We got the phone call on a Wednesday. There was this wolf-like animal hanging around the yard of the caller. She lived in a rural subdivision and was worried about his future, suspecting he would eventually be shot if he was left free. He was young, perhaps 5-6 months old, and extremely wary. He was very wolf-like in body, movement and behavior. But his face! It was the face of an especially sweet German Shepherd. His eyes had the haunted look of an animal who was deeply torn between fear and need; hope and terror, wanting companionship intensely but afraid to approach. There he stood in front of us, a being caught between two worlds, wild and human. A being who had inherited two backgrounds: wolf and dog.
– From Wolf Pup Teaches Feral Wolf Dog About Humans by Susan B.Eirich
When I started working at Earthfire in 2020, Hope was still extremely wary of humans, both skittish with the animal caretakers and apprehensive around visitors. Sweet but untrusting, he was the first Earthfire resident I built a relationship with.
It started slow. A curious tilt of his head when I walked by. If he was feeling particularly brave, a sniff of my hand through the enclosure fencing as I filled his water bucket. I made time to sit outside his enclosure, just to be near him. Eventually, I started to go inside his enclosure and sit in the corner. He seemed interested, but unsure if he could fully trust me, a human.
But how could I blame him? People had been threatening to shoot Hope since he was just a pup. We didn’t realize until recently that they had actually succeeded. When he started having health issues, we had his chest x-rayed and discovered a bullet lodged in his rib cage. It was a profoundly upsetting discovery. But I was determined, and my relationship with him continued to blossom. First, he allowed me to leash him and walk him to the wolf garden. Then I was able to walk him around the property. I was thrilled when he started leaning in for petting and wagging his tail whenever he saw me.
Not long after, Hope needed to travel to a specialty animal hospital in Boise for medical tests, and I offered to take him. I packed an overnight bag, and with Susan’s assistance, managed to convince Hope to load up for the long journey. But it was a five-hour trip, and he had never been in a car longer than the short trips to our local vet.
Was he going to panic? Was he going to chew up the inside of my car? Would he pee everywhere?
But Hope did none of that. He simply settled into the back of the car and slept for the first half of the trip. At the halfway point, when I needed to stop for gas and use the restroom, I worried about leaving him alone, so I made record time in and out of the convenience store, only to find him sitting in the front passenger seat, resting his chin on the dashboard. He wasn’t nervous. He wasn’t scared. He was just waiting for me to come back. I will never forget the look on his face: sweet, at ease, trusting. Once we were back on our way, he stayed up front, climbing down onto the floor and laying his head on the passenger seat as he dozed. Every so often, he would stir and glance over at me. Then he would go back to dozing. This was an entirely new experience for us both, and I recognized then that he trusted me more than I realized. The trip cemented something between us that, even today, continues to grow.
Hope, too, continues to grow, expanding his trust in humans. Now, he is generally accepting of most staff and our visitors. He’s still wary, still uncertain of change, but he’s come a long way.
With the bears in their new gardens, we decided to repurpose the old ones. Because Hope is easily leashed and walked through the property, we decided he would be the lucky recipient of the bears’ old haunts, but I wasn’t sure he would be willing to try something new. I hoped the strong scent of the bears wouldn’t stress him out.. Would he find it scary? Where was I taking him?
But he trusted me, and the walk went well. Once inside the old gardens, I let him off his leash. He stood next to me, uncertain, then looked up at me and tilted his head. I began to walk around the gardens, and eventually, he followed. Soon, he abandoned me entirely and started to explore on his own.
Hope is now the proud steward of the old bear gardens, occasionally joined by Shota, Susan’s white German Shepherd. It’s so incredible to watch the joy it brings him to simply trot around the space, exploring, surrounded by other sanctuary animals.
He has a friendly relationship with Tahi the cougar to his west; there is the wolf garden to his south, and the new bear gardens to his east. He has brought a new energy to that part of the sanctuary grounds. What had been completely unused space since last spring, again has life and activity.
The halfling wolf dog who didn’t trust anyone has become an integral part of Earthfire, and his evolution continues to touch and teach us all.
