What is a Wolfdog?
 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A wolfdog (also called a wolf hybrid or wolf-dog hybrid) is a canid hybrid resulting from the mating of a wolf (Canis lupus) and a dog (Canis lupus familiaris). The term "wolfdog" is preferred by most wolfdog proponents and breeders, as they contend that these animals are not hybrids at all, as one is a subspecies of the other. (In 1993, the domestic dog C. l. familiaris was reclassified by the scientific community as a subspecies of wolf, C. lupus.) Wolfdogs are hybrids in the sense that they are a cross of a species with a subspecies. Professional organizations such as the AVMA and government agencies such as the USDA refer to the animals as wolf-dog hybrids. In the United Kingdom, they are considered a hybrid for legal purposes.

The characteristics of an animal created by breeding a wolf to a dog are not predictable. In some cases the resulting adult wolfdog may be larger than either of its parents due to the genetic phenomenon of heretosis. Wolfdogs retain various traits of each parental line along with having traits that differ from either; their behavior and physical characteristics range from predominantly wolf-like to predominantly dog-like.

A wolfdog may also be an animal with both wolf and dog ancestry within recent generations (i.e. not necessarily a 50:50 mix), or an officially recognized breed created by introducing wolf lineage into an established dog breed.

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