a Beginner's Guide to Lunacy
or what you don't know CAN hurt you!!

Little Red Riding Hood LIED! 

If there is One thing I've learned over the years, it's that there is aLOT I don't know about Wolfdogs. One thing I can pretty well say with impunity is, Avoid Absolutes, and Never Say Always or Never. *wry grin* I am not an expert, however, as last I looked, I didn't have four feet and a tail. But I have been very persistent in my search & thirst for more knowledge regarding Wolves & Wolfdogs. There are many misconceptions about what a Wolfdog is, and what a Wolfdog isn't. These pages are my attempt to shed a little light on these questions. I can only offer my own personal experiences & observations, and I even include some inference and educated guesses. Like I said, I'm no expert; but I've seen alot and, in the words of another, what we do not understand, we fear. I invite you to understand with an open Heart.

      I am including as many links to other sites of expertise, and references as possible. My hope is to help educate Folks. Every day, an animal winds up in Dog Jail, later to be euthanised as a Wolfdog, when in actuality, it's just a dog that someone has misrepresented as a Wolfdog for money, for ego, or out of ignorance. 

Wolfdogs are Wildcards.
Wolfdogs are a Genetic Crapshoot.

Myths about Identification ~
Take this simple Quiz. 
Answer True or False. 

You can tell if it's a wolfdog if;

  1) T/F He has yellow or golden eyes.
  2) T/F He has a high rear end.
  3) T/F He has long, lanky legs.
  4) T/F He moves with his head parallel to his back.
  5) T/F He stalks small animals or children.
  6) T/F He likes to dig dens or run far distances.
  7) T/F He has a black spot on the base of his tail.
  8) T/F He howls.
  9) T/F He has/does not have dewclaws.
10) T/F He has big, splayed feet.
11) T/F He has black toenails.
12) T/F He has black eyelids/liner.
13) T/F He has furry ears.
14) T/F He has a grizzled colored coat.
15) T/F He was born white, so he must be an Arctic Wolf.

 If you answered True to any of them, you are wrong. 
None of these identifiers, in & of themselves, are Wolf or Wolfdog specific. 
Thus, none of these behaviors or physical attributes can be used as a 
solitary positive identifier of recent wolf inheritance. 
Dogs are a taxonomic sub-species of the Wolf, (Canis Lupus) 

1) He has yellow or golden eyes.
Alaskan Klee Kai, can have any color eyes,
http://www.ukcdogs.com/NorthernBreeds/AlaskanKleeKai.std.htm
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever has yellow to amber eyes.
Siberian Huskies can have golden eyes.
http://www.huskycolors.com/eye.html
The Kangal Dog can have amber eyes.
http://www.mindspring.com/~skocher/kangal_ukc_std.html
Weimaraners can have eyes "In shades of light amber"
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/weim.cfm
Vizsla standards call for "Color of the iris should blend with the color of the coat. 
The coat is an attractive solid golden rust". Yellow or any other color is faulty.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/vizsla.cfm
You will also see yellow & golden eyes in 
Alaskan Malamutes, Golden Retrievers & Chocolate Labradors,
although it is considered a fault.

2) He has a high rear end.
So do BouvierDes Flandres. 
See : http://www.ukcdogs.com/HerdingDogs/BouvierDesFlandres.std.htm

3) He has long, lanky legs.
So Do Great Danes, Tervueren Shepherd, 
http://www.ukcdogs.com/HerdingDogs/BelgianShepherdDog.std.htm
Irish Wolfhounds, & Russian Wolfhounds, among others.

4) He moves with his head parallel to his back.
Australian Cattle dogs, Australian Shepherds, Border Collies
& other Herding dogs often use this movement pattern while “working”.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/border.cfm
It is a classic predator-prey movement.

 5) He stalks small animals or children.
Many dogs have a strong “chase & hunt” urge. 
Malamutes particularly enjoy this,
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/malamutes.html#cat 
As do Australian Cattle Dogs, & Border Collies.
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/bordercollies.html#faq

 6) He likes to dig dens or run far distances.
Some of the Northern Breeds like Siberian Huskies, & Alaskan Malamutes 
will run up to 40 miles, and dig like dozers. 
Border Collies are also great runners.

 7) He has a black spot on the base of his tail.
This is called the pre-caudal mark, and it is a characteristic of 
many agouti- & multi- colored dogs. It is a scent mark,
that often has a greasy appearance, and stiffer, courser hairs.

8) He howls.
Call it singing. So does the New Guinea Singing dog.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/SighthoundsPariahs/NewGuineaSingingDog.std.htm
The Malamute is also a notable singer.
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/malamutes.html#cat

9) He has/does not have dewclaws.
Many of the Herding & Working dogs do not have rear dewclaws. 
Rear dewclaws are considered a fault in Alaskan Malamutes, 
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/alasmal.cfm
& German Shepherds, and many other breeds of dogs. 
Most all dogs have front dewclaws, but this is also considered a 
minor fault in Great Danes, the preferred look being with no dewclaws.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/GuardianDogs/GreatDane.std.htm

10) He has big, well-furred splayed or webbed feet.
The Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog has feet somewhat like this
http://www.ukcdogs.com/HerdingDogs/LouisianaCatahoulaLeopardDog.std.htm
This is not unusual for some of the Northern Breeds, & Retriever breeds,
such as the Portuguese Water Dog
http://www.ukcdogs.com/GunDogs/PortugueseWaterDog.std.htm

11) He has black toenails.
Belgian Malinois have black toenails,
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/belgmal.cfm
and in Portuguese Water Dogs, this is a preferred characteristic.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/GunDogs/PortugueseWaterDog.std.htm

12) He has black eyelids/liner.
German Shepherds,
http://www.ukcdogs.com/HerdingDogs/GermanShepherdDog.std.htm 
Keeshonds
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/keeshon.cfm
& the Kangal Dog all have black eyelids.
http://www.mindspring.com/~skocher/kangal_ukc_std.html 
Black & Yellow Labs both have black rimmed eyes.
http://akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/labdoret.cfm
This is a common characteristic in dogs.

13) He has furry ears.
Samoyeds have well-rounded & well-furred ears.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/NorthernBreeds/Samoyed.std.htm

14) He has a grizzled color coat.
The AKC Breed Standard allows any color for the Siberian Husky.
No coat/eye pattern or color is to be seen as a fault 
OR as the desired appearance.
This site shows the many coat colors of the Siberian, 
it’s quite interesting!
http://www.huskycolors.com/colors.html

15) He was born white, so he must be an Arctic Wolf.
Arctic wolves are on the endangered list. There are a small hand-full
of bone-fide Arctic Breeders. If your "100% Arctic Wolf" was born
in or before December, you can lay money in Vegas
that you do NOT have an Arctic Wolf.
for more information on Red Flags for True Content,
I invite you to Check this Page
http://www.wolfdancer.org/flags

There’s a Reason they call them WolfDOGS 

It’s about high time that Folks realize how important the DOG part of a wolfdog is, instead of focusing on just the wolf part. If you have anything other than a very high content wolfdog, you WILL see dog. Why is the dog inheritance so often overlooked or disregarded?
This page might help you understand more about the importance of knowing what the doggie is in your WolfDOG.
Content: a Wolfdog of a Different Color
This is an oft misunderstood aspect of Wolfdogs. I have often heard what almost seems to be prejudicial statements about wolfdogs. Almost as if there's some kind of Contest, or something.
"My Wolfdog has more Wolf in it than YOUR Mutt."
A Wolfdog is a Wolfdog is a Wolfdog, to coin an oft-used phrase. 

           A Quick Resource List

This site, The Wolfdog Resource, has some excellent information on some of the more Infamous of the Great Myths of Dogs and Wolfdogs
http://www.idir.net/~wolf2dog/myths/myths.html
This whole site is an Awesome Resource! Explore it!
The WolfDunn also has some excellent information on this subject,
in several pages.
http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/breeds
for information on wolfy-looking animals, 
which are not necessarily Wolfdogs.
http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/wolfdogfaq/
for more Frequently Asked Questions about Wolfdogs
And the National Wolfdog Alliance's Educational References page
http://wolfdogalliance.org/education
has a very well-researched selection of articles.

Public Mailing Lists ~ These are E-mail Lists. From the right group of people, Mailing Lists can REALLY help. There are quite a few to choose from.
Here are the ones I found most helpful. 

The Hybrid Wolf Mailing List (aka the Wolfdog List)
Go here for more information & to subscribe
http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/WList