To show how difficult it is to tell dogs and wolves apart, here’s an interesting story from Idaho.
Last week, some campers were wandering around the Idaho back country in search of a wolf pack, and they happened to come across what appeared to be a domestic dog puppy wandering around the woods.
Apparently, this puppy apparently was friendly enough for it to allow itself to be picked up, and they brought it home.
DNA tests were performed to determine its exact identity, and it turns out that this puppy is actually a wolf.
This puppy appears to be in the six-week-old range, and it was apparently okay with allowing people to pick it up.
This discovery alone should tell us that a commonly held assertion– and a major assumption of the Coppinger model for dog domestication– is false. Coppinger makes a big deal out of how wolf puppies that aren’t imprinted upon humans at a very early age– if memory serves, younger than three weeks of age– are impossible to handle.
This puppy shows that assumption to be false. It is clearly older than the very early date that Coppinger proposes, but it still allowed itself to be captured and brought into captivity. The pup appears to be nervous and afraid in the video, but it’s not cowering in the corner,like one would expect from an animal that was that deeply afraid of humans.
Of course, allowing oneself to be handled and being an appropriate pet are two quite different things.
It’s a good thing that Idaho authorities are trying to reunite this pup with its natal pack.
But this is going to be quite difficult. Wolves in Idaho have lots of reason to be afraid of people, and as the rest of the pack’s puppies mature, they will be wandering over their large territories in search of prey.
However, this case of mistaken identity shows that even somewhat more mature wolf pups can be handled and eventually socialized to people.
And thus, the “captured cub” hypothesis has a bit more merit to it than Coppinger claims.
So if you’re wandering around in wolf or even coyote territory and you see what appears to be a German shepherd-type puppy wandering around, it’s probably a good idea to leave it alone.
Interesting case.
Sad news here today, in England, of yet another staffordshire bull terrier attacking an infant – of a next door neighbour this time. The two year old child had an ear torn off, also part of his nose and there is fear for his sight.
Virtually all the staffordshires you meet walking along are secured on a short strong lead and massive collar – and the handler invariably loooks anxious. People often give them a wide berth and those with small dogs tend to pick them up.
Heaven knows why the staffie has not yet been added to our list of illegal breeds.
Accepting that the majority are safely kept, there have been far too many recorded cases historically of staffies attcking principally children, incredibly often infants within the human family and incredfible having been left alone with the child. These dangerous dogs are often found in what here might be popularly called “chav” households.
When my wife and I used to show soft coated wheatens at the big shows, because the two breeds were next to one another alphabetically they were always benched physically next to one another. Therefore the more ‘genteel’ wheaten owners sometimes experienced an uncomfortable juxtaposition with tatooed macho staffie owners (not all of course). There was not much social interreaction between the two sets of exhibitors I recall, but no one wanted to be benched immediately next to them. The organisers showed some sensitivity when they left large gaps between the ranks of these two breeds.
Although the american pit bull was soon banned after it first appeared in Britain some tried to get around this by describing their dogs as “staffie crosses” So the law makers tried to get ahead of this by changing the description of the banned breed to “pit bull type”.
Before anyone mentions it, yes we know other breeds and mixtures can be aggressive, but the staffie seems to have an innate tendency towards aggression, to other dogs and, horribly, to babies with which they are left alone by thick humans.
I noticed that often these dogs are owned by puny looking young men, which tells me that maybe these lads feared being bullied or just wanted to acquire some artificial ‘respect’ from among their peers in the inner city areas.
The problem can be increased when the owners encourage their dogs to be aggressive of course.
Peter,
You know that this comment is entirely off topic.
This would be a good post for ‘In the News’ section of the dogzonline forum.. . if you want to get some feedback from the anti-BSL crowd ;-).
Incidentally we do get cases of red foxes being tamed in Britain. It used to occur more commonly when hunting was legal and, after the hunt left the scene, but more vrarely orphaned and abandoned cubs would be seen wanderind aimlessly about at the edge of a wood and by this time sometimes in a weak state. People passing by would occasionally take a cub in and rear it or hand it over to one of the animal, rescue shelters – like, locally, one called St Tiggywinkles.
Thank god fox hunting is now banned in Britain!
To make a fox cub completely tame is perfectly possible with dedicated socialising. Even young adult foxes can be made semi tame by offering them food when they come into the gardens of fox friendly people. Whether it’s wise or not is another issue and beside the point when human and fox agree – on rare occasions – tentatively at first – to make friends.
Orphan otters, badgers and deer are sometimes tamed, but more rarely, among others.
Peter, I feel bad that you say “heaven knows” why the staffy has not been banned. England is known as the birthplace of the “nanny dog”. It may feel like a political embarrassment to have to ban the dog that England created and held in such esteem until VERY recently. What IS interesting is that in fact, yes, this phenomenon of demonizing these animals is a very recent thing historically. I agree that the wrong people seem to be focusing on ownership of such dogs to fulfill a sort of criminal or thuggish hubris. This is a bad road to take, but it’s the thugs that need to feel the weight of the law against them. They will just pick another dog to use if staffies are banned, I assure you.
I feel horrid for the infant. Clearly that dog was not the “nanny” of expectation. I cannot know the history behind the breeding of the dog, the upbringing, or if perhaps even vaccinosis played a role. Perhaps the child was left on the floor unattended?
Dogs don’t always see babies as humans, but rather squeaky playthings. You yourself make note of children being unattended. ANY dog can react instinctively given the right opportunity and harm a child. We have had recent newspaper articles here indicating such attacks by golden retriever mixes and other dogs not related to the staffordshires. A border collie could just as easily have done this in the right circumstances, a high energy breed often misunderstood by “pet” owners, that has a penchant for nipping children without direction. I see no suggestions that border collies be banned. It just doesn’t make news and BCs don’t have the tough-guy muscles that create fear with the right push.
It doesn’t take much effort for a dog to harm such a small child so I raise an eyebrow at the use of the word “attack” in such cases without hearing more, as it implies a certain level of aggression and energy expenditure on the part of the dog. Is there more info behind what happened that you can provide for context?
It’s poor consolation for the parents of those kids but statistically, the odds of this happening are quite low. Far lower than injuries from cars, gunfire, or even SIDS or drowning. As with supervision around dogs, all of these accidents have a lot to do with parental forethought, wisdom ( or lack thereof) and control. People expect far too much of animals these days. A level of civility and abandonment of instinct that makes me wonder when they will be expected to attend high tea with scones.
Well at least believe me that I have seen a lot of staffies over the years (they were benched alphabetically next to our Soft coated Wheatens at shows) and also out walking with our own dogs. Although at its best the staffie can be a breed of great character devoted to its owners, it can also be dangerous to other dogs and more seriously to human infants.
Historically there have been too many reported cases of staffie attacks to ignore them as prejudice. The massively strong collars and leads they wear is not just a fashion statement – it is often necessary and in many cases a wise precaution borne of experience. Yes we know all types of dogs have rogues among them. In particular, german shepherds for example. No one is too bothered when a chihuahua gets a bit snappy of course.
There is also something to be said for the perception that aggressive type humans tend to choose these aggressively disposed dogs which match their own personality. Obviously a lot can depend on the way a dog is socialised – as much as the way many of us are socialised.
Buena entrada en blog, y es un fiel reflejo de lo que sucedía en el paleolítico superior, es decir así es como comenzó toda la domesticación, hasta llegar a hoy.
Saludos.
This is only 1 case that we know and the sample size to make a sound deductuion is too small :-)
I do feel sorry for the pup and the wolf pack. This should have become a valuable resource for the family.
“Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back –
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. ”
- Rudyard Kipling.
Amazing story!
Statistically, if you have only one observation and it runs contrary to a rule that’s supposed to be true to 95 or 99% confidence interval, it’s a BIG challenge to the rule, and strongly supports the need for further observation/testing. As to valuable resource for the family and Law of the Jungle, I don’t know what the survival rate is for wolf cubs, but I doubt it’s more than 50%. Very likely that a 6 wk pup that wanders off will not survive.
Check out the Woolpy and Ginsburg study on taming on wolves:
https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/taming-adult-wolves/
Why are baby bears and big cats called cubs and baby wolves and other dogs called pups?
Dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals and the other canini are closely related, so it’s better that we refer to their offspring as puppies.
In British and Commonwealth English, this rule is not followed at all. They call even the offspring of foxes and badger cubs.
I call the offspring of those animals kits.
In the USA I have head young pumas refereed to as both cubs and kittens. Which is the correct term?
Cougars are not pantherines (“big cats”), so they should be called kittens.
Same with cheetahs.
Cougars are bigger than clouded leopards, which are a sister species to the pantherines, and because of this, they have cubs.
You know, Scott, I hope that this changes. Pumas used to be assigned to the genus Felis, and were often referred to as “the largest of the ‘small’ cats”, and so it was considered correct to call their young “kittens”. But now that more is known about their true relationship to other cats, I hope that people will once again begin referring to young pumas as “cubs”. It just seems more appropriate for such a large cat.
You still frequently hear wolf pups referred to as cubs. But pups or puppies seems more appropriate to me.
mere semantics
“So if you’re wandering around in wolf or even coyote territory and you see what appears to be a German shepherd-type puppy wandering around, it’s probably a good idea to leave it alone.” How true!
I’ve had German Shepherd Dogs , of various ages from birth to old age, all my life, and I’ve also raised both wolf and wolf-dog hybrids, as well as a coydog. The similarities between GSD pups and wolf pups are astonishing. According to Barry Lopez in his classic book “Of Wolves and Men”, wolf pups reacted to GSDs of all ages just as they reacted to other wolves, even though GSDs are really no more closely related to wolves than are most other breeds of central European origin. Up to about 3 or 4 months of age, the two are very much alike. Even as adults, GSDs are very similar to JUVENILE wolves (large head, large ears, more intense coat colors & sharply-defined black mask, barking & whining, etc). That can be attributed to neotony. After about 4 months of age, the young wolf quickly begins to take on a more adult appearance, and by the time they reach maturity, the differences between the GSD and wolf are very obvious.
oops, typo: should have written neoteny, not neotony.
I agree with you about wolf domestication. Adolescent and adult wolves – and many other animals, especially intelligent animals like carnivores – can be tamed. Some individuals are more amenable to taming than others, but I don’t think that maturity is necessarily a barrier.
I’ve seen a lot of 6 week old dogs that would have been more traumatized by some stranger poking a camera in their face after being grabbed and taken from their mother and siblings. While this is only “one” animal, it is a random one that clearly destroys Coppinger’s ideas. How many feral dog pups would have been more nervous in the same situation?
Here’s hoping that this lost pup wasn’t lost becaue it’s parents and sibs are dead and that it can make it back into the wild. If not, I think using it to see how far socialization and domestication CAN succeed with a “not freaked” animal might be worthwhile.
Not what I would have expected to see in that video. I have had pups fresh off the plane that showed far more fearful body language than that (temporarily.)
As the old saying goes “The proof is in the pudding.” If this isn’t a classic example of how the domestication of wolves could have happened, I don’t know what is.
Does anybody know if there is a good site showing wolf growing up in socialization with dogs? I am just curious on how the relationship develops between puppies of wolves and dogs. Does it remain intact or the wolves out grow the relationship even in captivity? Please feel free to share from your own reading or experience.
I forget exactly where I saw it recently, but someone raised a mixed litter of wolves and german shepherds, of exactly same age, together. Initially all these pups were the usual friendly puppies until after a certain time the wolves started becoming typically wild and wolflike while the shepherds remained tame. I guess it showed that nature (the genes) was more important than nurture, at least in this experiment.
Peter Dawson,
I believe you might be thinking of another case study featured in “Of Wolves and Men”, but it was a litter of Malamutes in that instance, raised with an orphaned wolf (I think the wolf was named Daphne). Anyway, iirc, as they matured, Daphne began to distance herself from the Mal puppies in the litter, and eventually refused to interact with them and became very shy.
I’ll try to think to look up that reference; I think I still have that book somewhere in my stacks.