High Content Wolf Dogs
This video above notes Ruthie walking a tight and closed perimeter repeatedly and constantly. This behavior demonstrates subtle wolf body language. Her fast wagging tail indicates she is happy and excited. Her tail is held high with large swipes asymmetrically to the right. Her ears held tight and low is the 'wolf smile.' Her continued perimeter laps around the twins suggest she is timid, happy, smiling, and protective, of both the twins and me. She is watchful and listening to surrounding sounds with this particular ear position, as the 'babysitter.' She is alert, comfortable, likes the situation, and conveys this boldly. Her eyes take on a special look during the 'wolf smile.' I call them, 'goo goo' eyes, with pupils seemingly slightly dilated and drawn inward. Ruthie is saying that the twins and I are in the 'loop' under her careful watch. She is saying, "I love you" with all her essence.
Wolf Smile. Here, the horizontal ears and narrowing of the eyes represents affection. Ruthie greets the twins with a lick to the mouth. These kisses are a sign of bonding. She approaches gently and touches her nose as another form of greeting.
Wolves typically are not barking creatures. A short low pitched "woo woo" or series of this sound is an alert that someone or something irregular is in near proximity to their living space. The higher the pitch, the higher the stress level. Squirrels, birds, cats, rabbits and other small animals usually do not trigger this alert, however a visual focus is maintained until the creature has been determined to have left or is not a threat.
Wolves make a loud, short, high pitched cry for pain. If pain is created during play, the play ceases after this cry. They make a similar cry for food, especially once the food is eminent. Wolves are not retaliatory and tend to be leery of humans, but can be socialized to greet strangers. They are highly intelligent, intuitive, and responsive.
Sometimes wolves pant heavily, groan, and whimper when desirous for petting and affection. They make an assortment of other sounds and utterances, which I fondly call 'wolf talk.' Some sounds are specific after an alert. Some are simply affectionate. Others mimic sounds they hear from their human. Often, wolves draw near when their human howls. Puppies learn to howl with the help of their howling humans. As dogs, they distinguish various human voice tones.
The Canis Lupis (Gray or Grey) Wolf is known as 'the wolf'. Length and weight varies. Large feet and slightly webbed toes are suitable for snow and multiple terrains. During chase, they can bound 23 feet. Colors include gray, brown, white, black, red, or mixtures of any of these. Solid colored wolves are usually all black or all white. Gray wolves molt in March and April. As they molt the tufts of down soft prime coat are promptly picked up by sparrows as nest building material. The material no longer needed to keep the wolf dog warm in spring is recycled. Birds hop within a few feet of the wolf dogs to remove the wisps and tufts. The efficient under coat insulated the animal from the cold and gave the illusion that it is larger than it is has a secondary use.
The nose, which looses heat is covered by the tail while reclined, so that each exhale serves to warm the subsequent inhale. The long and bushy tail wraps across the paws as the wolf breathes through it. Snow does not melt on the wolf. Rain is repelled.
Wolves and wolf dogs have a larger brain capacity, longer legs, larger feet, and larger teeth than other canines. The mouth is their primary weapon and can exert 1500 psi. Wolves have yellow eyes. Mating is usually between January and April with a gestation period of 60 to 63 days. Sexual maturity is reached in two to three years. Wolves are very affectionate during the mating season. Breeding pairs are usually monogamous.
There is leadership and hierarchy within complicated social structure. The alpha female leads the hunts for deer, bison, elk, moose, rabbits, and beaver. The alpha has erect posture, carries the tail high, and has a proud stride. Scent marking and scent rolling is common. Bonded pairs maintain close proximity to one another, sleep side by side, and are affectionate, very similar to human families.
Humans have a long history of slaughtering wolves to near extinction in the lower 48 states. Wolves have been recently removed from the federal endangered species list and are no longer under federal protection. They are removed briefly so that aerial hunts can take place to kill large populations. This is performed by shotguns from low altitude helicopters during winter when wolves are most vulnerable. Their tracks are visible in the snow from the helicopter. During other seasons their coats are a natural camouflage and render them invisible within the foliage and brush. The wolves bite relentlessly at their stinging shotgun wounds as if defending themselves from the bite of an invisible predator. They struggle until they struggle no longer; self-biting to no avail. With a raw, deep, innate desire to survive is the courage of the magical, mysterious wolf who remains by grace to grace our ecosystem. The wolves are chased until too weary to run, and then shot, sometimes not fatally. A long and desperate blood trail is left, stark against the snow. Their bodies are often left behind in view of the pack. Wolves grieve. Politicians allow this so that the tourism industry is enriched. The logic is the fewer the wolves, the more big game available for hunters on their expeditions. The happier the hunter, the more tourism dollars. Wolf kills are not hunting. There is no 'sport' in the game of ruthless aerial slaughter.
With limited success, some locations are trying to reintroduce the wolf back to native habitat. Due to unfounded fears, misguided and uninformed efforts, loss of ranching livestock, and our continued efforts to eradicate them; the wolf continues to struggle to exist. Populations are reduced dynamically after aerial wolf kills. Accurate estimates of wolf populations and dispersement numbers remain problematic. Packs are cast into social chaos and distress after the elimination of alpha pairs. The strongest and most fit sometimes do not survive to reproduce. There is little wonder as to why this beautiful creature avoids, is leery of, and does not trust humans and why so few will ever experience a 'wolf kiss.' Reduction of numbers based on unsure estimates damages the wolves each time wolf kills are permitted. No one has solid information as to wolf numbers prior to a kill or factual numbers of wolves remaining after a wolf kill. Bounties are offered as an incentive. Sometimes the left front paw is requested as proof.
More video coming soon.......
Our honored military war dogs, our bomb sniffing dogs that clear a building before the President arrives, our explosives service dogs who pay the ultimate price that our soldiers do not, our border patrol dogs, our search and rescue and cadaver dogs, our security dogs, our schutzhund sports dogs, all of these, all of our German shepherds are direct descendants of wolves. The German shepherd is a wolf cross or a wolf hybrid and a wolfdog. Wolfdogs are being banned of ownership State by State within our United States of America at an alarming rate. It makes no sense to trap, poison, slaughter, maim and mass execute our service dogs. It makes no sense to trap, poison, slaughter, maim and mass execute the wolf that made them beautiful, intelligent, and purposeful.
The very things we admire about our service dogs are the very thing we are outlawing and pressing to extinction. The next time you see a therapy or service dog of any kind... think 'wolf.' You will not think to kill them. If we treasure our service dogs, we must treasure the wolf. They are one in the same. Draw a line in the sand on your heart.
It would be good for hunters to rally, to excursion only in those states that practice long-term ban on Wolf Kills, to spend their sought after travel and tourism revenues in a humane place, to thereby pressure the notorious states to change. The right to own a wolf or wolf dog has been banned in many states. Legislation across our country continues a centuries old pattern of eradication of an intelligent, social, timid, animal struggling to survive.
Wolves do not attack humans. Humans ban wolves and slaughter wolves for monetary gain. Based on DNA, wolves have been recently scientifically recategorized as dogs. No aerial slaughter of dogs is permitted. No bounty is offered for dog paws. A chance view of wolves in the wild is the highlight of a hunter's trip.
Wolf Smile. Here, the horizontal ears and narrowing of the eyes represents affection. Ruthie greets the twins with a lick to the mouth. These kisses are a sign of bonding. She approaches gently and touches her nose as another form of greeting.
Wolves typically are not barking creatures. A short low pitched "woo woo" or series of this sound is an alert that someone or something irregular is in near proximity to their living space. The higher the pitch, the higher the stress level. Squirrels, birds, cats, rabbits and other small animals usually do not trigger this alert, however a visual focus is maintained until the creature has been determined to have left or is not a threat.
There is leadership and hierarchy within complicated social structure. The alpha female leads the hunts for deer, bison, elk, moose, rabbits, and beaver. The alpha has erect posture, carries the tail high, and has a proud stride. Scent marking and scent rolling is common. Bonded pairs maintain close proximity to one another, sleep side by side, and are affectionate, very similar to human families.