Due to the dramatic rise in the popularity of poodle hybrid dogs such as the Labradoodle recently as well as the rise in popularity of wolfdogs, it’s not surprising that we have noticed a spike in the number of people reaching out and asking about a wolf poodle mix.
Over the last few months there has been a dramatic spike in the number of people reaching out specifically asking about a wolf poodle hybrid so we have decided to publish this article on the topic.
Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers get the information that they want about a wolf poodle hybrid by answering some of the more common questions that we have seen asked from the community.
Please keep in mind that just like other poodle hybrids like the Labradoodle, the do can take their looks from either parent with very few breeding standards being stuck to due to being such a new breed.
This means that a wolf poodle hybrid can take its look, temperament, calorie requirements, and various other characteristics from either parent.
This leaves a huge number of uncertainties for a poodle wolfdog often making the breed unsuitable for the vast majority of people so they tend not to be recommended for most people with wolfdogs being illegal in many areas too.
Can A Poodle Breed With A Wolf?
Due to the wolf (Canis lupus) and the poodle (Canis familiaris) being a part of the Canis genus they do have the correct amount of chromosomes to breed with each other and produce healthy puppies.
The poodle shares around 99.9% of its DNA with the wolf too and although a natural pairing of the two is very unlikely, the majority of wolf dogs are bred in captivity with selective breeding.
As we touched on earlier in the article, many areas do class wolf dogs as illegal and the areas where wolf dogs are legal often require a ratio of 25% wolf to 75% dog with some needing less than 10% of the lineage of the wolf dog to be wolf to be legally classed as a pet.
This means that at best, a poodle wolf dog will have to have three poodle grandparents and one wolf grandparent to be legally kept as a pet.
Due to laws often varying from state to state and country to country, you will have to check your local laws regarding keeping wolf dogs.
We would imagine that keeping a wolf-dog as a pet will be illegal for the locations of the majority of our readers but there are a number of places where you are legally able to keep a wolf-dog as a pet provided its linage breakdown meets the requirements.
Is A Poodle Part Wolf?
You could argue that the poodle is part wolf due to all domesticated dogs having a wolf as a common ancestor.
There have been multiple domestication periods throughout human history though with the oldest being around 30,000 years ago and the majority of domestic dogs evolving via a number of mutations since then giving them their unique looks and less aggressive behaviors.
This is why there are dogs like huskies that still look very similar to wolves due to not evolving with many mutations in their DNA to change much about their physical looks or endurance.
That said though, the wolf-like behaviors have been discouraged in these types of dogs for so long that they often behave like any other dog.
Although the poodle is technically part wolf and comes from the Canis genus like the wolf, the various mutations in the poodle’s DNA since being domesticated will prevent it from turning back into a wolf.
Even if left for another 30,000 years, it is more likely that the poodle will progress down its own evolutionary path and mutate further and further away from the wolf.
Are There Poodle Wolfdogs?
Erik Zimen is thought to be the first person to breed Poodle wolf hybrids back in the 1970s as a part of his research into the different behaviors in wolves and dogs.
He has published a number of books on his research with the poodle wolfdog looking like a large black poodle with longer legs and a longer tail.
Due to most wolf dog owners and breeders wanting their wolfdog to look as wolf like as possible, most people use a husky or malamute as their dog lineage rather than a poodle.
There is no public information available to what happened to the original poodle wolf hybrids that Erik Zimen bred back in the 1970’s and we have been unable to find any evidence of wolf dog breeders currently working on a wolf poodle mix.
This is due to there being such a small, niche market for wolf dogs already and the majority of people who want a wolf dog usually wanting it to look as much like a wolf as possible.
Due to some people illegally breeding their wolf dogs due to their location, there may be undeclared wolf poodle hybrids out there though.
This could be plausible due to the wolf poodle mixes of Erik Zimens research looking so poodle like that they could probably pass for large poodles to the majority of people.
What Will A Poodle Wolf Mix Look Like?
A poodle wolf mix can draw its looks from either parent so it could look more wolf like or more poodle like with all puppies from the same litter having their own unique look once fully grown.
The photographs of Erik Zimens original wolf poodle mix litter do look more poodle like than wolf like but there is no guarantee that this will always be the case.
Just like the more popular poodle mixes like the Labradoodle, some puppies will look more like a labrador while others look more like a poodle with pups looking like everything in between.
And this is after a few decades of there being active breeding programs for breeds like the Labradoodle too so the appearance of a wolf poodle mix will be even more unpredictable.
This is why the majority of wolf dog breeders will only use dogs that already look like wolves for their dog line lineage. It gives a much better idea of what the puppies will look like and makes it much easier to find customers for their wolf dog puppies too.
What Is A Wolfadoodle?
A wolfadoodle is not a wolf poodle mix but a mix between an Irish wolf hound and a poodle.
We often see people getting this confused and although the wolfadoodle is slowly growing in popularity, it is not a wolf dog and the wolf part of its name comes from the Irish wolf hound parentage rather than an actual wolf.
Wolfadoodles look nothing like wolves either due to the poodle and Irish wolf hound having their own unique looks. The majority of wolfadoodle puppies tend to look like a messy poodles with more hair that is harder to style and care for than a poodle or a wolf.
We just wanted to make our readers aware of this on the off-chance they see people selling wolfadoodle puppies and presume that they are the resume of a wolf and poodle pairing.
There have been countless reports of some backyard breeders trying to bend the truth with their puppies to get the sale so just want to try and protect you from being ripped off.
Conclusion
That brings our article on the wolf poodle mix to an end. We hope that we have been able to answer any questions that you had regarding a wolf poodle hybrid and although there is evidence of poodle wolfdogs existing in the past due to Erik Zimens research, we could not find any evidence of any current poodle wolfdogs in existence.
