 50% wolf. This is of course assuming that the pedigree is accurate and does not misrepresent the wolf-content. Although percentages are nothing more than a general guideline, they will be used for the sake of simplicity in descriptions of animals in this presentation.
Figure 15	Figure 16
This animal's pedigree indicated that she was 50% wolf. A pure wolf was several generations in her background. She was good in the house, was well trained and about as tractable as many northern-breed dogs. Her markings were also typical of many northern-breed dogs and over-all she was a good "pet."	This animal's pedigree also indicated that he was 50% wolf. A pure wolf was several generations in his background. He was not good in the house, he was very shy and was not very tractable. Overall his markings and build are those of a wolf. The only clear indication that he is part dog are his large pointed ears and relatively small head.

Variation within a litter
can be striking

Figures 17-19 are five-month-old litter mates out of mid-content hybrids. Figure 17 is a male, who for the most, part looked and acted much like a dog. Figure 18 is his sister who was more wolf-like in both appearance and behavior. While both are restrained by the owner in figure 19, she can be seen to fuss and resent the restraint. While her brother was tractable and easy to train, she required much more intensive handling and care.

Figure 17

Figure 18

Figure 19

There are no hard and fast rules with hybrids. Being fully interfertile, and back-crossing being a rule, rather than an exception, one cannot even assign a specific "percent" criteria for suitability as pets, as has been done in some legislation. However, one can make the general statement that often, low-content hybrids will work out as "pets." This is especially true of hybrids which are the product of breeding a mid-wolf-content animal to a dog. Many such "low-content" hybrids even fall well within the general expectations for dogs. This of course does not make them "absolutely safe," for any canine can be dangerous under the right (or perhaps it should be said, wrong) circumstances.

It can also be said that the higher wolf-content animals are generally more difficult to work with. The more wolf that the animal has in it's pedigree, the more wolf-like characteristics are being exhibited. In general, the more work it will take for a person to get equivalent results one might expect in a dog. In very high wolf-content animals, you often cannot achieve the same goals, especially with reliability, you could achieve with a dog. There are exceptions to this, but exceptions should never be taken as the norm, made into an excuse for irresponsible ownership, or made into an example as what can be expected of every animal in every situation.

The problem many face, is assessing a wolfdog in both its pedigree and its behavior. Even taking into account the unreliability of numbers due to fraud, and the uncertainties due to genetics, you will often find many exceptions to any rule developed. Ideally, the concept of "what an animal is supposed to be" should be discarded. Assessment should be made primarily on the animal's behavior and how suitable it is in the environment that it is being kept. Only then can you can begin to ascertain what should be expected of the animal. Of course that does not help the lay person, or most "professionals" who have to deal with various situations involving hybrids, for experience with many hybrids of known background is necessary before such assessments can be made.

To further complicate the issue, the higher content animals are not necessarily the ones to bite someone or otherwise cause an "incident." The biggest problem with high wolf-content animals is that they are more likely to have a miserable life. Many are shy and afraid of people. Far too many are stuck in small pens with little or no mental stimulation for their entire life.

Low wolf-content hybrids

Figure 20

This animal is a "25%" wolf P1 backcross. His parents were a malamute and a F1 wolf x malamute. Nothing about this animal is overtly "wolf-like" however; he was very intense in his behavior, more so than most dogs, and this made him a difficult animal to work with. No animal should ever be taken for granted and it cannot be stressed enough that each animal has to be analyzed as an individual, regardless of what it is "supposed" to be. Just because an animal is "25%" wolf, does not make it safe. Just because an animal is 0% wolf does not make it safe.

Figure 21

These two animals are also two generations removed from a pure wolf. Their pedigree indicated that they are 25% wolf, 25% malamute, 50% German Shepherd. Nothing about these animals was overtly wolf-like. Such animals would be impossible to clearly identify as hybrids based on their phenotype.

Figure 22

This animal is a malamute. In comparison to figure 21, this animal appears more "wolf-like," yet it is a dog. The similarity and apparent complete overlap in general characteristics between many low wolf-content hybrids and some dogs make clear identification based on phenotype virtually impossible with many hybrids.

Now that you have some feel for what a wolfdog should look like, just for fun, I thought it would be a good idea at this point to present you with a little test of your skills. Can you guess what this animal is? Just click on your choice to the right to see if you are correct.

Pure wolf

High wolf content wolfdog

Mid wolf content wolfdog

Low content wolfdog

Pure dog

High wolf-content hybrids Identification based on phenotype of pure wolves from high wolf-content hybrids can also be difficult or impossible.
Figure 23	Figures 23 and 24 are both animals on display at wildlife facilities. The animals' genetic backgrounds are very questionable. The animal in Figure 23 was acquired as a young pup from a hybrid "rescue" operation and was claimed to be a pure wolf. However, when traced, it was discovered this animal may have come from a breeder where the animals are misrepresented as pure wolves when in reality they are most likely hybrids. The animal in Figure 24 was caught in the greater Los Angeles, California area. The animal's owner was known, and he claimed it was a pure arctic wolf. The animal eventually ended up at a wolf facility. Again, a back ground check traced the animal to a breeder who produced only hybrids. Although this animal gives every outward appearance of being a wolf, it may in fact be 1/8 Great Pyrenees! Figure 25 is a known hybrid whose pedigree indicates "20%" dog. Like the animals in figures 23 and 24, this animal shows no outward appearance of being part dog. In this case, both parents were hybrids.
Figure 24
Figure 25

For permission to use or for more information about wolf photographs please check with Monty Sloan