Koda wrote:

chreiber wrote:

A good way to judge wolf content is to look at the toe nails, there will be black ones if there is a lot of wolf in the dog and also they will have black spots on their tongues.

Do you have any source information on that? That's news to me and I'd like to read more about it if that's true.

To the OP-- she looks full husky to me. Shelters rarely label dogs properly. They don't have any real way to tell other than guessing.

Yes I would be interested also. My BC mix had solid black nails and black spots on her tongue.

I know a guy who rehabilitates wolf hybrids, the ones I have seen always have black tongues and atleast a couple black toe nails. Wolves generally have black toe nails in nature. There are purebred dogs who do have black toenails like german shepherds but as far as the tongue goes I have always read that chows are the only purebred dog that it is common for Chows. So from what I understand is you first look at the toenails and if they are black and the tongue has black spots then there is a good chance you have a wolf hybrid. Maybe this is just a bias because this guy happens to get dogs with black tongues and toenails lol but it is what I have always heard and read.

chreiber wrote:

I know a guy who rehabilitates wolf hybrids, the ones I have seen always have black tongues and atleast a couple black toe nails. Wolves generally have black toe nails in nature. There are purebred dogs who do have black toenails like german shepherds but as far as the tongue goes I have always read that chows are the only purebred dog that it is common for Chows. So from what I understand is you first look at the toenails and if they are black and the tongue has black spots then there is a good chance you have a wolf hybrid. Maybe this is just a bias because this guy happens to get dogs with black tongues and toenails lol but it is what I have always heard and read.

That's a pretty bold statement. My purebred male has multicolored nails I know.he is not a hybrid. I also know plenty of purebreds with multicolored toes and speckled tongues. Its a nice.observation but im not sure that its correct.

Just my two cents.

The "stop" from snout to forehead can be a sign of wolf content as well. Wolves have a more gradual slope, huskies have more of a stop. Lots of ifs and maybes when determining wolf content. The white one doesn't look wolf to me.

O ok, it is just what I have been told and seen. Like I said it could be just a bias I just had never seen a purebred husky with black toe nails or a spotted tongue. I would assume it's not as common as a pink tongue and flesh colored toenails. Also it would make sense if you cross a wolf with a husky you will get black toe nails in there since a wolf carries the trait to have black toe nails. With purebred huskies with black spotted tongues couldn't that be brought back to the debate that huskies were crossed with wolves to strengthen their gene pool and it is more recent in some than others? Either way I stand corrected that it is a "good" way to tell the wolf ancestory lol sorry about that!

No need to apologize, sorry if I came off harsh!

I wish it were a 100% accurate way, it would be much easier.

I still think DNA is the best bet when wondering if you have hybrid on your hands. But, that's just me.

O its ok! It's always kind of hard to tell in writing lol. Yeah you would think there would be! Are there DNA tests for wolves now? If so that is great!

Have you adopted her yet or just thinking about it?

lpp06 wrote:

In my hunt for a husky, I came across what was identified as an "Alaskan Husky Mix". Beautiful, all white 3y/o girl who was a ball of energy. At one point she let out a howl so big, that it sounded like a wolf howling at the moon. It was beautiful Leads me to my question, can the way a dog howls indicate whether or not they are some sort of wolf/husky hybrid.

I don't think you can tell by the howl. However, as I recall from reading my "Husky's for Dummies' book, wolves never have blue eyes. They don't have the gene for it. The blue eyed gene is not a dominate one, so the bi-colored eyes make me question any wolf content.

I would like to just put in my opinion here, I would never buy a wolf hybrid nor encourage someone to buy a wolf hybrid BUT there is a wolf hybrid dog that comes to the dog park regularly (every day) and he is amazingly well behaved and trained. This is not to say that it was without effort, the owner told me all the stories about when he was a puppy. He ripped and chewed apart everything, including cupboards right off the hinges. If you have heard stories about huskies being destructive, a wolf hybrid without exercise and proper training is a recipe for disaster. Not saying that there are not people out there who can train them well (as I have seen at the dog park) but it would take a lot of time, effort and consistency and even then they are still unpredictable. Just my opinion, I'm no professional!

There are many dog that have black spots on the tongue, and the myth about only chows having it lead many people to think they have chow mixes.

Breeds known to have members with spotted tongues (I've seen this numerous places, this is just a list from http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/BlackTongueDebate.htm

Airedale, Akita, Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Shepherd, Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Tervuren, Belgian Malinois, Bichon Frise Bouvier de Flandres, Bull Mastiff, Cairn Terrier, Chinese Shar-Pei, Collie, Cocker Spaniel, Dalmatian, Doberman Pinscher, English Setter, Eurasier, Fila Brasileiro, Flat-coated Retriever, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Gordon Setter, Great Pyrenees,
Irish Setter, Kai Ken, Keeshond, Korean Jindo, Labrador Retriever, Mastiff, Mountain Cur, Newfoundland, Pomeranian,Pug, Rhodesian Ridgeback Rottweiler, Shiba Inu, Siberian Husky, Tibetan Mastiff, Thai Ridgeback

Sam your link is broken..

Here is a correct one I hope

http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/BlackTongueDebate.htm

Thanks! Updated mine, too!

Black pigment is definitely a myth. Kale has all kinds of black in his mouth and he's purebred. He's got a spot under his tongue that's black.

Koda's without a doubt purebred husky and he has black toenails. I can't comment on anything else, but I'm just sayin...

As others have stated its a really iffy decision, I agree with most here but I feel I must ad my personal accounts with a friend of mine who had a wolf husky hybrid, his name was Gojira and he was a good dog dont get me wrong, they had him for years and not even joking one day while my friend was laying on the couch Gojira snapped and started attacking him, he wound up getting 14 stitches in his neck and 6 along the back side of his ear, they still kept him after that, but at random times through out the months he would attack and become more agressive, they had finally decided to take him to a rescue, the rescue had no choice but to put him down because 3 months after they got him, he attacked and killed another dog.

chreiber wrote:

O its ok! It's always kind of hard to tell in writing lol. Yeah you would think there would be! Are there DNA tests for wolves now? If so that is great!

There is a test available now for wolf-dog hybrids. It's done by UC Davis here. It tests for alleles that are specific to wolves. I don't think a negative test would necessarily stand up in court (it doesn't guarantee that there is no wolf in there), but it was accepted in a case not so long ago in Alaska.

I owned a beautiful wolf-hybrid many moons ago. He was 72% wolf. His father was Northern Grey Timberwolf, and Malamute. His Mother was Arctic Wolf and Samoyed. He was a very LARGE (130#) animal, that looked like a large furry Malamute, but with golden-yellow eyes. He got the large size from his father, from the Malamute side.

Omni was actually very shy. He was also gentle. He was very destructive up to the age of two years -- I mean he chewed and destroyed anything that he could fit into his mouth or dig up (like bedspreads, carpet, sprinkler timers etc) lol.

Still, he was such a great dog. I mentioned he was very shy and gentle. One time, I was walking him back from our veterinarian's office, which was only three blocks from our house. A German Shepherd suddenly ran out from a yard, toward us. Omni jumped into guard mode, keeping himself between myself and the German Shepherd, and getting all twisted up in the leash (I had to keep turning and turning). I never expected this show of protection from this beautiful and normally shy animal! Omni did not attack the shepherd, but simply kept it at bay -- away from me!! The owner of the shepherd came running out, grabbed his dog, and disciplined the poor guy severely, in front of me. I felt bad for the poor shepherd.

Anyway, that was pretty much the most aggressiveness that I ever saw from Omni. Except for one little thing: I was a single young woman at the time. Omni did not like men whom he did not know (strangers) to approach me. He was fine with any males I knew, as friends, but if a stranger (male) approached us, he would simply lock eyes with the poor guy and growl in this low, deep growling sound, as if to say "stay away". He never made any aggressive move toward anyone in this way, but simply growled.

When I had Omni, I subscribed to a magazine called "Wolf Hybrid Magazine". In the magazine, they had articles pertaining to wolf hybrids, and their owners. At the time, there was an ongoing debate as to whether the canine rabies shot was effective for wolves or wolf hybrids. The argument was that nobody knew whether it prevented rabies in a wolf or hybrid, and so, at that time, if you owned a hybrid and it bit someone, the dog had to be killed, and it's head sent to some government headquarters science lab to determine whether the animal had rabies (as opposed to quarantining a normal non-wolf hybrid dog).

At the time, proponents were fighting to prove that the rabies vaccine worked the same for wolf hybrids as it did for normal domesticated breeds of dogs, while opponents were saying that they needed more proof that the vaccine worked the same for wolf hybrids as it did for normal domestic breeds of dogs.

Omni loved kids (he played with the neighborhood kids, gently), was never aggressive (like biting), and always was up-to-date on his shots, including rabies.

Omni was officially (like at the vet's office, or on paper) considered to be a "Malamute cross" (Malamute X). This was simply to protect him, in case he ever even accidentally scratched someone. I knew that there was no danger of rabies, ever, but still, that debate may be ongoing ...I don't know whether the rabies vaccine has ever yet been accepted for wolf hybrids, so ...

...just be careful. If you do own a hybrid, keep him/her in a very good enclosure. (They like to jump! Over fences! -- but then again, so do many other breeds). Also, keep them up-to-date on all shots, including rabies. Also, remember that they are a cross-mix, like, for example, "Husky Mix",
or "Malamute Mix", etc. This will help at the vet's office, and in licensing, rabies tags, etc.

I don't know whether the wolf hybrid magazine is still in operation, but maybe you could google it, and subscribe, if it is still around.

All I can say now is that in my opinion wolves and wolf-hybrids have a bad rap. Throughout history, wolves have been portrayed as being mean and aggressive. The truth, as far as I know, is that wolves, especially wolf hybrids, are very loyal, gentle and shy animals.

If you want to own one just so that you can appear to be a "bad-ass" (excuse my language), then you have the wrong dog for the wrong reasons. If you want a loyal, shy yet somewhat hi-maintenance dog, and have researched their behavior, and know that they can be very destructive for their first two years of life, then maybe this is the dog for you.

Thanks for listening

Great post, Annie.
Very informative.
Thank you for sharing your story.

I currently own a 10month old female low % Wolf/husky mix. Even though she is very high on the husky % she looks more like a wolf than a husky. As far as her attitude she has been 10x more playful aggressive than my Siberian Husky male, however she has never shown true aggression like my male husky has in the past. I am sure being a female has a little to do with it. She is very sweet, and her coat is a silky soft, also her tail filled out much faster than the husky. They are both cold blooded killers when it comes to other critters, so be careful. She loves other dogs but she is very timid. She is very good with people even people she doesn't know like most huskies.

It all comes down to one thing in my opinion. Every dog/wolf is different.

I currently have a seven month old husky-wolf mix (mother was pure husky and father was wolf mix) who is the most submissive puppy I have ever had. She is more hyper then most huskies I know but she also picks up on tricks after the second try. She is also wonderful with my kido. I know the perception people have of husky-wolfs and often times people will cross the street when they see her. I have even had a guy come up to me and say she should be eaten because she is "not a pet". She has a fear of some strangers but that is odd thing about her.

To me it is all up to the pup and how they are trained. Any type of dog can be aggressive or not a good family dog. But my dog is the best family dog I have ever had and I wouldn't change it for anything. She is crazy and hyper but she is the most loving, cuddle hog you will ever meet.