Do wolves make good pets?

Question

And why or why not?

Answer 1

Well, in all honesty yes! The Domestic dog IS a sub species of wolf and they make very good pets after thousands of years of selective breeding to eliminate undesirable traits of thier wild cousins. Excerpt... At the molecular level, dogs are wolves (Canis lupus) and the wide variation in their adult morphology probably results from simple changes in developmental rates and timing.

Now to answer your question about wild wolves as pets... Many people will say yes they do make good pets, but most of these people don't even know for sure if the animal they had was a wild wolf, since dogs can be indistinguishable from wolves to the untrained eye and I can name at least 10 people I know who claim thier pet is a wild wolf when in fact...it is a domestic dog. However dogs being a sub species of wolf, all dog owners can say with some accuracy that they own a wolf, but the differences in behaviour are many and wild wolves do not make good pets.
Why?.... Well, wild wolves have a complex social structure known as a dominance hierarchy (dogs too but I will explain the differences later) in this hierarchy there are top wolves and bottom wolves, and all of the wolves must perform ritualized aggression to earn thier place in the hierarchy. Wolf pups mature around 4 years of age until that time they are part of the hierarchy in a very different way than the adult wolves and really have limited social standing. When they mature, they often challenge thier role in the hierarchy and attempt to find thier place...dogs do the same but to a lesser degree, in any case if you had a wild wolf as a pet when it reached maturity it would almost certainly challenge your role as alpha in the social order. This can lead to your death as wolves are very powerful animals... Many people will not be able to control or discipline a wolf beyond this point because the wolf has matured beyond thier understanding. No human can truly understand how to be enough of a wolf to properly establish social order. Dogs also live by a dominance hierarchy but unlike wolves, dogs never truly mature as thier wild cousins do and remain more puppy like thier entire lives... this allows humans to be able to control dogs more readily because they are like juvenile wolves. This is known as Neoteny in dogs... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny#Animal_kingdom
On top of that, dogs have been living with humans for several thousand years now and are accustomed to a modified social hierarchy that is not nearly as complex or emphasized as wild wolves. Dogs are used to us and they are suited to living with us, wild wolves are not.... and most people truly only want a wild wolf as a pet to increase thier own image, really they have no clue about how wild wolves live and end up dead because of it. Science itself knows only very little about wild wolves and we are still learning about how they live, dogs on the other hand have been observed constantly for hundreds of years now and we know almost all there is to know about them. Wild wolves belong in the wild and are suited to living there amongst other wolves.. Domesticated wolves (dogs) belong with us and are suited to living amongst humans.

Answer 2

All dogs are descendants of wolves. There are still some breeds that are very close to wolves, these dogs can be great pets. With all breeds though they need proper training and care. However taking a wolf pup from the wild can be dangerous because they have not had proper socialization and should not be attempted by someone who has no experience with difficult unsocialized dogs.

Answer 3

No. Y'see, wolves and dogs are very closely related, but they have one major difference: dogs can see humans as an alpha member of their pack, but wolves can only see other wolves in such a role. Therefore, if a human does something a wolf sees as more dominant than the wolf, it will attack you as impertinent. And that will hurt like hell.

Answer 4

I just saw a story on the news, maybe Geraldo, about a woman
who was eaten by her wolves. It was on two nights ago. So unless you want to be eaten alive, they might not be the best
choice for pets.

Answer 5

It's never a good idea to make a pet of a wild animal. Do it at your own (and your family's) risk.

Answer 6

if people can have loins and tigers as pets why not wolfs. In fact where do you think dogs come from. Long ago people raise wolfs as pets and they evolved into dogs. So why NOT?

Answer 7

Yes, if you get them young enough. I know someone with one from a wolf rescue, and she's smart and beautiful. She's better behaved than our Siberian Husky.

Answer 8

how about you try to keep one as a pet and tell me how it goes! :)

Answer 9

Yes! If they listen to you , no one would dare to come near you!

Answer 10

yes