Some aren’t quite as far removed as others... I cannot tell you how many times I get asked if it is legal to own a wolf when we are walking our 120 pound Malamute around town. The differences are obvious to me, but to an awful lot of people any big dog is the same as a wolf.
I was driving through the small town I live in when I spied a running dog dragging a chain as it crossed the road in front of me.
Oh ho! An escapee, I thought.
I u-turned and followed the dog behind a small market. As I pulled up the dog was on its hind legs, rummaging through a gargabe bin.
The chain was lying there, so after getting out of the SUV I picked up the chain and called to the dog. When it turned around I realized the “dog” had yellow eyes.
Oh-oh.
A friend once had a wolf-hybrid named Sweetie, and what I had here looked like her twin though smaller.
This bitch was about 50 lbs., with gray fur and yellow eyes. There was no growling, just that cold, calm assessment of me that dogs rarely give humans, if at all. A wolf-hybrid can summon that look, no sweat.
“Come on,” I said, and opened the passenger side door.
There was no hesitation. She jumped up and sat on the seat.
Meanwhile, my black Lab in the back behind a barrier is going nuts. She glanced once at him, accurately dismissed him as an idiot, and proceeded to ignore him all the way to the Humane Society.
Because she had tags the HS personnel were able to contact her owners, who never knew she had left their backyard!
And yes, she was a wolf hybrid.