Nicole Wilde is a professional dog trainer, who has worked in wolfdog rescue, training and education. Her interest lies in educating the potential and current owners about what to expect from their wolfdogs how to deal with their common behaviors. She is the author of Wolf Hybrid Awareness Through Education (WHATE), an informational packet made available to prospective and new wolfdog owners through the internet. A copy of
WHATE can be viewed here.
About the Book
Publisher: Phantom Publishing
Year: 1998, second printing in 2000
ISBN: 0-9667726-0-1
Description: Soft cover, 104 pages with several black and white photographs of a variety of wolfdogs.
In this book, Nicole Wilde has written an excellent introduction to life with wolfdogs. While most of the concepts and advice in this book are applicable to any breed of dog, the author uses specific examples to illustrate the areas in which the training and socialization of wolfdogs requires special attention.
The book is divided into 16 sections. The first is an introduction to wolfdogs, which discusses some of the terms and cautions about wolfdog percentages/content. This section is nice because it touches on the pitfalls of generalizing wolfdog traits. Nicole also discusses the problem of exaggerating the wolf content of crosses, and why potential owners need to seriously consider their ability to commit to the challenges of raising a wolfdog.
The second section - "What to Consider When Considering a Wolfdog" - is a look at the realities of day to day and long term life with a wolfdog. Some of the considerations are not unique to wolfdogs, but the author points out some of the traits which sometimes get wolfdogs into trouble. Nicole advises examining the reasons for getting a wolfdog and touches on legal issues. She then turns to the need to provide sufficient companionship, housing and containment issues, long term commitment, the issue of children and wolfdogs, and other considerations.
Section three is where the really practical content of the book begins. This is where Nicole offers practical advice on prevention and managing common behavior problem areas. The sections covered include integration of wolfdogs with other pets, housebreaking, fences, socialization, general training, dominance issues, children and wolfdogs, mouthiness, diggind, and separation anxiety.
The training/behavior sections are followed by sections on diet and health. The feeding section is fairly short and general, but contains some good advice on changing diets and picky eaters. The health section is also brief. Then comes a miscellaneous collection of tips and tricks, like keeping the water bucket upright, and keeping wolfdogs cool in the summer heat. The final tip is a good one: keep your sense of humor to help you get through the rough spots.
The last section is a collection of resources, including books and videos, pet supply catalogs and sources for some products mentioned in the text, wolf centers, and wolfdog registries.
Summary
The author writes in a conversational and flowing style, and this book is a quick read. While it doesn't cover topics in a great deal of depth, I feel it is an excellent book for any potential wolfdog owner. It is quite aptly named, and Nicole Wilde has done a good job of showing how to apply the basics of dog training to the more challenging aspects of life with wolfdogs. Along the way, lots of practical and easy to use tips and advice are given.
Experienced wolfdog owners or owners of wolfdogs with serious behavior problems will probably find this book too basic for their needs, but I would highly recommend it to anyone who had recently added a wolfdog to their family, or who is considering doing so.
