Motivation and self-respect, wolfdogs usually care more about their own opinions than they care what their humans think and if you don't respect their opinions, you cannot be a trustworthy pack member. Wolfdogs can be led by trusted humans but it's not the same level of obedience we are used to with more common dogs. The more wolf in the mix, the more independent thought and the greater their expectation for being treated with respect. This is where most unprepared owners go wrong, they think the wolfdog will learn human rules because that's what dogs do and when that doesn't work, they resort to punishment and dominance because that's what they were taught to do with other types of dogs. Wolves don't perform in circuses and that's a VERY important thing to keep in mind when thinking about relationships with wolfdogs, any thoughts of "making" them do something are off to a bad start...

Assuming the human has realistic goals for the wolfdog, positive reinforcement and withholding attention are MUCH better training techniques than punishment and dominance. Wolves are wired for family and survival, not obedience like we're used to with most other dogs, and the closer a wolfdog gets to a wolf, the clearer this difference becomes. The most enjoyable and safest relationship with a wolfdog is to be a part of its family and to accomplish this, a human must first understand the family rules and then act accordingly because that trust bond is critical to long-term happiness for everyone involved. Sometimes, especially with juveniles, they know the rules and intentionally break them just to see what happens. When redirection doesn't work, leaving them alone (withdrawing attention) causes them to think about their behavior. Dogs are social animals but wolfdogs are extra needy for family attention so when they intentionally act up, physical separation immediately causes them to think about their behavior and over time, they will self-adjust to keep from being ignored. Punishment will break the trust bond but positive reinforcement and temporary withdrawal of affection will not.

All of our dogs have as much dry dog food (kibble) as they want, they are "self feeders" which means their bowls and feeders are never empty. Twice per week, we also hand feed them raw chicken quarters and we let them eat as many as they want until they waddle off with big round bellies to sleep for most of the next day. And to make extra sure all of their nutritional needs are met, we put a little powdered vitamin and mineral supplement under the skin of each chicken quarter. We currently feed Victor High Protein Plus kibble, Purdue chicken leg quarters as they have no hormones or antibiotics, and Bloom VM Supreme vitamin supplement. For treats, we cut hot dogs and deer venison into small pieces and dehydrate the meat until it's firm.

For wolfdogs that are mostly-wolf, we believe in early human imprinting through bottle feeding. Around 10-14 days old, the pups are taken from the mother and cared for entirely by humans. This means bottle feeding every few hours and helping them go to the bathroom. With bottle feeding, humans automatically become part of the animal's family or "circle of trust". It is VERY important for wolfdog pups to meet as many different humans as possible their first few months of life. The more experiences the pup has the first few months, the less those or similar experiences will bother them in the future. We call it socialization but "desensitization" also works, the idea is for the pup to experience as much of the human world as possible as early as possible so it doesn't seem as scary later. And the more wolf in the mix, the more important this becomes because their natural wiring is to fear anything new. The scientific term for fear of new things is called "neophobic" and even with intense socialization, many wolfdogs remain wary of strangers.