How to Play With a Pet Wolf

If you're drawn to the challenge of raising a wolf as a pet, remember that you're working against the animal's natural behavior. Even hybrid wolves, or wolfdogs, retain all the characteristics of their wilder side. Owning a wolf or wolfdog is a demanding responsibility. Playing and training go hand-in-hand. Here are some steps for integrating play into life with your pet wolf.

Instructions

1. Handle wolf or wolfdog pups from the time their eyes open at 10 to 14 days of age. The first few months of a pup's life should be dedicated to making sure it is properly socialized to people. Give your wolf a few hours a week with other canines or raise it with another pup to prevent it from becoming fearful around other wolves or dogs or adopting behavior problems. Remember, wolves are pack animals.

2. Introduce the pet wolf to a variety of people, male and female, in the safety of the pup's home under your supervision. If possible, teach the wolf to accept care from more than one person. Best of all is for the wolf to have regular caregivers of both sexes.

3. Train your pet wolf to enjoy being on a leash. You want the wolf to associate the leash with play and pleasant experiences.

4. Play with a wolf puppy with the understanding that behaviors adopted will soon be the behaviors of an adult wolf. Discourage biting or chewing calmly and without resorting to physical punishment, which can damage the owner-wolf relationship.

5. Teach pups to submit on cue with consistent training and rewards. A puppy that can roll over onto its back on cue might be rewarded with a belly rub. Scratch your pet wolf behind his ears if he sits or lies on command.

6. Make play time a calm time without roughhousing, which easily gets out of hand. Change undesirable behaviors by distraction or by replacement with an acceptable behavior.

7. Interact with your pet wolf daily. The more time you spend with a pet wolf when it's young, the better socialized it will be as an adult.

Tips & Warnings

• Check on any legal permits or documents that might be required in your area before buying a pet wolf.

• Plan on your wolf puppy being your constant companion in its first few months. The importance of socialization can not be emphasized too much.

• Wolves and wolf hybrids are never fully domesticated, so keeping them as pets is not recommended.

• Never, ever leave a child under the age of 14 alone with a wolf, even if that child has grown up with the wolf. Certain behaviors trigger instinctive behaviors that result in attacks to children and small pets.

• Don't play tug-of-war with a wolf. This is a behavior that can elicit an undesirable response. Other behaviors that can trigger attacks include running, falling to the ground, lying on the ground and screaming.