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AstroNot
Thank you so much! This is a huge help. I'm currently in the process of figuring out a majour I want to switch to. I was thinking biology would be a good one, looking at current job listings online of requirements. I've also always been incredibly interested in animal behaviour, and I like to spend a lot of time just doing online research of it. Would be really cool if I could take a class on it as well.
As for wolves being harder to breed with dogs, I don't have personal experience in that field, as the people I know who own wolves and wolfdogs only breed wolves to wolves and wolfdogs to wolfdogs. I can imagine it's difficult to get an F1 cross because wolves breed only in the winter, where as female dogs can breed twice a year. I believe you'd have to get everything aligned just right in order to get a true (pure) wolf x (pure) dog. I've seen some pictures of their offspring online, and gosh, they are a stunning mix, most of which (that I've seen) don't look like dogs or wolves, but an absolute cross between the two.
And its true that wolves don't form packs! (Though something similar happens in rare occasions which I will explain in just a moment.) Wolf packs are usually made up of a breeding pair, which were formerly called the "alpha" pair. I think there's nothing wrong with calling a wolf an alpha, as usually the most dominant wolves are the breeding pair. However, you reach a difference between the two when the dominant wolf or pair isn't the breeding pair. (Such as in captivity where you may have an "alpha" who doesn't have a mate, or its mate can't produce offspring.)
Most packs are composed of a breeding pair and their offspring which are likely subordinates due to their lack of experience. Among the pack, there is usually a heirarchy of the most dominant wolf to the least dominant wolf. Some offspring may choose to stay with the pack, and most tend to go off and seek a mate.
I think one of the most common misunderstandings about this hierarchy falls on what an "omega" wolf is. Omegas are usually less dominant, but these individuals serve one of the most important roles in a pack. (I think you could also argue that an omega isn't present in every pack.) They are peacekeepers, and serve to eliminate tension between existing pack members. Sometimes they get picked on as well. In an incredibly example, at the wolf center I volunteered at, there was this female omega wolf. Her brother, the "alpha", was guarding an entire carcass and not allowing her or her father to eat. She ended up nipping her brothers flank to rile him up and running off, which led to him trying to chase her down and assert his dominance. This gave the father wolf time to go in and snag some food from the carcass before the "alpha" came back.
Wolves are very social, and unlike dogs, they are open to challenging eachother without it affecting their relationship to one another. Dogs prefer a strict order where there is an alpha, which is usually the human. The dog wants to please and doesn't want to get in trouble. A dog prefers to understand its place. Wolves are more open to debate. Kind of like saying "Hey I think I'd be better at being the leader." and if they win, the former dominant wolf is just kind of like, "Okay, you're right. I understand." and they go back to being friends. There's a popular saying that goes something like "You can train a tiger or lion, but you will never see a wolf preforming at a circus." and this is because wolves don't live to please & don't respond to fear training, where as you could punish a lion, tiger, or dog and either through fear or willingness to please and they will learn to get things right so they don't get in trouble. Wolves live as individuals, and they're always open to debate one another. (This is why when you own a wolf or wolfdog, they likely won't respond to training. And if they do, they'll only sit if they want to and such, not to please you. Dogs are much easier to own because they want to make you happy.)
Bouncing back to the idea of wolves "forming packs," occasionally it does happen, but its definitely not common, and its not permanent either. An example would be in Yellowstone where this wolf referred to as "Casanova" gathered up some lone male wolves as a "pack" to go seek out female wolves from the Druid Peak Pack after the dominant wolf passed away from old age. When they chose their mates, the pack split into various breeding pairs who established their own territories and started their own packs. Casanova actually attempted to get a mate from the pack years beforehand, but the "alpha" wolf (named Twenty-One) didn't allow him to have any of his daughters. Wolves will usually kill others who go on their territories, but Twenty-One chose to never kill another wolf, despite always winning fights. (Him not killing the wolf proved important later on because Casanova rounded up those male lone wolves and Twenty-one's daughters and helped form new packs that way. It allowed his genes to be passed on.) The entire story of Twenty-One of the Druid Peak Pack is interesting as heck and gives a new perspective into wolf behaviour and how socially complex they are. Another way packs can form is when two wolves meet to become mates. Thats how most packs typically start. Its rarely a bunch of loners meeting up. Packs have also been known to accept packless wolves into their pack on occasion. For example, Twenty-One actually worked his way into the Druid Peak Pack after the former alpha of that pack was killed.
Anyway, that was an incredibly long post. I hope its not too confusing and gives some insight into what you know and maybe a few new things you didn't!
