Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I haven't come across any particularly good information on any of this yet, so luckily I came across this forum, hopefully you guys (and/or gals) can help me out! =)

First of all, here are some current photos of my lovely bundle of trouble:
http://a961.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/109/l_966b786fce530ccacbcfe34fd4248020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/rosscoliosis/wold dogs/dogpark026.jpg

And some video...
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v105/rosscoliosis/wold dogs/?action=view¤t=dogpark040.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v105/rosscoliosis/wold dogs/?action=view¤t=keira145.flv

1. So, by what time should I know if my wolf dog is going to have the wolf phenotype of a straight tail, or if she will keep the juvenile "dog" trait of a curled tail? She's six months now and usually carries it down or straight out, though with a kink in it to the left. If she's feeling particularly excited/confident, she *will* carry it up and curled back a bit, though not quite as much as what I've seen in Huskys or Malamutes. I know that a curled trail is a juvenile trait, but haven't heard anything more specific... generally a creature would be considered a juvenile until full maturity, which with wolves and large breed dogs could be 2-3 years. However, I've heard people just simply say that a wolf's tail doesn't curl up.

2. Is there anything about her that readily shows she has domestic heritage? By percentages, (which I know isn't extremely accurate the way that genes work) she's 64.5% Timber Wolf, which would generally put her at "mid-content". But, from all the phenotypes I've read about, the only thing I can really see is possibly the tail, and her ears are a bit larger and more triangular, though she *has* grown more and more into them. (we made fun of her for looking a bit like Dumbo for awhile, ha)
The reason I ask is because initially people would more often ask if she was a Husky or a Malamute, with only comments about "she looks just like a wolf pup!" Now, however... people pretty much *only* ask, "is that a wolf hybrid?" or even just, "is that a wolf?" So, knowing the legal rammifications of what will happen if she bites someone and anything is said about her being part wolf, or even just wanting to avoid any negative responses to people knowing she's part wolf, I had always preferred to stay on the safe side and say, "She's an Alaskan Malamute/Siberian Husky/German Shepherd mix" (the rest of her heritage). But at this point it feels like people will just call me a liar if I try and say that... In fact, I'm pretty sure a lady mumbled something along those lines at Petco awhile back.

3. Finally, by this time I know she knows what "come" means, but she's incredibly selective about whether she's going to obey it or ignore me altogether. Shy of some very chewy and strong-smelling treat to wave around, (and sometimes that even has to mean meat) the only thing that comes close to reliably getting her to come to me is... howling. And obviously I don't know how much I want to do that in public, for multiple reasons, haha. But I can be 50 yards or more away and she'll come bounding towards me with a real sense of urgency when I do that. Also, she'll howl if I leave her in the backyard when I go to work, and the neighbors aren't too keen on that, (which is why she either goes in her crate when I leave now, or my housemates have to be watching her) so it's probably not great to encourage that as a "come back!" stimulus.

Thanks in advance!

Oops, forgot to make #3 a question... I s'pose my question then would be: Am I perhaps not giving her enough credit in thinking that it may just be the breed and it's futile to keep trying to train her to come with "come" and should resign myself to howling, or should I keep at it/try something else to train her?

I'm no expert, but here's my two cents, and I'll try to help you out as best I can. I also have a mid content wolfdog (Midnight).

1. My pup (8 months)also does the same with her tail, only she has a kink going to the right at the tip of her tail, and only holds it up when really excited, but normally hangs down. I don't think she's gonna hold her tail up like the Spitz's do. But you may wanna ask them when they start to hold their tails up. But I'm under the impression they are born to hold their tails up like that.
2. Play off the Malamute part to death with her(?). Malamutes get BIG (100-130lb) and have a plush/thick coat. From the pics, I looks like she has a much longer coat than my girl. and in general, all northern breeds look wolf-ish.
When people as me what Midnight is I say German shepherd Alaskan Malamute mix. When they say she's big or she looks like a wolf, I say it's the Malamute in her. 98% of the time, people have never seen or heard of an Alaskan Malamute.
If they say she walks funny, I blame the German shepherd side and say it's hip dysplasia (even though she doesn't have it)
3.I also howl to get my pup back when outside lol May feel silly, but if it works, stick with it. I think it's cooler than yelling my dogs' name out 100 times. It also annoys me when people yell 100 to get their dog, but howling I think is just fun. lol

-----
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)
0.1.0 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Vietnamese Centipede (Miles)
0.1.0 Doggie-dog (Jubei)
0.1.0 Wolfdog (Midnight)

Thanks for the response, and what a beautiful dog you have!
Yeah, Keira does have a pretty long coat, but I think it's considerably more coarse than that of a Malamute. Also, like you said, when she starts trotting, (or especially sprinting, ha) it just screams, "Wolf!" Oh well, I guess that's where I can work in the "mix" factor? Haha
Unfortunately, the very first time that I went to the dog park I now frequent, there was a guy who had owned a wolf dog before, and he spotted it. Turned out he's one of the regulars there, and now that Keira is a staple of the park as well, all of the regulars know what she is. Fortunately, she's incredibly submissive to people and is always sauntering up to strangers and rolling over on her back to have her belly rubbed. This is great because everyone wants to pet her. (though she much prefers to approach than be approached, especially when it comes to males, it seems) I have been told by multiple people that she is the star of the park now. I try to tell everyone that fawns all over her about how you have to do your research with wolf dogs, because from what I understand her excellent behavior at the park is more the exception than the rule, and she certainly isn't any angel 24/7 at home...
And occassionally people are bringing in kids way younger than what the rules of the park clearly state are allowed. Luckily Keira has also not acted at all weird around them either... Hopefully there isn't too much of a switch in behavior if I keep her socialized once she hits maturity, as her "celebrity" status could end up working against her.
Oh, and with other dogs, she was very timid at first, but now she loves playing. As long as the other dogs are no bigger than she is, ha. Looooves little dogs, though she seems confused on how to play with them. And it also seems that the "Balto" moments of multiple dogs all ganging up on her, ("Get out of here, Wolf Dog!" much to her dismay, seem to be subsiding as well, ha.

My dog is about 10 months old and his tail's already curled up...
He looks very similar to your dog except he's darker...

Pretty dog, definitely alot of german shepard, and northern breed mixed in that pup. Its obvious in the face, tail, color, shape, and bild.

Pretty dog. I see the majority of the features are malamute( colors, long soft plush coat, overall shape, bushy tail), and German shepard (long ears, color, small long feet).
The tail on a dog is used like a flag for communication, scared, and/or unconfident, dogs dont carry their tails very high at all.
If that dog is a wolfdog (looks like it could have some wolf ancestory) it is low to mid content, the percentage of each parent makes no difference, besides anyone who breeds wolf with dogs has to have a federal permit to keep, house, or care for a wolf, which requires stringent inspections, and lots of money, time spent on annual paperwork and visits by the dept. of agriculture, and USFWS.
There is a good website from a wolf/wolfdog santuary that explains about percentages, and not to listen to breeders, phenotypes, and percentages change by individuals, and from one litter to the next, one dog mayhave many features of the wolf and one may have many features of the dog.
The only way to prove percentage of wolf or breed of dog is by genetic testing, I did this with my mixed breed dog. I know that without a doubt he is 38-74% siberian husky, 21-36% lab, and 17-20% German shepard. This also demonstrates that the exact percentages of each are not positive even with genetic testing, only a range of percentages from each breed. In fact the appearance of my mixed breed now shows more German shepard than lab by far, and about half the husky appearance.
Im not sure where anyone gets percentage of wolf in a wolfdog by listening to what a breeder tells them, or guessing. Genetic test are getting very cheap now.

My boy looks just like your girl. My dog is call a Native American Indian Dog. They told me that he does not have any wolf in him. But thats what brings me to this sight of wolf dogs. I think that he has a lot of wolf because we had a hard time with him. He will be 3 at the end of november. We do understand what he needs and wants. So life is a lot better that WE learned how to take care of him. People will stop and ask me if he is a wolf.
I say no and they just think i'm lying.

Beautiful dog.
Id say if there is any wolf involved (genetic tests are cheaper now) its not easy to say how much.
Most northern breed dogs have a wolfy appearance because the northern breed phenotype which involve physical features for survival in arctic environments are features found in the outward appearance of wolves.
Huskies and malamutes are nororious for choosing to listen when they want to, and running away. Both are notorious howlers. Both extremely high prey drives, in fact without experiencing the prey drives of either first hand the owners of all other breeds would be shocked.
The coat resembles a malmute (shaggier, softer than a husky), longer, not as dense. The facial pattern says malamute, the ears look malamute not husky. Malamute colors and pattern.
Not all huskies or malmutes have a tightly curled tail, some hang straight. In fact my pure husky has a tightly curled tail when he is around other dogs, kind of like a flag, showing confidence level. Both him and my mix breed have straight tails otherwise.
You could always try a genetic test, it may be worth the money and you may be shocked to find out whats mixed in.
The NAID (Native American Indian Dog)was created by a few people to create an expensive mix breed dog being sold as a recreation of an extinct dog that native Americans used to pull supplies, to hunt, and as food. The real NAID was a direct decendant of the Inuit sled dog which is probably the ancestor to all sled dog breeds today. Those sold by breeders today are a mix of husky, shepard, malamute, collie, a few other breeds, and a few had wolf mixed in at one time. The NAID sold by the original breeder years ago was horrible around kids, and strangers, they had lots of sicknesses. They were puppy milled to make money by a shoddy breeder selling them for thousands.
Beautiful dog you have, the only accurate way to find out what breeds are involved is by genetic testing. I did this for my mixed breed, and am glad I did.

The feature of a curled tail is an AKC siberian husky feature, not a siberian husky feature. The AKC years ago thought that it looked prettier so added that as a feature.
In reality racing sled dogs (siberians bred to race, or mixed breeds such as alaskan huskies) have a long back which results in a tail that hangs straight. This makes running fast easier, and takes less effort.
There is a website with a wolfdog percentage test for people to attempt, the dog appears to be very very wolfy, but the results of the test would shock most people.