When I was growing up, we adopted a dog that we believed to be a German Shepherd mix. She was a puppy at the time, so no thought was given to the idea that she could be anything but dog. She didn't look like a wolf by any stretch of the imagination...

She was a wonderful and very smart pet until after she reached her first season. After that, she started gaining wilder traits, even though we had her fixed shortly afterward. She lost her housebreaking almost immediately and would not retrain. She started to get destructive and wanted to be out of the house all of the time. She gradually became more and more agressive with people and children. After a short period of time, she would no longer tolerate the leash and collar and would often snap at my parents when they tried to put them on her.

We also noticed some abnormal physical traits of the dog. Her paws were huge, but she had ceased growing. She appeared to have a "wet spot" on the outside of her tail, and her head and markings became more wolf-like. We took her to the vet and were informed that the "wet spot" was a scent gland found in wolves, but no longer in dogs. The vet determined that she was probably a direct mix between a wolf and a German shepherd.

We were informed that she would become more and more unmanageable as she grew older. On the vet's recommendation, we gave her up. I do not know to where.

From this experience, I would have to say that any mixing of the wolf with a dog should not be used as a family pet. As these wolf-dogs get older, they get more wild and it takes a trained animal specialist to keep them in line. I have heard that the only way to control them is with physical methods that are completely inappropriate with pets. These animals are also much more likely to turn on their masters. Keep these animals in the wild or don't keep them at all.