Why Wolves?

[Juice]

Hey guys so I know we already have an Introduce Yourself thread going but I thought it'd be cool to share why we love wolves so much. So without further ado, here is my long winded, unnecessarily detailed, reason for loving wolves.

I have lived with dogs my entire life. When I was born I shared a home with a miniature Dachshund named Buster. Dachshunds are my favorite dog breed. However, in my lifetime, I have shared a home with many different dogs usually far larger than Dachshunds. This large dog obsession has been a trend in my dad's side of the family since as long as anyone can remember. When I was six we adopted a female Chow Chow and Golden Retriever mix whom we named Ginger. She was my best friend growing up and she died at the ripe old age of 15 of natural causes. So, needless to say, I was never afraid of dogs and I had a fascination with canines since birth.

When I was very small I watched the move Balto repeatedly for weeks on end. I specifically remember watching it at least four times a week. I became obsessed with wolves and even thought I was part wolf somehow. There is a scene in the movie in which the main character, Balto (a half-dog half-wolf hybrid), steps into wolf's pawprint, raises his head, and howls triumphantly. As a child I would constantly rewind this scene and mimic it, getting down on all fours, putting my fist forward (fist to make it look more pawlike) and howl like a maniac. Over and over. Seriously.

I did not have a glimmering, sparkly, happy childhood. In fact, far from it but it is neither necessary, or wise, to go into. My childhood memories consist mostly of reality escaping endeavors such as cartoons, movies, video games, anything where I didn't have to live in the present. I also had very little adult supervision which is why I was allowed to watch Balto six or seven times in a row in one evening and also howl right along with the TV set like some weird animal child. The wolf and dog obsession didn't end there and I soon devoured anything that was even remotely wolf or dog related.

When I was 11 years old I decided that I wanted to join the virtual pet website known as Neopets because, again, it was a reality escaping endeavor. Plus it had to do with animals, specifically Gelerts and Lupes. I joined immediately but didn't really get a chance to use the website much until my family finally got internet access when I was 12. Thus began the age of my internet discovery. Having little to no experience with the internet prior to the age of 12, it was a sensory and informational overload. I spent one whole night looking up werewolf artwork which I had to explain to my sixth grade math teacher when I could barely stay awake in his class. However, it was through Neopets specifically that I was introduced to roleplaying.

Naturally, with my wolf obsession, I wanted to roleplay wolves. Sure I dabbled here and there in human/pokemon/Teen Titans roleplaying, but it was really the wolves that stuck with me. I soon joined a Guild on Neopets called the White Hawk Pack and this marked the creation of Kala, my favorite and oldest wolf character. I was soon banned from Neopets and forced to find another outlet for roleplaying. I had never even heard of forums outside of Neopets before so I was pretty lost. I ended up just Google-ing "White Hawk Wolves" or something of that nature which led me to WWM3!!! At this point I was 14.

After graduating junior high my 8th grade year, I was given a special gift from my grandparents. They adopted a wolf from a wolf sanctuary in Indiana in my name. I finally had the pet wolf I'd been dreaming about since I was five...sort of. My grandparents decided to take it a step further and take me to the wolf sanctuary on a weekend trip. It was here that I got to see wolves close up and personal for the first time and it was truly amazing. The best thing ever was when the sanctuary patrons sat up in some bleachers that overlooked the land that the wolves called home. A guide taught us a little bit about wolf behavior and then we howled to the wolves and they howled back! It remains, to this day, one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. I have neglected to look it up lately, but this particular wolf sanctuary allowed hands on interaction with the wolves for people 18+ years.

After this I was full blown wolf obsessed and I still am today. I find wolves and wolf behavior incredibly fascinating and I own a lot of wolf literature ranging from Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf (which I highly recommend everyone to read) to David Clement Davies work of fiction, The Sight. I was practically born with a soft spot for canines and wolves are - and always will be - my favorite animal which is why I choose to roleplay them.

Fun Fact: The canine love gene has been passed down to all of my cousins on my dad's side. There are six of us and in THE SAME YEAR, three of them all adopted dogs. My cousin Megan adopted a black lab pup, my cousin Ben adopted a Great Dane pup and my cousin Justin adopted a Pit Bull/Boxer pup. I would have adopted a puppy too if my apartment complex would allow it lol.

Now here is a WHY WOLF

[Deleted]

Hmm thats actually a tough question. I don't remember when or why I became interested in wolves but I became interested in roleplaying after joining in roleplay chatrooms through AIM. I've been on a few forums here and there and actually have more experience roleplaying horses than wolves lol. But I love wolves and I thought it would be fun to roleplay them!

[Deleted]

Well, my obsession is a little broader than wolves actually. I love the social canines like wolves, wild, and domestic dogs. I don't quite remember where it started. All I know is that my parents wanted me to be a smart baby so science books outnumbered children's books by 4 to 1. I remember there being at least 2 dog encyclopedias, which I dubbed my "Doggy Dictionaries" and went everywhere with them, constantly looking through all the pictures of all the breeds. Mines was a bit of an obsession much like Juice, where I would look through all the pictures almost every day, sometimes twice or three times in a row. When I learned how to read, they were the first books I struggled to read. I didn't watch cartoons like most kids, just Animal Planet, especially when there are documentaries about dogs.
My first stuffed animal that I fell in love with was a Jack Russel plushie. I would tie a rope around its neck and take it on walks, talk to it, "train" it, and all those wonderful fantasies. It wasn't too long before I had my first dog, Noel. Because my dad loves big dogs, Noel was a mastif-dane XD. Despite her being only 8 months old and clearly outweighing me at about 7-9, I was a natural trainer even at my age. It helped that she was very passive and wanted to spend most of her time just sleeping at my side while I groomed her, but I still had managed to teach her to sit, wait until I tell her "O.K" to eat, and go to her bed on command all by myself. This would later become the staple tricks I would teach to all my dogs and some other dogs. As I grew, I expanded my interests to wolves and other canines. I loved learning about their social construction,mentalities, and the genetic engineering that led to the first domesticated animal of mankind. I would grow to have 3 more dogs in my lifetime, become a dog and babysitter, and to an extension, a dog trainer.
While all of this was going on, I started RPing on a site called NeuroGalaxy since I was 10. Long story short, NeuroGalaxy eventually went offline just this year actually. I was forced to expand to other sites if I wanted to share my ideas and stories. I found a pokemon shifter rp site, a canine rp site, and a general animal rp site. The canine rp site was shutting down, but I didn't want to be without one so I looked through its affiliates and found this. I am pleased to say that this community is much more active and friendly than the previous canine rp site. You guys leave me in the dust, you young whippersnappers . OTL

[Juice]

Aww Ninjie you dog lover you <3 You should train police dogs as a part time job =0

I'm really glad you've made a home here on WWM and we're lucky to have you to roleplay with

[Deleted]

I was a naturally curious child and was encouraged to explore the world around me and ask questions. This never stopped, and while I was allowed to watch anything (or almost anything) my favorite channels were animal planet, history, and discovery channel. (though yes i did watch cartoon network, toonami, and even adult swim)

So i've com across many animals and studied each one that caught my attention quite in depth...but the wolves have such a fascinating social structure that i came back to it a few times, and then when I started rping (horses and wolves) it let me explore that social structure and combine it with human emotions so that i could attach myself further....also Julie of the wolves and julie's wolf pack are really good books!

[Deleted]

I haven't trained police dogs (yet...I will get there), but one of the best experiences I have had was volunteering to the local shelter and helping to feed, walk, and train the dogs there. Unfortunately, the shelter closed down a few years ago. *Le sigh* I had actually learned something recently in my genetics course about wolves that was really fascinating. I think it wouldn't quite fit in the wwm-5 site but I'm happy to talk about it if anyone wants to hear it.

Also, I love Julie of the Wolves. That book and White Fang are books I always go back and dissect when I learn something new about my canine lovelies~ <3

[Deleted]

*raises hand* i want to hear it.

[Juice]

I like Julie of the Wolves and White Fang too although I prefer Call of the Wild. I love Jack London but his knowledge of wolf behavior (and its accuracy) was somewhat limited. Thats why I like Call of the Wild better because he knew more about dogs and dog sledding. Did you learn that dogs have a weird super mutatable gene and that's why we have so many different dog breeds?

[Deleted]

Actually, its more about wolves and why their gene became so mutatable. Basically wolves started out as (for lack of my descriptive abilities) sabertooth wolves (though whether they had saber teeth is debatable). These wolves were much like their cat counterparts except smaller and weaker. They were actually not social and would only come together to mate. The only reason why they weren't outcompeted by the cats was that they sexually matured waaaaaaay before they physically matured. They were polygamous and would be able to reproduce through almost their entire life (which was very short). Because they sexually matured before they physically matured and didn't live in groups, there were no discriminations. The "alpha", "omega", "weak", and "strong" were all equal for that first time of mating. Afterwards, they usually spread outwards but the mating habits started producing smaller, weaker wolves that stayed in the area and eventually became pretty much the wolves we have today. These wolves live longer, were healthier and smarter, and produced more pups, but were smaller and weaker. They needed their mothers longer, and their mothers needed protection while they were raising them so the mothers would not necessarily pick the biggest mate, like the sabretooth wolf, but the one that doesn't migrate away. 

At this point, they pretty much become a separate species with their own prey and everything. If you believe in the evolution of humans, this is is almost completely parallel to the human and neandertal relationship, so it was almost intuitive to domesticate wolves into humans. Anyway, humans come into play and start outcompeting not only neandertals, but sabertooth wolves, which are afraid of humans. Sabertooth wolves start hunting the normal wolves. Normal wolves start migrating away from the sabertooth wolves into human land, and thats where dogs pretty much come into play.

[Deleted]

I started roleplaying wolves because Juice force me to lol. Interesting stuff Ninjie. By sabertooth wolf do you mean dire wolf?

[Juice]

Shut up Mothy I didn't MAKE you do anything >.>

Omg Ninjie that is so cool. I love wolves even more now xD

[Deleted]

Dire wolves would probably better describe the outcome. These wolves,according to archaeological finds, weren't even built like the wolves we have in modern time. Their body types and skull structure were more like what we see in more like mastiffs and rottweilers. In fact, these wolves were more brachycephalic to accommodate for canines that did jut out of their face. They were less reliant on scent because they are powerhouses. The long muzzle variety came with dire wolves, as their range of prey now could burrow and hide better, meaning they would have to sniff them out.

[Deleted]

*nods* big hulking bodies, and shorter back legs to better take down the prey they had developed to kill - other large mammals.

[Gyllbane]

My love for wolves came on a little slowly - the first time I remember being really into wolves was reading Julie of the Wolves in 4th grade with my class. It sort of progressed from there, but my big love for a long time was - and still sort of is - owls, because of the guardians of Ga'Hoole series. I think I had been searching for a Guardians of Ga'hoole RP when I came across Meaning of Wild - my first wolf RP. I found WWM through that site on an ad, and my love for owls quickly translated into a love for wolves.

So in a way, joining WWM actually caused my love for wolves, not the other way around. I've had periods of obsession with them; I remember doing a presentation on the Druid Peak Pack in Yellowstone in 7th grade. We went to Yellowstone in my freshman year of high school, and to Denali in my senior year - we saw plenty of bears, but no wolves, which is only an incentive to go back. I have been to several wolf sanctuaries, met a friend's wolfdog (and yes, he was an actual wolfdog and not a husky or anything) and done quite a few research projects on them. It's only my aversion to sickness and blood that kept me from pursuing a career in veterinary science to one day work in a sanctuary.

[Deleted]

Well, that question can be easily answered. Basically my parents love dogs and so, on my third birthday I was given a beautiful German Shepard and Golden Retriever cross-breed, who I named Tingalinga, Tingey for short, which in Shona means 'Gift from God'. After a while my parents started reading me books at night and soon I turned to fiction and animal books. My favorite one when I was 6 was Chronicles of the Ancient Darkness which I encourage you all to read.

Soon I very much became interested in two creatures. Cats and wolves. I would read every single thing about them I could find, and enjoyed it a lot. Then when i was 7 we moved countries, taking Tingalinga and our cats with us. Soon my brother began the wolf craze and we both begged my mother to get us a new dog.

She somehow managed to get us a wolf-dog hybrid, who Tingey became great friends with. She was named Edme after a wolf in the Wolves of the Beyond Series. Me and my brother talked about wolves all the time, and we still do even now. Tingey is now 10 years old and Edme is 4.

Fun fact: I also absolutely LOVE the Warrior Cats series, which I BEG you all to read they are awesome books.