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INTERVIEWS |
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| A Dog | Ian Dunbar | Kym Lawrence | Sue Hull |
| Angela Stockdale | Jean Donaldson | Lana Mitchell | Terry Ryan |
| David Appleby | Joel Walton | Marie Miller | |
INTERVIEW WITH SUE HULL.
Member of the APBC and Wolf Specialist.
GILL
Firstly may I thank you for giving us the
time to share your knowledge. May we start by asking you how you first became
involved with dogs?
SUE
I got my first dog when I was nine years old. He was a Lab / Shepherd cross.
I read everything that I could get hold of about dogs and this included the
books by Jack London, you know, "Call of the Wild" and "White
Fang". These influenced me a great deal and not only led to an enduring
love affair with the Arctic but also my passion for Huskies and Wolves. As a
result of this, I not only worked on glaciers, but ended up with a team of sled
dogs!
GILL
What made you first become interested in
Wolves and study them?
SUE
It was the Jack London thing again I'm afraid. However, it was a couple of
years after I got my first Siberian Husky that I started up the Wolf Society of
Great Britain in 1985. It was purely because no such organisation existed and
there was really no literature to speak of. It seems amazing now, but if you
were interested in wolves there was absolutely nothing. The Wolf Society aimed
to give people a chance to learn about wolves and to publicise the conservation
problems for this animal. We were actually only the third wolf group in
existence in Europe.
GILL
What is the most interesting factor you
found in your Wolf study?
SUE
That's a difficult one because I find it all so interesting. I think that
perhaps it has been trying to discover the evolutionary reasons why wolves
behave as they do. It is often so different to the popular ideas that seem to
abound in books.
GILL
How would you compare domesticated dog to
the Wolf?
SUE
Dogs are amazing animals. So many people want to put wolves on a pedestal
and imply that domesticated dogs are degenerate and stupid. In reality they are
two versions of the same animal adapted to different ecological niches. Dogs
cannot survive and reproduce in the environments that wolves are successful in.
Equally, wolves cannot survive in the world that dogs live in.
GILL
Can you tell us some more about the Wolf
sanctuary you have links with please?
SUE
If people want to get close to wolves then I would suggest that they contact
Wolf Watch UK that runs a sanctuary for displaced wolves. It has a beautiful
setting on the Shropshire - Welsh border and typically takes animals that have
been unable to stay in their pack for one reason or another. This is a common
scenario, particularly where females are concerned. There are also pups that
need to be found a new home, sometimes because the female cannot feed them or
because they have been born to a low ranking female and risk being killed.
GILL
Can you tell us more about the Wolf
Society of Great Britain and what happens there?
SUE
I started the Wolf Society way back in 1985 when interest in the wolf was
very low, least-ways very few people openly admired the wolf. As soon as we
started advertising the Society, lots of people came out of the woodwork! A few
years ago it was re-launched, after a sticky patch, by Richard Morley who has
done an excellent job. The WSGB now actively campaigns and raises funds for
conservation and research projects
primarily in Europe. They even run trips out to places like Slovakia where you
can get involved with wolf conservation.
GILL
You were saying in an earlier answer that
if a wolf cub is born to a low ranking female it risks getting killed, why is
this?
SUE
In most cases there is only one breeding female in a pack and this is
normally although not exclusively the alpha female. However, there are occasions
when lower ranking females get pregnant since the males will attempt to mate
with any female in estrus. This is usually discouraged by the alpha female who
is extremely aggressive to the other females during this period and effectively
suppresses their receptivity to the
males. In the wild, lower ranking females often disperse at this time but of
course in captivity this cannot happen. In the event of a second litter being
born the pups are often killed by the alpha female and the unfortunate mother
may then be roped into caring for the alpha females pups.
GILL
We practice ignoring unwanted behaviour
nowadays, rather than corrections or punishment. Do high ranking wolves
correct others in the pack?
SUE
High ranking wolves do correct others and are
very good at highly ritualised aggressive encounters. However, they are also
masters at ignoring attempts by lower ranking wolves to get their attention. I
think the problems that dog owners encounter is that they do not realise the
sort of behaviour that a wolf will discipline another for. There is an awful lot
of emphasis on doing things with dogs that are essentially meaningless within a
wolf pack. For example, going through doorways. No high ranking wolf is going to
insist on being first through a narrow gap. It simply is not important enough to
provoke a confrontation over. Even the good old business of who eats first is
quite different than most of the doggy people think. Unless there is a real
shortage of food such as may happen in the wild, the alpha pair do not always
eat first. Usually whoever is the hungriest eats first and unless there is good
cause, wolves do not put themselves in a position where they may get injured.
Far and away the most significant behavioural characteristics that correlate
with high rank are great dignity and reserve, and an increase in territorial
aggression.
GILL
Do you see a particular breed of dog that most closely resembles the wolf in
behaviour?
SUE
I see wolf like behaviours in all sorts of dogs but I suppose that I would
have to be honest and say that the northern sled dogs seem to resemble the wolf
more closely than most. This shows up particularly in their vocal patterns,
hunting behaviours and social behaviours. Research at Southampton University
also found that Huskies showed the same social behaviour patterns as the wolf
and that this was rather more attenuated in the other breeds that they looked
at. Make no mistake though, Huskies and Malamutes are not wolves.
GILL
Do you have a favourite book or video on wolf behaviour and if so what it
the title and author please?
SUE
Oooh! that's a difficult one as I have so many favourites. I still think
that Erik Zimen's book, "The Wolf, his place in the natural world" is
the best value in terms of the factual content and readability even though it is
pretty old now. As for video's the sheer beauty of the Ellesmere island arctic
wolves is hard to beat.
GILL
Some people seem to like the idea of having a Hybrid, can you explain
exactly what a Hybrid is
SUE
A Hybrid is any dog which has the recent addition of wolf blood.
GILL
Is it a good idea to have a Hybrid as a pet?
SUE
Wolf - dog crosses are incredibly variable in both appearance and behaviour
due to the amount of wolf, how many generations they are away form the pure wolf
and of course the breeds of dog used in the cross. Even the subspecies of wolf
may make a difference. In general, since pure wolves definitely DO NOT make good
pets, many Hybrids will fall into this category. It is of course pretty
difficult to tell what a puppy will turn out like.
GILL
Could you experience different problems with a hybrid?
SUE
The problems that are experienced by people who attempt to keep pure wolves
as pets may all turn up in a Hybrid. These include highly exploratory behaviour
such as dissecting your furniture, escaping from all but the most "Fort
Knox" like garden and inability to be house trained are just some. Add to
this the fact that wolves frequently challenge for dominance upon maturity, are
constantly testing their handlers for weakness, and will readily bite people who
don't follow the wolf rules. Falling foul of wolf law is inevitable if you
attempt to keep them in a house since sooner or later there will be a
confrontation over something.
GILL
What is the most acceptable breed of dog to mix with a wolf?
SUE
Since I don't really agree with people breeding
Hybrids for pets it is hard to say that any breed is acceptable. The most
commonly used breeds are German Shepherds, Huskies and Malamutes but just about
everything has been tried.
GILL
Is it legal to own a Hybrid?
SUE
It is definitely illegal to keep a first generation wolf - dog cross in this
country (UK) without a Dangerous Wild Animal licence. Other crosses may or may
not be legal. Suffice it to say that I have been involved in a number of court
cases where it has been argued, in some cases successfully, that any amount of
wolf in a dog means that it is subject to the Dangerous Wild Animal Act.
GILL
What would your advise be to someone that wanted to get a hybrid?
SUE
My advice would be surprisingly simple if that person was a resident of the
UK. To the best of my knowledge there are virtually NO genuine Hybrids in the
UK. There are vast numbers of animals out there that are being sold as Hybrids,
often with no end of bits of paper to supposedly prove wolf ancestry. These
animals probably have either no recent wolf in them or it is so far back and so
dilute that it is no longer evident in their appearance and behaviour. I have
been involved in this for 15 yrs and seen a fair number of dogs in that time.
They are almost never what the owner thinks they are. All the characteristics
that the owner thinks indicate wolf ancestry are simply from the Husky or
Malamute side, such as howling, slant eyes, very intense social and hunting
behaviours, thick grey coat etc. People are totally brilliant at convincing
themselves that their dog is just like a wolf. Sadly the truth always seems to
take second place.
GILL
On behalf of everyone we would like to thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview.
|
INTERVIEWS |
|||
| A Dog | Ian Dunbar | Kym Lawrence | Sue Hull |
| Angela Stockdale | Jean Donaldson | Lana Mitchell | Terry Ryan |
| David Appleby | Joel Walton | Marie Miller | |
|