I can see how a certain kind of person would like the idea of a wolfdog. If you prefer your canines big and powerful, they’ve likely got you covered.
But if you think a mixed breed doggo is a roll of the dice in terms of appearance and temperament, they’ve got nothing on wolfdogs .
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Wolfdogs are exactly what they sound like, a canine created by mating wolves with domesticated dogs.
If that sounds risky to you, you’re right, though not because the wolf side makes them dangerous. Basically, you can’t predict anything about how the animal will behave as an adult.
Like any animal, it’s hard to know its personality until it’s grown up.
Wolfdogs aren’t necessarily more dangerous than a domestic canine, but if you get a poor mix of size and temperament, then you could end up with a giant dog whose naughtiness could be a safety issue.
That’s pretty much what happened to Yuki, a wolf dog that gained fame when a photo of him and a volunteer was shared on Reddit.
It was shared by the woman in the photo, Brittany Allen
Of course, people immediately started accusing her of photoshopping it.
She explained that it was just forced perspective that made him seem so much larger than her.
Then she posted a video clip from the same photo session on Instagram as extra proof.
Yuki was originally purchased from a breeder as a puppy.
But by eight months old he was already proving to be too much to handle and the family left him at a local kill shelter.
I can’t imagine a dog his size with puppy energy. Yeesh!
Thankfully, Shy Wolf Sanctuary stepped in to save him.
The non-profit sanctuary is based in Naples, Florida. They focus on giving homes to exotic animals that can’t live in the wild and on educating people about those breeds.
He was first saved in 2008 and had such an outgoing personality that the sanctuary considered making him their ambassador.
A DNA test revealed his genetic make-up to be 87.5% Gray Wolf, 8.6% Siberian Husky, and 3.9% German Shepherd. No wonder he’s big and energetic!
Unfortunately, an injury and surgeries left Yuki unable to take that role.
One of the sanctuary directors explained , “The wound ended up taking a total of 5 surgeries to finally repair and in that time Yuki became cage aggressive.”
Though he’s grown less outgoing, Yuki still loves people, especially the ladies.
Look at that face!
Wolfdogs are considered wild animals by most animal groups, which means they aren’t adoptable. For animals like Yuki, a sanctuary is the only safe home available.
Brittany explained that she’d never get so cozy with a wolfdog in the wild, but it’s different at the sanctuary.
“The animals I work with have never been in the wild and never will be, so they are more socialized,” she said .
They want people to understand the animals rather than fear them.
“We show off their adorable moments in the hope of helping people identify with them at least and maybe change their fear response into a healthy respect through education,” Brittany added, “And also giving an animal a chance at a decent life when otherwise they would be euthanized.”
And Yuki has had more than 10 years of love and safety at the sanctuary.
“He has gained the nickname ‘Woowoo’ because when he sees any of his chosen volunteers that is the noise he makes, beckoning that volunteer to come spend time with him,” said volunteer Jeremy Albrecht.
Unfortunately, Yuki was diagnosed with cancer last year and won’t be able to recover from it.
For now, the staff and volunteers at Shy Wolf Sanctuary are making sure his last days are happy and full of belly rubs.
h/t: Bored Panda
