Why can't we treat wolves like dogs?

[raccoon]

I mean they too are a dog like creature, it probably wouldn't be that difficult to tame them and have them guard the house like a guard dog. Their howls might put the fear into the bad guys!

[Bake]

1. Because they WILL EAT YOUR @SS!!

They're wild animals. That's what they do.

Just sayin'.

:hi:

Bake

[BlueJazz]

21. Perfect and Funny Answer !

:rofl:

[freshwest]

2. It would eliminate centuries of Dire Wolf At The Door trophisms. Not only that,

We'd have to lower our standards for what acceptable canine behavior within our hard won civilization would be.

Such as tolerating a lot of indiscriminate mauling and killing at all hours of the day and night and packs of self-aggrandizing loud mouths howling just to hear their voices in the moonlight...

Wait, we already do that...

Okay, then. But you first. Are you a big, husky, hairy sort of guy?

:rofl:

And there's a song about this, just so you know:

Grateful Dead - Dire Wolf

In the timbers to fennario, the wolves are running round,
The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet neath the ground
Don't murder me, I beg of you, don't murder me please, don't murder me

I sat down to my supper, 'twas a bottle of red whiskey,
I said my prayers and went to bed, that's the last they saw of me
Don't murder me, I beg of you, don't murder me please, don't murder me

When I awoke, the dire wolf, six hundred pounds of sin,
Was grinning at my window, all I said was come on in
Don't murder me, I beg of you, don't murder me please, don't murder me

The wolf came in, I got my cards, we sat down for a game
I cut my deck to the queen of spades, but the cards were all the same
Don't murder me, I beg of you, don't murder me please, don't murder me

In the backwash of fennario, the black and bloody mire,
The dire wolf collects his dues, while the boys sing round the fire
Don't murder me, I beg of you, don't murder me please, don't murder me
No, no, no don't murder me I beg of you,
Don't murder me please, don't murder me...

[elleng]

3. We DID, we DO, they ARE dogs!

They are 'original' dogs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

[freshwest]

4. True, but why do wolves still exist? Just as if people evolved from apes, why are they here? Are

These less evolved forms of life Republicans?

By all means, do not take them into your homes...

:hide:

[sibelian]

10. They are the descendants of the wolves that didn't want to play...

...

[freshwest]

12. Ah, the very essence of regressive politics.

[ChoralScholar]

16. Could be Republicans

I present, as exhibit A, Insanity Wolf

[Marrah_G]

18. Evolution is not a straight line

It's a tree with many many branches.

[Ohio Joe]

19. Humans did not evolve from apes

We share a common ancestor.

[freshwest]

25. Just playing the meme.

[jmowreader]

20. Wolves and apes both still exist...

because those particular animals have evolved as far as they need to.

Consider the wolf. You have two colonies of wolves. One is in area A and the other in area B.

The wolves in area A have got all the prey and water they need, and nothing is fucking with them. They're fine as wolves.

The wolves in area B are being eaten by mountain lions. Some of them realize those animals that only use their back legs to move (because their front legs are being used to hold and carry things) live in places the mountain lions can't get to, and they realize that if they can become useful to the back-legs-only animals, the back-legs-only animals will keep the mountain lions away from them at night. So the wolves change their behavior to keep from eating the back-legs animals' offspring, become friendly with the back-legs animals, and those animals help protect them from the mountain lions. Next thing you know, these animals have changed their title from "wolf" to "dog."

The wolves in area A will remain wolves forever, or until the mountain lions learn area-A wolves are easy to eat.

[Yavin4]

27. Don't Forget The Belly Rub

That's a huge benefit for being in area B.

[MrScorpio]

5. Because wolves haven't been domesticated

Dogs have been bred over thousands of years to PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO HUMAN BEINGS.

Wolves simply don't give a fuck about us, we're not wolves.

[GoCubsGo]

11. Exactly right, in a nutshell.

We can't treat wolves like dogs, because they are not dogs.

[surrealAmerican]

13. It probably only take a few generations, but ...

... yes, selective breeding makes a huge difference.

[nolabear]

6. Wolves are wild and wild isn't relaxed. I've knwn some wolf pets and owned a hybrid.

y husband came with a 1/4 wolf Malamute Shepherd who was just wonderful, though he did bond tightly to his people and never gave much of a damn for strangers. But I've known wolves raised in homes and many are shy and distrustful of most people. They're just not happy. And being wild they're reactionary, so there's always a danger of being bitten. In the wild they bite one another all the time; they just have natural protection of fur and dominance/submission rituals that calm things down. Don't get me wrong, they're lovely creatures with complex social instincts but they can't be trusted not to kill the kitty or freak out when you do things that just don't faze a reasonably put together dog.

[Tom Ripley]

7. They have bigger brains

[freshwest]

9. Yep, too smart to put up with our crap! Sit! Roll Over! Beg! Leave the cat alone, don't hump my leg!

[LynneSin]

8. Here you go....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolves_as_pets_and_working_animals

[raccoon]

14. Thanks for the link. nt

[krispos42]

15. Because they treat us as steak.

Dogs treat us as masters, cats treat us as servants, wolves treat us as dinner.

[Marrah_G]

17. Because you can't just tame a wild animal

They have instincts. Eventually they act on those instincts.

There are already breeds out there that are great guard dogs, although I suggest anyone planning to own one do alot of research before hand.

[Kali]

22. you can

but they aren't going to respond like them

there are quite a few wolves as kept as "pets" and many more wolf-dog hybrids around

not really ethical in my opinion and pretty dangerous if you don't know what you are doing

read an interesting article on domesticating foxes recently, went into the traits that indicate it is happening such as floppy ears and curly tail held over the back, other puppy traits that stay in adulthood etc

[Supply Side Jesus]

23. They are not the same

dogs had the wildness breed right out of them.....mostly....

I saw a doc once about dogs and a Russian experiment about breeding Silver Foxes.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox

interesting results and how quickly they got them

[saras]

24. Because they're not. They behave differently.

Given ten thousand years of domestication, you might get somewhere. But where you'd get is evolving dogs again.

[Recovered Repug]

26. Whether humans can treat wolves like dogs isn't the issue.

The issue is: Will wolves treat humans the way dogs treat humans?