I once read a report, ages back,  about  a US  farm/ranch which was raising 
wolf/dog hybrids for pet-owners. The farmers  stated  that most breeds of 
domesticated dogs are so heavily inbred that they invariably suffer from 
constant illnesses etc.. They also pointed out that breeding dogs with 
wolves would eliminate such side-effects, and increase the intelligence of 
the animals in question, and that a 15% wolf/85% dog-hybrid was the 
optimum-range for a pet. If there was a higher percentage of wolf DNA in the 
hybrid than 15%, the animal would have a tendency to be  too independent to 
be able to be controlled effectively, as a pet.


Geoff





> >
>Thanks, Inci.  Fascinating article.  It all makes more sense to me knowing
>that her "pets" were wolf-dog hybrids and that "Ms. Piovesan treated her
>wolves like children, and said as much when neighbors asked about them."
>I spent an afternoon with a researcher who has many wolves here in NM and
>studies wolf family relationships.  She spoke about the absolute need to
>understand pack dynamics, alpha animals, etc. before working w/ wolves.
>
>Thanks for telling us about your wonderful working dogs.  I raised my dog 
>on
>a raw diet also; she was a large dog & lived to be 14.  It's great to know
>that you and your animals are on species appropriate diets.
>
>Let me know off list if you plan to visit NM again; I'd love to meet you.
>
>Kath
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of PALEOFOOD Digest - 15 Jun 2007 to 16 Jun 2007 (#2007-197)
>****************************************************************

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