In mid-summer 2015, Founder Nancy Smith was contacted by a couple who were seeking advice on rearing a wolfdog puppy they had purchased in North Carolina. The pup loved their shepherds, but they were already the third home for it (due to a failed prior sale) and the pup had been through a lot. The couple loved the little guy, but they were quickly realizing that they were in over their heads. Then they learned they were expecting a human baby.

That’s when Shy Wolf received the call asking us to take in the pup and give him a forever home. Of course Nancy said YES and they drove the youngster down the next week. We took him to our vet immediately for a health check, vaccines and fecal exam. He was also scheduled for his neuter and a hip x-ray due to concerns over his development and diet. He appeared to have some leg issues going on, but what we found we really need to be concerned about is an enlarged kidney! We’ve never encountered this before so there will be more testing down the road to determine the best course of action.

Our primary focus after that became finding him a “family” as every puppy needs to have direction and company. That was more challenging than Nancy had originally hoped as one pair after another seemed to take issue with Jasper. After several attempts with different groups, Maraya and Misun were found to at least be tolerant, if seemingly indifferent. That didn’t last long, however, as Jasper has all of the submissive body language one could hope for and let them know he was there to play and only wanted a big brother and sister. It was a great feeling seeing the two older wolves chase and play with young Jasper in the largest enclosure we have on the property. We couldn’t have asked for a happier ending… or beginning!  That was short lived, however.

Jasper was sold and rescued as a wolfdog, but DNA testing showed he was 95+% wolf. Wolves and dogs are only 0.04% different and dogs have evolved from wolves. Embark states that they are so closely related that their test cannot get closer than within 5%.  We consider Jasper a full wolf at that percentage. Wolves mature over 2-3 years as their personality continues to develop, just like human children. As this progresses they may start challenging their pack mates and their status within that pack.

Due to the fact that he keeps challenging and dominating the females we have tried with him, Jasper currently lives on his own and that is all his choosing. Maybe one day down the road we will rescue an animal that Jasper falls in love with, but for now he likes his space and his toys and doesn’t want to share anything.

Jaspers favorite human is Senior Volunteer, Tim, and he really loves boxes and food enrichment! He can be shy around visitors but when his human friends are in his enclosure, he can get very playful and demand a lot of pets.”