# Are there animals which are part dog and part wolf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570 "2013-06-21T17:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570/61 "2013-06-24T06:26:17Z")
Just posting in regard to the argument about Wolves being able to chew through chain mesh fences. > [@](#): > > For the average wolfdog we recommend fencing that is at least 6ft tall using 9 gauge chain link. We do not recommend using 7 gauge chain link as some wolfdogs will easily be able to chew through it and make their escape. [http://yamnuskawolfdogsanctuary.com/resources/containment/](http://yamnuskawolfdogsanctuary.com/resources/containment/) Another [国产精品宅男宅女在线观看\_狠狠综合久久久久尤物丿\_日本电影中文字幕一区久久久久久久看\_久久国产无码性爱视频](http://www.wolf-to-wolfdog.org/chapter3.pdf) Some information about “Wolf Dogs” including temperament and containment, which includes a remark about them having been known to chew through low gauge wire fences > **[Wolfdog Information and Pictures](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/w/wolfdog.htm)** > > The Wolfdog is not a purebred dog. It is a cross between the Wolf and the domestic dog. Certainly seems like they can “chew” through some levels of wire fences and that, when properly trained and looked after can be good pets. ---
**Author:** ![AdamF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/adamf/32/6246_2.png) [@AdamF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdamF)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570/62 "2013-06-24T15:05:41Z")
> [@Dynastia](#): > > If you’re talking only about first-generation wolfdogs, then fair enough. But the established breeds (which still have a full 50% wolf to them, not just traces) are considered perfectly suitable to being pets. They’re obviously not going to be as easily trained as a golden retriever or a lab, and they’re not at all suitable for a nervous or inexperienced dog owner, but the same could be said of pitbulls, kelpies, any kind of sheepdog, etc. > > If you google the name of an established breed like the Saarloos Wolfhound or Czechoslovakian Wolfdog you’ll find lots of reputable citations in their favour and very few against them. They even used Saarloos Wolfdogs as guide dogs. I would like to nitpick this. Neither of the above are 50% wolf. Saarloos Wolfhound started out as 1/4 wolf breed from a single female wolf. As far as I could find, this has been diluted somewhat to reduce inbreeding. Czechoslovak Wolfhound was started with 5 dogs and 5 wolves, with pups breeding with pure dogs until the 4th generation, making the breed 1/16 wolf. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570/63 "2013-06-24T16:03:00Z")
The OP’s question “Do part dog, part wolf animals exist?” has long since been answered in the affirmative. The thread has since dealt mainly with the temperament of wolf-dogs and their suitability as pets. A number of anecdotes have been offered as well as a number of perhaps more authoritative cites. I suspect that part of the controversy may be due to breeders or owners not actually knowing how much and how recent may be any wolf in their own wolf-dog, as well as some who probably lie directly about it. For instance, **AdamF** seems to show that “common knowledge” about certain breeds as offered by **Dynastia** may actually be a misunderstanding. And **SpyOne** offers an anecdote about an “85% wolf” that is a “tough and threatening” guard dog, even though virtually every cite suggests that a hybrid with that high a content of wolf DNA is much, much more likely to be timid and to run from strangers. I remain willing to accept that some individual high percentage wolf-dog hybrids, somewhere, in someone’s personal experience, made fine pets. And I know that this is GQ and I am not trying to turn this into a debate, so my apology in advance. But I think it is fair to say that by the weight of the evidence presented here so far, we must conclude that any such are rare events and do not represent what “most” people will experience with wolf-dog hybrids. The upshot is that these animals do exist but should not be expected to make “good pets”. Indeed, Florida actually calls wildlife kept by individuals “personal possession animals” in order to emphasizes the difference between such and the usual understanding of “pets”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570/64 "2013-06-24T16:12:28Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > That’s it? Just a semantic nitpick? Not a semantic nitpick at all. Whether you say “certain” or “virtually certain,” I believe you’re overstating the case. I agree that there is a chance that a wolf-dog hybrid may challenge its owner for dominance in certain circumstances. I agree that you can’t treat a wolf-dog like you’d treat a poodle. But I don’t feel that you’re taking your life in your hands by owning a wolf-dog any more than you are by owning a pit bull or a rottweiler (the breeds that CDC study says caused most of the dog attack deaths). A clear definition of “wolf-dog hybrid” for purposes of the discussion would probably have alleviated a lot of the arguments here. The OP, which was answered long ago, just wanted to know if you could breed a domestic dog with a wolf. I consider a “wolf-dog” to be an animal with one or more purebred (or close to purebred) wolves in its bloodline in the last half-dozen generations or so, giving it a significant (let’s say 25% or more) amount of wolf. At least one other poster is really only looking at first-generation crosses. If we’re going to continue the discussion of whether they make good (or safe) pets, then we should probably spin out into a Great Debates thread. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570/65 "2013-06-26T02:31:52Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > T And **SpyOne** offers an anecdote about an “85% wolf” that is a “tough and threatening” guard dog, even though virtually every cite suggests that a hybrid with that high a content of wolf DNA is much, much more likely to be timid and to run from strangers. I want to emphasize that what I said was absolutely intended as an anecdote. I have only ever met two wolf-dogs in my life, and only one that was created intentionally. (My uncle took in a stray and named him Shep, and me and my cousins were all warned not to play with Shep and not to treat him like a dog, and generally to stay away from him. Everyone agreed that one of Shep’s parents had been a wolf.) That particular dog I met in the autobody shop, he was fairly social with humans. He’s sit in the bed of a pickup and watch you walk by. He might follow you into the office. The menace was all in how he looked, which was like a 200 pound timberwolf. The kind of thing bears lose fights with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-animals-which-are-part-dog-and-part-wolf/661570.md?page=3)