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A Book Review of "Part Wild" by Ceiridwen Terrill

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Part Wild is the real life story of Ceiridwen Terrill and her part wild wolf dog named Inyo.  Terrill tells a deeply honest truth about living with an animal that is neither wild nor tame.  Her need for safety and protection drove her to seek out a wolf dog but the result was that she spent her time saving and protecting Inyo. Terrill shares their, all too common, story with amazing detail that honors the life of this extraordinary wolfdog.

Ceiridwen Terrill is an environmental journalist and science writer which is apparent throughout the book.  She incorporates scientific facts about wolves, dogs and wolf dogs.  She breaks apart myths that even she believed until her experiences with Inyo.  She not only tells us that wolves and dogs are different from a scientific perspective, but shows us how through her personal experiences. This makes Part Wild unique in that it is grounded in fact and experience thus making it an enjoyable and educational read.
This book is important for anyone with an interest in wolves, dogs and wolf dogs to read.  It is especially important for those who think that wolf dog ownership is a good idea.  While a few people claim to have had positive experiences raising wolf dogs this book makes it clear that those experiences are extremely rare.  This book proves that even the most well intentioned people that are willing to turn their lives upside down, including living on the verge of homelessness as Terrill did, may not be able to save the life of those caught in between worlds.     Read more about Part Wild.

Posturing

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Mexican wolf brothers M1066 (left) and M1135 (right)

Mexican wolf brothers M1066 (left) and M1135 (right)

Today while doing the walk through I observed some posturing between our 3 sibling male Mexican gray wolves. The brothers, who are housed together, were born here at Wolf Haven (2 were born in 2007 and the other in 2008) . While the boys lived with their parents and female siblings for several years, they have been living alone as bachelors since 2010.

Fortunately they had the benefit of being parent reared and as such, learned appropriate behavior. We would often observe (via remote camera) the parents chastising the pups when they got out of line and because they were a multigenerational group, they had lots of siblings (8) to not only play with, but to practice ritualized fighting with as well, subsequently developing good social skills.

Even though the parents are the ones in charge, there is a linear hierarchy that exists within the group that is not only age graded, but sex graded as well- meaning that the males and females work out their own chain of command and rarely do dominance disputes cross gender lines. Very early on the 3 boys established a hierarchy among themselves and it has remained pretty stable up until recently. Even when they moved into their own enclosure, away from their sire, the male who had been in charge (M1066) retained the dominant role. However, the youngest of the 3, M1135 has started to test the waters this season and it appears that there may be a shift in dynamics.  This is not uncommon, particularly in a disrupted pack. For although the alpha pair’s (or parents’) leadership will stay stable, the rest of the group’s dynamics are in flux. Things like dispersal, injury, or attrition can lead to an opportunity for a lower ranking animal to move up in status. In the case of captive wolves, something as seemingly benign as a move from one enclosure to another can prompt a shift.

So far, our 3 bachelors have lived a pretty peaceful coexistence. During breeding season we saw them periodically get a little testy with one another but usually it presented in raised tails and/or hackles. There were never any actual physical confrontations (that we observed). Same sex groupings, particularly males, seem to get along pretty well together – of course, all bets would be off if we were to introduce a female into the fray- and our boys are no exception.

Breeding season has come and gone, so naturally we would expect to see less posturing. However, today as I rounded the corner to their enclosure, I observed M1135 facing off with M1066-his tail and hackles were raised, his face was set in an agonistic pucker as he emitted a low growl. M1066 had his head turned away in avoidance, which is a submissive behavior, but  the rest of his body language sent a different message. His tail and hackles were also raised and his body was rigid, indicating that he wasn’t quite ready to submit. However, his brother body slammed him and M1066 tucked his tail and turned away, redirecting towards the other brother, M1067, who is the lowest ranking of the 3.

There is never a dull moment when you work with animals (especially wolves) and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned….

bucket and tub day

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Wendy looks at Bart and Jinkies with their splash tub.

Wendy looks on as Jinkies plays in her splash tub.

Yesterday was bucket and tub day. While the wolves’ water buckets are emptied and refilled with clean water at least daily, on an as-needed basis (usually once a week) we pull every water bucket and 50 gallon splash tub out of each enclosure and giving them a thorough cleaning before replacing and refilling. Because we operate on a well and water pressure is already pretty low, it doesn’t help the process when you are trying to fill tubs and as fast as you fill, the wolves are standing in them splashing the water out. It took 4 attempts to get Jinkies’ tub filled because as soon as I would get any measurable amount of water in her tub, she would jump in and splash it all back out. At one point she even laid down in the tub while I was filling it. I think she takes a certain delight in vexing me but she was having fun so I would have stayed all day if necessary 🙂  Wendy

Book Review: How The Dog Became The Dog: From Wolves To Our Best Friends

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How The Dog Became The Dog: From Wolves To Our Best Friends by Mark Derr is exactly what the title says it is.  Mark gives a comprehensive and detailed description of the history of the dog and its descent from the wolf. He includes, for how could he not, the progression of the dog human relationship.  Humans have influenced dog evolution and dogs have influenced ours, at least that is a conclusion that can be drawn from the book.  Equally important in this book is the evaluation of wolf versus dog.  The confusion on how much of a wolf a dog really is is confounding to many.  Mark has determined that there is wolf, dog wolf (different from wolf dog), and dog.   He describes how the dog is so different from the wolf that there really should be no confusion.  He gives behavioral and physical descriptions that show why wolves are wolves, and dogs are dogs.
What makes this book excellent is that Mark has done his homework, literally, breaking open myths, citing primary literature, including personal anecdotes, and drawing from paleontological and genetic research. Experts have long disagreed about when the dog first appeared, some even disagree on what a dog is.  Mark has combed through each argument and presented it in a way that makes that answer, well, still just as mysterious but at least honest. There are parts of the book where having a science background is certainly handy, however, the scientific language is broken open so that anyone that wants to know how the dog became the dog can understand.   Also read Los Angeles Times review.