I'm a new member to The Cellar, and I used to have a wolf-hybrid. She was out of a half Dobie ~ half wolf and her sire was a German Shepard. So, she was only 1/4 wolf...but I was constantly amazed at the amount of her wolf-like characteristics.
She was amazingly smart and knew the names of all her different toys, in addition to various phrases and other words. She even learned to s-p-e-l-l..
Her coat was different from a domestic dog.
She did not bark unless there was a reason, and then it was more of a howl-bark. She would also communicate with little yips when she was playful or trying to get our attention.
She did not tolerate children well, we observed her try to put our nephew "in-his-place" and I disabused her of that notion and at that time, decided that since I couldn't change her nature, I would be sure the situation could never be repeated. If children came over, she was placed somewhere out of their reach.
She was born on Thanksgiving Day in 1987 and we lost her in the Spring of 2000.
She survived being shot when she was in the 'care' of a boyfriend. bullet entered to the rightt of her spine over her loins, travelled through her and missed her organs/bloodvessels (vet was AMAZED) and exited at the center/side of her left ribcage, breaking several ribs.
She survived heartworm treatment (injections of cyanide?, some sort of poison...) after I left (escaped) the boyfriend and took (liberated) her with me.
She saved me from a snake by leaping in front of me and leaning on my legs, then grabbing my leg in her mouth when I tried to walk around her...then I saw the snake cross the path.
She accepted my husband-to-be on our first date.
I miss her, but I never forgot her wild roots.
Heidi