
What Happens to Wolves When They're Raised Like Dogs? - ourmandave
http://gizmodo.com/what-happens-to-wolves-when-theyre-raised-like-dogs-1796458238
======
novia
I became frustrated that the article spent 3-4 paragraphs putzing around
before getting to any real meat. So, I made this list of the key points:

\- The goal was to sort out which dog behaviors were already present in
ancestral wolves

\- Wolves like to lick each others’ faces (even without being raised by
humans)

\- Wolves are capable of following a person’s gaze into space

\- Wolves understand gestures like finger pointing (anecdote: my dog doesn't
understand this...)

\- Wolves can become attached to their human caregivers

\- Wolves are able to form lasting affiliative relationships with their
caretakers, though without a sense of dependence.

\- The wolves raised like puppies approached human visitors of all types
(known, unknown) readily and willingly.

* The 12-month-old and 24-month-old wolves approached their foster-parents and close acquaintances with affection, but they were a bit apprehensive when approaching other humans.

* The six-month-old wolf pups flocked to their human caregivers in an “intense and friendly” manner, and they were comfortable in the company of all visitor types.

\- No aggressive behaviors were documented, but some of the wolf pups
exhibited crouching and tail-tucking behaviors when approaching the strangers,
which suggests they were a bit scared.

\- Given that some of the wolves were as old as 24 months during the
experiments, the results suggest that human-raised wolves will continue to
seek contact with humans into early adulthood.

\- The sample sizes weren’t great; a total of ten wolf pups were used in the
study.

\- To keep the interactions as consistent as possible, visitors were told to
wear the same clothing, not wear any perfume or cologne, and not have anything
in their pocket, along with a host of other control measures.

------
btilly
The article misses the most important point about what happens when wolves are
raised like dogs.

The full-grown wolf will be a wonderful and intelligent member of the
household right until the master of the house shows some sign of injury. Then
your loving pet will try to take control of "the pack".

This is the primary reason that they have to get euthanized. At that point
they cannot live in the wild, and they are no longer safe to have in your
home.

~~~
alex_stoddard
That sounds very plausible. I would be very interested in sources for this.
How many accounts of wolves raised as pets exist and when and where have
wolves had to be euthanized? Is there a distinction between accounts where the
euthanasia occurred before an actual incident of dominance/attack versus
after.

~~~
btilly
I learned about this from an interview on a TV show where people who rescued
wolves explained how their wolves came to be there and why people shouldn't
have wolves as pets.

I've run across the tidbit at other places, but nothing that I can easily
google for at the moment. (Googling for "wolf pet dominance" comes up with
debates about training pet dogs by establishing yourself as the alpha.)

------
err4nt
After reading that article, my main takeaways are:

\- both dogs and wolves are capable of bonding with humans

\- dogs prefer dependence on others (even inter-species)

\- wolves prefer independence from all outside their 'pack'

\- wolves can allow humans into their 'pack', but will still view all humans
outside their pack as 'other'

It seems like domestication of wolves is possible, but not really beneficial
for either the wolves or the humans as a species.

