A bad owner dumped this wolfdog at a kill shelter when he got too big and too much to handle.

[Demovictory9]

Link to tweet

A bad owner dumped this wolfdog at a kill shelter when he got too big and too much to handle.
Luckily a sanctuary took him instead and saved his life!
His DNA testing came back as 87.5 % Gray Wolf, 8.6 % Siberian Husky, and 3.9 % German Shepherd 🐺🐶

[LisaL]

1. That's basically a wolf with a little of dog thrown in.

Presumably they don't make good pets, so I wouldn't necessarily assume the owner was bad.

[Blue_true]

16. WHY would people purposely breed something like that.

In the wild wolves make dinner out of dogs. Someone had to purposely breed that thing.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Yuki the wolf dog. The shelter says that that angle exaggerates his size.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/yuki-the-wolf-dog-captivates-the-world-after-sanctuary-saves-him-from-kill-shelter/67-400efe0a-1438-45eb-b98d-0ff1f89b914d

[Demovictory9]

4. thanks.more pics

he's at shy wolf sanctuary

?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0px%2C13px%2C640px%2C336px&resize=1200%2C630

[peggysue2]

26. He's still a very big boy

Gotta hand to these volunteers. They're giving him lots of puppy love!

[Disaffected]

9. Donation made.

[Demovictory9]

15. ..

[aikoaiko]

3. Very few people should own such a animal. It takes land, resources, and no kids

That toddler motion kids make when they are young is often irresistible.

And really they need a couple of others to stay happy.

You kind of have to be ready to build and maintain your personal sanctuary if you go down this route.

And they are escape artists -- they can climb and dig.

[2naSalit]

5. Such hybrids should never be created.

Wolfdogs are not good protectors and can be dangerously unpredictable. It's a shame humans like to play gawd with other species as well as their own.

[emmaverybo]

6. I thought breeding this much wolf into a dog, or rather, a bit of dog into a wolf, was illegal in

many states just as owning, selling, putting a more than 5O percent wolf hybrid up for adoption is
breaking the law in some if not many places.

Agree thoroughly with your post.

Saw the result with Malamute whose breeding lines too close to cross-breed with too much wolf.
Malamutes are the closest dog breed to wolf. But illegal (and immoral) cross breeding can result in
an extremely strong animal with anti-social tendencies.

However, 100 percent wolves, the real McCoy, if humans nurture them from birth can become humanity’s best friend.

Wish I had the name of documentary about a couple doing just that in order to replenish wolf stocks in Yellowstone. A year after all had been released, they went to them. Of the footage of
those wolves climbing over the couple to lick their faces!

[2naSalit]

7. Actually...

the Dutchers did not nurture or train those wolves. They lived in a closed environment with them to study them. Wolves do remember people, though, as do other wild animals. They did not intend for them to be pets nor did they treat or accidentally make them pets.

Wolves need to be wild, not pets. They are not as devotional to humans as you imply in your comment. They are social animals but they will normally flee from humans than have anything to do with them, the Dutcher situation was a scientific study, that the wolves remembered them is a bonus rather than the objective.

Google search results for video about the Dutchers:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&source=hp&ei=sAVPXb7NGYuW0gKawJjwDQ&q=jim+and+jamie+dutcher+youtube&oq=Jim+and+Jamie+Dutcher&gs_l=psy-ab.1.9.0l5j0i22i30l5.786.5594..16798...0.0..2.839.5268.0j17j3j1j0j1j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....6..0i308i154j0i131j0i10j0i22i10i30.HDoZCiQAGlY

[emmaverybo]

8. Did not mean to imply the objective was to domesticate the wolves and I had forgotten that they,

the Dutchers, did no hands on for the reason that such involvement would taint the study.

You got the wrong impression from my post. As shown, though not intended to, wolves can extend what the affection they have for their own to humans. This is rare. Who would advise, if she had any sense, that humans domesticate wolves.

I remember a first-hand story of a professor who got hold of a wolf cub. He brought him to work with him. Of course as he grew, he did damage and developed some behavior problems that might have indicated he was psychologically and physically in the entirely wrong environment.

I don't subscribe to the “Grizzly Man” school on wild animals, though I felt he had good, albeit misguided, intentions.

Thank you for a) correcting my mistaken impressions of the true narrative b) adding to knowledge
of it c) finding source on it!

[LeftInTX]

11. Based on the DNA, the wolf had a great grandparent who was a dog

Who knows what the owner knew...it's kinda strange when you think about it....10 - 15 years ago 1/2 breed created. It mates with wolf, pups mate with wolf which has more pups who mate with wolf etc

[emmaverybo]

14. Amazing what DNA can reveal. NT

[Bayard]

10. I am curious

As to how this breeding even occurred.

Really bad idea...

[Codeine]

12. There's a thriving underground

of wolf-dog breeders. They appeal to a certain sort of hillbilly.

[LeftInTX]

13. The wolf has a great grandparent who was huskie/shepard mix

It could have been accidental if the mother was a wild wolf who mated with a dog. The pups of the mix would be raised as wolves. Generations later, someone gets a wolf and finds it is part dog.

Almost all American Bison are part domestic cow.

[Blue_true]

17. How does sonething breed with another something that is normally dinner for it?

That female wolf would likely have been a beast, smaller than a male wolf, but still much more powerful than a male dog.

[UniteFightBack]

25. I'm thinking a male wolf mated with a female dog. nt

[Blue_true]

27. Wolves eat domesticated dogs. I can't get past that.

Maybe a female dog was deep in heat and the wolf chose to have sex with it instead of killing it, that is possible because such animals are highly sensitive to smells and a female dog that is in heat likely gives off a scent during that period, I am not knowledgeable in that area, but that is the only thing I can think of that would have prevented a male wolf from killing it.

[Raine]

18. He's beautiful

I hope they find him just the right home, where he's loved and cared by those who know how to do it. ?

[Demovictory9]

19. the wolf sanctuary will be his home

[Raine]

21. Thanks ... that's the very best place for him! nt

[Hortensis]

22. Turns out it has been for years. He was abandoned at 8 mos

and is 12 years old now and not available for adoption. Explains why he looks just like any other happy fellow with a loving family.

[pecosbob]

20. 120 pounds? That's a lot of animal

I recall when this became a trend some years ago as did breeding wild cats to avoid requirements for menagerie licences. Just so rich people could have a 7/8 mountain lion at home.

In the right environment probably not a problem, but in the wrong environment, as many of these animals live, they're a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Here's hoping for the best for a very impressive animal.

[Bayard]

24. I'm surprised

Where did you see 120 lbs? I have 3 Great Pyrenees that are between 120-150 lbs. He looks a lot bigger than that.

[pecosbob]

29. At the link

The 120-pound majestic wolf-dog has helped raise awareness after he was dumped off at a kill shelter by a previous owner before being given a second chance at life at the sanctuary.

[Bayard]

30. I'll have to try googling this story.

I'm not seeing a link on the original post.

[pecosbob]

31. Sorry...the link was provided by someone posting in the thread, not the OP

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/yuki-the-wolf-dog-captivates-the-world-after-sanctuary-saves-him-from-kill-shelter/67-400efe0a-1438-45eb-b98d-0ff1f89b914d

[Skittles]

28. that dog weighs more than me

fact

[alphafemale]

23. That looks full wolf to me.

Glad there is a sanctuary where he can can sort of live a wolf life.