is it ok to keep a wolf as a pet?

[Anubis]

"When trying to determine why the pet wolf attacked its owner, authorities found it was because IT'S A WOLF."

 

[Ken g6]

Wolves can make decent pets, but they are not dogs. They're wolves. Most people don't even fully understand dogs, so trying to keep a wolf as a pet is bound to end in disaster for most people.

This is true.

They need more consistent reminder as to who is pack leader compared to a dog, and may act violently if they determine there's an opportunity to raise themselves in the overall pack totem pole.

But this is not how normal wolf packs work. A wolf pack is an extended family, led by the mother and father wolf.

This is what happened when researchers took wolves away from their families and tried to form a pack from them. They wound up raising the wolves in more of a "wolf gang". Then again, being raised by humans may be more similar to this situation.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I feel like owning a wolf may turn into a power struggle eventually. I remember seeing a documentary about a guy who lived among a pack of wolves. He established himself as the alpha male early on, but when he had to leave the pack for a while one of the other wolves seized control. When he came back to the pack it was either face down the new pack leader for dominance, or accept a position as a lesser member. He had to mimic the actions of a submissive wolf in order to be accepted, because he certainly wasn't going to try and fight the new alpha wolf.

What if your pet wolf decides he's the alpha of your little "pack"? Are you going to face him down for control of your own house, or will you become a belly-crawling beta male?

 

[MagickMan]

You're in the M.E., you guys can keep lions, cheetahs, and anything else you want.

 

[Meghan54]

Wife knew a guy who was raising a couple of wolf-hybrids when she lived in Maine. He initially tried to keep them in the house. That eventually changed to a huge pen out back because the wolves tore up his house.

 

[Theb]

Just get a dog that looks sort of like a wolf. Most of the people who say they own wolves don't actually own wolves. They're either lying or were lied to. It's much cheaper and way easier to breed wolf-looking dogs than it is to keep and breed wolves and the kind of person who things owning a wolf is a good idea won't know enough about them to tell the difference.

There are hard wired instinctual behaviors that you aren't going to train out of a wolf. Owning one would be a ton of additional work and risk vs a dog, with no gain that I can see.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I would say you could keep wolves if you lived some place in the far north and had like 1000 acres or so ...

 

[Anubis]

FWIW the Wolfs in GOT are

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Inuit_Dog

 

[Phoenix86]

You need to step your game up and get an ocelot!

 

[SandEagle]

FWIW the Wolfs in GOT are

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Inuit_Dog

eww, no.
after further research i think i may want to go with a Siberian Hoosky instead.

 

[Azraele]

would one rabies shot be enough?

No, the first rabies is usually a 1 year. After that, they are 3 years shots. You also need to be kept current on at least a 7way booster (yearly), and possibly a bordetella if you board, groom or have it around other dogs. And of course, heartworm tests and prevention, etc. Not to mention minor stuff like nail clippings, ags,... Not all vet protocols are the same, this is just a rough guide.

 

[nehalem256]

ok so I love Game of Thrones and saw this picture of Sansa with her direwolf and I was wondering would it be ok to keep a wolf as a pet? I want one, but my real concern is that it may turn on me one day and attempt to go for the jugular. are there domesticated wolfs I can buy? would one rabies shot be enough? can they be declawed, or at least have their ferocious teeth removed or sawed down somehow? would be badass to walk around the park with a wolf. i'd call mine Grey Wind or Nymeria.

People at high risk of exposure to rabies, such as veterinarians, animal handlers, rabies laboratory workers, spelunkers, owner's of wolves, and rabies biologics production workers should be offered rabies vaccine.

The vaccine should also be considered for:

People whose activities bring them into frequent contact with rabies virus or with possibly rabid animals.
International travelers who are likely to come in contact with animals in parts of the world where rabies is common.
The pre-exposure schedule for rabies vaccination is three doses, given at the following times:

Dose 1: As appropriate
Dose 2: 7 days after Dose 1
Dose 3: 21 days or 28 days after Dose 1

http://www.vaccines.gov/diseases/rabies/index.html

You are going to want to get 3 shots

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Dude think of the practical side of things like how much food you're going to have to feed it and how much crap you're going to have to pick up and how much the medicine will cost because he/she is like 8x the size of what most dog medications are made for, think of how irritating getting it in the car to go somewhere or bathing it.
Far too much hassle

 

[akahoovy]

This is the difference between domestic and non-domestic animals: non-domesticated animals think it's ok to hurt you to get a message across.

 

[thedarkwolf]

There are several breeds of dog available that look just like wolves but won't try to kill you and other people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaskan_Dog for instance

 

[Mixolydian]

I would say yes.

 

[BurnItDwn]

no
but i think pets should be limited to things that are kept in cages like fish, hamsters and birds. everything else is a nuisance.

Nah, those are more like decorations ..

Pets should be able to provide some utility... a good dog can hunt, alert if there's danger, protect, and do so much more. A dog has many ways they can save your life depending on the situation.

A cat is the opposite. They will hide on the stairs, waiting to trip you. They will circle around your legs like a "fur buzz-saw" attempting to provide a free bloodletting treatment. They have 1001 ways they can kill you.

Thus, Cats should be creatures which are capable of killing or saving you, not some decoration that lives in a cage and occasionally moves around or makes sounds.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Not always true about cats, when I first was diagnosed with diabetes it can be challenging to understand when my blood sugar got low. Roger kitty would definitely know something was wrong, he would want to lick my face around my eye and yowel. Not sure how he figured that out but he was pretty reliable. Maybe he was sampling me to see if I was edible before I died.

 

[DrPizza]

Yes you can. Some acquaintances/friends of ours have a few of them. Takes a hell of a lot more time than dogs. Training and socialization is huge, or you're going to have problems. If you're at work 8 hours a day, no wolf for you.

 

[nageov3t]

A cat is the opposite. They will hide on the stairs, waiting to trip you. They will circle around your legs like a "fur buzz-saw" attempting to provide a free bloodletting treatment. They have 1001 ways they can kill you.

Thus, Cats should be creatures which are capable of killing or saving you, not some decoration that lives in a cage and occasionally moves around or makes sounds.

hopefully a good cat will at least keep out the mice. :thumbsup:

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

ok so I love Game of Thrones and saw this picture of Sansa with her direwolf and I was wondering would it be ok to keep a wolf as a pet? I want one, but my real concern is that it may turn on me one day and attempt to go for the jugular. [size=+2]are there domesticated wolfs I can buy?[/size] would one rabies shot be enough? can they be declawed, or at least have their ferocious teeth removed or sawed down somehow? would be badass to walk around the park with a wolf. i'd call mine Grey Wind or Nymeria.

[size=+2]
Yes, they are called dogs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a subspecies of the gray wolf
[/size]

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Domesticated wolf = dog

And yes you should find a pack of wolves and steal at least 3 of their young and raise them yourself.

Prove me that chihuahuas are domesticated wolves.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

what's the point of getting a wolf if you're going to declaw it/remove it's teeth? that's just cruel.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Prove me that chihuahuas are domesticated wolves.

All dogs are descended from wolves.

Read the above wikipedia link. You are correct semantically. People didn't start with a wolf. But the lineage includes wolf. People started with what is a dog. They selectively bred them though to give us modern breeds.

 

[KlokWyze]

All dogs are descended from wolves.

Read the above wikipedia link. You are correct semantically. People didn't start with a wolf. But the lineage includes wolf. People started with what is a dog. They selectively bred them though to give us modern breeds.

Whoever bred the Chihuahua should be drawn, quartered and ridden to the farthest reaches of the Earth.