Yesterday, Allison and I took Forest to Cherry Hills Library in Albuquerque. It was the first of the library presentations either I or Forest had done, and so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but as it turned out, there was a great group of kids (and adults) that seemed very interested in learning as much as they could about wolves. Forest, also, did a fantastic job.
When you go to an outreach event, you never really know what to expect. Certain tablings you’re lucky if you see a few people all day long; others, it feels like there’s never a break from offering our rhetoric. When it comes to presentations at schools & libraries, for example, it’s always a guessing game as to how the people are going to respond, and with the pups, how the ambassador wolf is going to feel.
Forest amazes me almost every time we go out into the public. At the Sanctuary, and as far as we’ve seen, he’s almost always a “happy-go-lucky” kid. At this particular library, Forest spent the entire time I was talking sleeping on the floor in front of me. More malleable than ever, he let me lift his paws to show the webbing between his toes, stretch out his tail to exhibit its lack of curl, fur pattern, and precaudal spot, and even mangle his fur about to show the two layers and the length of the guard hairs. It wasn’t until the first group of children came up to pet him that Forest finally woke up.
When he first woke up, I must admit a small part of me wondered what his reaction was going to be. While I know Forest to be a very understanding wolf pup, waking up to 6-7 little people petting you and another twenty or thirty crowded behind you can be a stressful situation for even the most well-adjusted of dogs, let alone a wolf. Forest, however, woke up just as pleased with all of the attention he was receiving as ever, and even though I asked the crowd to stand back, he didn’t seem very concerned.
As I walked him around the room then, meeting different people, mostly children, Forest gave kisses – perhaps tongue baths – to almost every small child he came in contact with. One little girl was so appealing, that Forest crawled into her lap and decided he was going to stay there for a bit. It amazes me how at ease this little boy is in such scary, scary situations. We try to explain to our audiences how miraculous it is for a wolf to do a program such as this. After all, here is this naturally shy creature, surrounded on all sides by his only predator; fearing (and thus avoiding) humans is the strongest instinct a wolf holds.
I compare Forest to the other puppies. All of the arctics, who we’ve spent much more time hand-rearing and socializing, are much more fearful of humans. Even Storm, who also acts as an “ambassador in training” shows fear at new things, new atmospheres, and is visibly less excited to meet people. Forest’s brother’s and sisters all have fears of various things. So far, with Forest, the only fear I’ve seen exhibited is toward heights. Strange, but definitely preferable in most situations!
I compare Forest to some of the socialized adults at our Sanctuary. I think about the previous “babies,” who were the only other litter of pups ever to be at our Sanctuary. While they all went through the same socialization process, 11 years later, Ghengis, for example, is one of our toughest characters. I wonder, will there be a changing point where Forest decides he must exhibit his dominance toward humans instead of his affection?
We hope and pray everyday that these beautiful, sociable pups will remain this way forever. We work diligently to keep them socialized, to make sure they are enjoying their ambassador programs, to “condition” them as best as we can. And most of the time, it’s easy to fall into thinking: “They’ll always be so sweet, so cuddly.” Unfortunately, we need to remember that that was the thought behind each and every animal now in our care. The same thought that all new wolf & wolf-dog owners have with their newly purchased pups.
The likelihood that Forest, or any of the pups, will remain quite this brave, sociable and malleable is slim to none. He certainly has something special about him, however, and perhaps, Forest, Storm, or one of the other pups will beat the odds and surprise us all. We can only hope, and continue our efforts.

Only a couple of weeks after the arctic pups arrived, 5 six week old timber-arctic crosses were in need of placement. While we dishearteningly turned down the offer, another individual who planned on starting a facility in Ohio accepted the pups if we agreed to board them while he made travel arrangements.
From the day we met them, we started noticing a world of difference in the timbers from our original crew. The arctics we had started with were like “rag-dolls.” They cuddled, they fell into your lap if you touched them. The timbers were excitable, frisky jumpers who would leap into the air for attention. Their rambunctious personalities were endearing, and playing with them became quite a bit of fun for all of us

at Wild Spirit.
Roughly a week after their arrival, we began finding out a little too much about the situation they were going into. Proper arrangements had not been made, and we were misinformed of quite a bit. It was decided that we couldn’t let the timber’s go to the situation that had been planned. And so, while we toiled with the idea of arranging placement at a different facility, all five of the timbers ended up staying at Wild Spirit as well.
***
Sleeping in a room with six arctic pups is a quite an ordeal. There’s always someone awake, finding some sort of mischief to get into. There’s always someone who’s decided that the best place to pee is right on their caretaker’s pillow, and there’s always someone who thinks it’s a great idea to test out their new found teeth on the sleeping human’s arm or cheek!
When we first integrated the timbers however, 11 puppies in one room only lasted one night!
It was hard to let them go that first day – to put them in an enclosure overnight without supervision. It was hard to watch them find solace in one another, in the grass, in the mud, and not in a person.
The first night the pups spent in an enclosure together, I woke every two hours and checked on them – just as though I was still on their original bottle-feeding schedule. And each time, of course, they were perfectly all right and only mildly excited to see the overly-concerned human that had come to visit.
***
When the pups were being bottle fed, their paws pulled at our arms as though they were trying to push more milk out of a mother’s nipple. Tiny, sharp, cat-like claws dug into our arms, and Leyton and myself both looked as though we were making poor-suicide attempts, or trying to shoot up heroine! Tiny claw wounds were exposed to the sting of formula, but it never seemed to matter. Their tiny mouths sucking so strongly—their milk splattered “beards” – their warm, fuzzy gray bodies – it was too much “cuteness” to let any pain slip into one’s mind.
When the arctics & timbers moved into an enclosure together, a new feeding pain came about. The timbers were like “little jumping beans” and the arctics soon learned the trick as well. In order to feed the “chicken-paste” we were serving, we’d spread it out on bucket lids and carry at first two, then three, then four, then five platters into the enclosure with the pups three times a day.
For the first few days, we were able to simply open the door and be mauled for a few seconds before setting the platters on the ground for the “feast.” Soon however, anytime we went in, two or three little “fur-kids” came out! As soon as they saw the food entering the enclosure however, they of course followed.
Within a week our little timber “jumping beans” had taught the arctics the great trick of getting your food mid-air, and little bite marks began gracing my hands and arms each day. We came up with a new system, and started entering the enclosure and throwing the trays like Frisbees to different sides of the enclosure.
This, too, was not long-lasting and eventually, it began taking three people to feed the “puppy pack.” One person on either side of the enclosure, one (typically myself) inside, being handed one tray at a time to quickly toss in the other direction.
Amazing… to watch 11 pups eat 80 lbs of “chicken paste” each day… 20-30 lbs in each sitting, and it all disappeared within seconds…
***
Storm was the first to let us know he was ready for “real food.” I was working in the animal care office one day, while Alice, Storm & Sabine visited. At some point, one of our volunteers, Mary came in to tell me something or other, and as the door opened, Stormy slipped out into the Wolf Kitchen unbeknownst to either of us.
Now, the Wolf Kitchen is full of fun things. Since it's where we prepare and store all of the “wolf food” there’s always bags of treats in the pantry, dishes with leftovers on the sink, and plenty of leashes that look very edible to playful little pups. On many occasions, a pup had slipped between our legs and found something fun and mischevious to get into. Storm, however, found the jackpot.
Mary had just been preparing to de-bone, de-skin, grind, & blend chicken to make “baby-food.” As she was leaving the office, Storm pranced happily and proudly in with a chicken quarter in his mouth. He had found her bucket, and confiscated his first “real meal.”

Storm had some help on that first “snack.” Sabine & Alice assisted him in cracking the bones, and chewing it up, and the three had quite a good time in the office that day. While we waited a couple of more weeks, it was a good sign that the kids were ready for chicken – bone and all – just like the rest of the wolves.

***
The best thing about puppies in comparison to adult wolves, is that pups still love human attention. When they escape, they come running to their human mom’s and dad’s to let them know about their new-found talent. It’s a good thing, too, because our kids sure found plenty of escape routes.
In the beginning, we kept small 3-foot gates around the enclosure entrance so the pups had a “sub-enclosure” to come into when tours were around. We’d open the gate, let a couple of pups in, and visitors could reach over the small fence to greet the youngsters.
Without any testing of limits, Thunder one day shocked us all by jumping straight up in the air and clearing his “containment.” The tour loved it – The laughed as Thunder romped around the inner-compound and his brothers & sisters, and timber cousins excitedly watched. Thunder, quite proud of himself, simply pranced up to Sierra, one of our volunteer’s dogs, and we were able to leash him and take him back to his enclosure.
The bad thing about this situation is that wolves learn by observation. The next time pups were let into the containment, they all remembered Thunder’s genius idea, and thus, we had four wolf pups romping happily through the inner-compound.
The pups also made other escape arrangements. Dakota, the largest of the timbers, and who I’ve always referred to as “my problem child” found that he could tunnel out of his enclosure. Now, while this was definitely a problem, I couldn’t help be impressed by this act.
You see, all of the enclosures at the sanctuary are equipped with ground-wiring to prevent such activity. While wolves consistently dig down and straight across, they rarely dig up. The reason for this, is most likely that they’ll be laying on their backs, getting dirt falling in their face if they are digging upward. Of course, it’s still a possibility, and of course, the enclosure the pups were in wasn’t quite as well equipped as our adult enclosures, and of course one of the pups was bound to surprise us.
We watched the digging start. We watched the pups hit the ground wire, and continue digging a nice hold straight down. One afternoon, however, we also watched a furry little paw reaching out from under the ground. Dakota had tunneled his way out of their enclosure, and covered in dirt, started happily wiggling his rear-end and whining as soon as he saw he was outside and near the people he was trying to get to. Once again, wolves learning by observation hurt us, and several tunnels began taking form all around the perimeter of the enclosure. This day marked the first “puppy pen maintenance” as well as starting to split the pack up.
***

The pens we utilized for the pups when they first went outside are what we refer to as our “geriatric ward.” They are smaller pens, less-professionally constructed, they have felt the sting of time ware on them, and they aren’t quite as tall as our typical enclosures. Sabine, the tiniest of the pups, one day proved that the “geriatric ward” was no longer up to her standards.
During feeding. Sabine or “Bean” (think jumping bean), got so excited over the chicken that was about to be delivered, that she jumped straight up in the air, clearing the six foot fence and the extra feet of overhang. Flying through the air, headed straight for a chicken bucket, came the tiniest pup, and soon to follow, her equally impressive at jumping brother, Thunder.
The pups at this point began utilizing our isolation enclosures that are equipped with roofing, but it wasn’t long, before our 11 pups moved into large, “big-kid” enclosures.

Somehow, when we weren't looking, 11 balls of 3lbs of fluff have turned into 50 lb mini wolves...

What an amazing experience the last four months have been, and each and every day, there is more change, more growth, and more to learn....

A little back history:

Almost a year ago now, we at Wild Spirit all came to the very solemn realization that Raven, the miracle he is, was reaching the end of his career as our ambassador. It is amazing for any wolf to be in the public as a spokes-wolf at all, let alone as consistently and for as many years as Raven has been gracing the public eye. At 11 years of age, Raven has put in nine longe years of ambassadorship, and after all this time of thousands of hands rubbing across his body and many long hours standing on concrete floors, it is time for some peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, along with this solemn, realist though, came another difficult one... Raven was a miracle. Wolves & wolf-dogs in captivity are hardly ever so sociable, outgoing, and patient. The chances of another Raven falling into our lap are 1 in a million at best. And so, the other realization came that our best shot was to find a pup to start working with at as early of an age as possible.

At first, this idea seemed impossible as well. Afterall, as pups, wolves too are cute, malliable balls of fluff that no one wants to get rid of... It's not until they are full grown, and starting to mature that the myriad of problems associated with ownership begin to surface.

However, a friend of the Sanctuary put us in touch with a breeder in Oregon who had had a litter of Arctic wolves. While he had decided to get out of the wolf-breeding business, the breeder still had a pair of unaltered wolves who did in fact end up having a litter of pups.

Originally, the breeder agreed that five pups would come to Wild Spirit. The idea was exciting to all of us. Now, there were five possible chances at finding an ambassador. There were five pups that would never have to enter into the open market for captive wolves. And then, somewhat disheartening to all, we heard that the breeder had in fact decided to sell the pups, and only two were still coming to our Sanctuary.

While this was a disappointment of course, we all stomached the idea, knowing that this was originally the plan, and of course, two was much less work than five.. Then, two days before Leyton & Georgia left for Oregon, we got a call saying to plan on bringing six pups back with them. That's right, from 5 to 2 to 6...

And so, 6 little Arctic wolves came to the Sanctuary... Dark gray & fluffy, crystal blue eyes, held in the palms of our hands... 6 little Arctics came to Wild Spirit, and thus began an adventure that had barely begun...