We’re making a short film that we need a wolf to appear in. We’re going to digitally and prosthetically make the wolf do certain things for closeups, but we’d love a couple of wider shots of the wolf. The problem is, of course, having a real wolf would be somewhat dangerous, if not impossible.
Which domestic dogs are the most wolf-like in body and head appearance?
I know an Alaskan Malamute has a very wolf-like face, so we’re looking into that. However, their body isn’t quite right, not lean enough and with a curly tail. Though we do want it to be a large and ferocious, imposing wolf.
We’re capable of digitally combining one head onto another body. That’d work to a limited extent for a quick shot, or a silhouette, but we’d need to have the right one of each.
I was going to suggest an Alaskan Malamute before I read your OP (I had several growing up. they are beautiful but probably too refined and powerful looking).
Domestic wolves aren’t exactly rare and wolf-dog hybrids are common as well. My father had three timber wolves for a while. They may not be the best choice for pets but they can generally do Ok around people under the watchful eye of their owner.
There may be a rescue or other association that knows about them in your area and be thrilled to have one captured on film.
Alaskan Malemute, Siberian Husky, and Norwegian Elkhound are probably the most wolf-like breeds. But all have curled tails, and none of them would be mistaken for a real wolf in anything but a fairly distant or rapid shot. If you want something that really looks like a wolf, you will probably have to use a wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid.
I agree that you could find a mixed-breed that would look pretty good. Growing up we had a “coy-dog” that was 1/4 coyote, 1/4 German sheppard and half husky. Looked just like a wolf. When we explained to people that she was part coyote they always asked, “you mean wolf?”. Don’t know that you’ll find any coy-dogs down-under though.
Tamaskans and Utonagans look perfect! I’m going to check around to see if any live here in Australia. Failing that we’ll probably fall back on traditional siberian huskies or alaskan malamutes.
Be sure to get the size right, either through implied scale and camera trickery or other ways. Wolves and wolf hybrids are surprisingly large. Larger, generally, than the huskies and that beautiful Utonagan in the picture. This is a good example. For the more scientific, this page says that wolves are, mostly, taller at the shoulder than an Akita, and an Akita is a reasonably large dog.
The most wolf-like dog I ever met was a Native American Indian Dog.
I have met several wolves, and if this dog’s owner had not told me otherwise, I would have thought for sure it was a wolf. It somewhat resembled the Utonagan but actually his face was even more wolf-like, and unlike huskies, he had a very rangy build.
Apparently this breed comes in two lines, short and stocky and tall and lanky.
The one I met was tall and lanky, about 95 lbs, very friendly and submissive.
He enjoyed running around and playing with my dog.
The sites I’ve looked at seem a little sketchy in terms of what actually goes into the breed. Regardless, that was one wolf-like animal, appearence-wise. Native American indian Dog
It’s doubtful this breed is found in Australia, but you never know.
I just recently saw a piece, on the local news, about a private preserve where the take in wolves. I’m pretty sure it’s in Oregon. Some Googling might come up w/ the location. I don’t know your location, but it might be possible to film the real thing.
I might be able to help in locating the place if you’re interested.
Huskys and Malamutes are more easily available, but not all of them resemble wolves. The overweight “wolf” in “Dr. Quinn - Medicine Woman” is quite bad.
Yes. All members of the genus Canis, including wolves, domestic dogs (really just a domesticated wolf), coyotes, and jackals, are all interfertile, and produce fertile hybrids.
Before someone asks why they aren’t considered the same species, according to the Biological Species Concept species are those populations that do not regularly hybridize in nature. Since these groups do not do so, they are not considered to belong to the same species. (Domestic dogs, however, are now by convention usually considered to belong to the same species as the Timber (Gray) Wolf because that is the ancestral form.)
