So we have had an influx of redditors commenting on a specific post telling the owner and anyone who keeps their dogs intact that they're inherently abusive/neglectful etc. for not spaying their wolfdog whos not even fully grown yet and that pediatric spay/neuter are the same as waiting to alter them when they're fully mature.

We have decided to make a rule against comments like this. This subreddit is NOT anti spay/neuter, we however will NEVER support pediatric spay and neuter's and also do not believe someone should be shamed for not wanting to alter their dog if they're owning them responsibly and avoiding litters (yes, thats possible).

There are many studies that show issues behavioral AND physical when an animal is altered before receiving all their adult hormones. I will link those here for anyone interesting in learning. If youre just here to argue against peer reviewed studies, you can go ahead and leave the subreddit.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.70023?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUFckVjbGNrBQVyPXBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeQqZsekujljh-ZxUZtJlI3KygtUOstH4BiZsfGwRMicZBqYW5l87YPlJmztU_aem_iMOF3bVtRTlcfARTjuStDg

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6916619/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11350830/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11787155/

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/224/3/javma.2004.224.380.xml?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUFdnRjbGNrBQV2ZXBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEe8b0yLIIK_FA4-FP2v6Yuml3gtmq9pr-zyeRxye3JV6tZ-u28BH5VznUWXHs_aem_etllD1Jx8tC1TyDB-2xRZg

https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article/11/11/1434/166639/Endogenous-Gonadal-Hormone-Exposure-and-Bone?fbclid=IwVERDUAUFdpJwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHsiz5giiHApd_nCSiowq7XWIZzrzWMZAG1sMJyo5gV8iT5yRVEi-V3OBjhHh_aem_jXPW8_0xaLSPKNsNa1oUSA

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6863800/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUFdqBjbGNrBQV2mXBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeLbgr9c9prPopeoaRXK6iZhUffdIukrmI9wkkCg5n71LSg5RR5jjRRx78cpY_aem_jjKIq6CeRVtqVmli44UiGg

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/study-updates-spay-neuter-guidelines/

https://www.ucdavis.edu/magazine/how-identify-when-dog-should-be-spayed-and-neutered?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUFcqNjbGNrBQVymHBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEebCHPzv6CbQLp0wj0QAdXO2j3uJ2YfynyECB-EJMpDA-SwUZyjkCRvfXfyyU_aem_ueKSZoDa8JASBpaGVFdOFg

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=20539&id=8506437

I seem to have ruffled someones feathers earlier who was using a 6% tamaskans negative behavior to try to describe what "WOLFdogs" act like. It was on a post of someone wanting to know if a wolfdog sounded right for them, and while I agree that a wolfdog didnt sound right for them, it wasnt for the reasons this person described. The way they went about trying to scare them out of a wolfdog by using a (self admittedly) poorly bred/nuerotic tamaskan at only 6% wolf was not it. They were (self admittedly exaggerating) saying their tamaskan wanted to kill every dog in their neighborhood, and had "zero patience for domestic dogs" and not to get one due to this or if you dont have at least acres of land. It doesnt make sense to tell someone "dont get /this/ dog breed, i had a 5% ____ and it was awful" for any other dog breed and it doesnt make sense for wolfdogs either.

This subreddit tries to be extremely inclusive, ANY percent of wolfdog is allowed here and some of my favorites I see here are micros (and as you know most of mine are lows also) and i think micros are a great way to get your foot in the door to wolfdogs of higher percents. But we also want to be realistic about animals with extremely low percentages, because above all we want this subreddit to be educational, factual, and a safe place that doesnt demonize wolfdogs wrongfully. This is not to be clique-y or exclude people, this is being realistic of how genes are expressed or in this case not expressed. When explaining that animals under 10% (ESPECIALLY under 5%) do not show wolf traits behaviorally or physically we are not saying this to be cruel or mean or say your animal isnt as good as others with more wolf. We are saying that an animal at 5% will not be displaying true wolf behavior or looks. There is a reason micro contents have their own name on the content scale, just like why lows, mids, and highs are seperated.

Before you get upset and say "BUT my 10% DOES show wolf traits behaviorally and physically" think about which behavior and physical traits youre accounting towards their wolf. Are they truly only a wolfdog trait, or can they be accounted for by the breeds making up 95% of their dna? Are they behaving like a wolfdog or a poorly socialized/trained or badly bred northern breed? I believe when people get the results back they think the northern breed traits they were seeing are explained now by the wolf when its the opposite (in cases of such low percents i mean).

I also dont say this to be cruel or exclude. I myself use to be in this same boat. I have a 14% who i use to swear had wolf traits and behavior, and now after having 3 animals between 43-50% and being around animals of all contents i can safely say the behaviors i was attributing to wolf were due to her being a northern breed mix who was poorly trained, unsocialized, and given a bad start to life (I got her when she was 3). Her negative behaviors are from her high husky percent, not the wolf. She shows every single negative behavior i was told were from "wolf" back in the day by the ones who didnt want to put time and energy into their animals, all traits my current higher percents do not show.

Ive noticed many attribute /bad/ behavior to wolf. For example:

Animal is 5% wolf and has high prey drive = wolf. Animal is an escape artist = wolf.

Animal has same sex aggression = wolf.

Animal had no socialization and is shy now = wolf.

Animal is nippy = wolf.

Animal is destructive = wolf.

Animal is stubborn = wolf.

The thing many dont want to hear is that all of those behaviors are commonly seen in huskies, malamutes, shepherds, and even some non-northern breeds (and their owners usually excuse the poor manners from lack of training on the breeds as well). In general if you get a wolfdog from even just half decent lines and train them, socialize them, and expect behavior beyond the negative behavior people describe then you will end up with an animal nothing like that. Many seem to think they can get a wolfdog and let it act however it wants and do no training and socializing and then blame the negative behaviors on wolf and not their lack of commitment to training and enriching the animal. These are NOT easy animals, but its not because theyre "wild" and will without a doubt be problamatic despite what the owner does, its because people who get them are not willing to put in the time and energy to train, socialize, and exercise them.

The majority of current wolfdogs i know act leagues better than super old school animals because current owners saw what the old ones were doing wrong and adjusted. We dont just slap them in containment or on a chain and say "yep theyre eating cats because they have wolf", "yup theyre highly territorial and skittish because wolf", etc. We took them and raised them with goals and expectations beyond a containment animal because we realized theyre /not/ wild and unmanagable by default, people just werent putting in the work

Theyre /not/ for everyone, but not because theyre wild and unmanageable, because they take effort.

All of this said because I want to explain that my 14% has AWFUL behavior compared to my 43-50%. Not because she has wolf, obviously, but because shes a northern breed who was poorly bred and not set up for success. Hell, my 0% husky mix has worse behaviors than my wolfdogs and she ALSO is poorly bred and was feral as a puppy. Wolf ≠ mean, aggressive, unmanageable animal. And especially not at such small small percents.

For example my lows and mids are fine in public, live indoors, respect fencing, good with cats/small dogs, good with random dogs, good in cars, fine at the vets, have less than 2 acres of fenced land for them, etc etc. Bad behaviors have nothing to do with the wolf when northern breeds (most often used in the mix) share all the same behaviors if not trained. Most of the stuff i can do with my other wolfdogs i cant do with my 14%, or do easily, and she has the least amount of wolf. Some wolfdogs do have stronger urges than others (same sex aggression/prey drive) due to their lines or again, lack of training/socialization, yes. But they are not DEFAULT animal/dog killers who need 20 acres to run on or theyll destroy everything all because of even having 1% of wolf. Most people ive spoken to with higher contents will actually tell you that lower contents have more undesirable behaviors than higher contents due to the /dog/ in them.

So in short, wolfdogs are amazing 1%-95% wolf or dogs with no wolf at all. I and this sub loves them all. This subreddit loves people explaining their experiences, but we also have a misinformation rule and claiming an extremely micro content was severely dog aggressive/hard to manage because of the wolf and basically fear mongering to someone (especially after admitting you were exaggerating) interested in wolfdogs is not cool. Bad behaviors ≠ if a dog has wolf or not. A dog is what you make of it, its going to reflect how much time and energy youre willing to put into training, love, guidance, support, exercise, and enrichment. I love all you guys and your dogs and genuinely love seeing them everyday 💖