-Thought I'd try asking you guys about what I can do with my Brother-In-Law's Wolf-Dog mix.
My Brother-In-Law passed away on June 25th after a long battle with Kidney Cancer at age 62, we have been able to clean up/out his 2.5 acres and his little house that they lived together in/on.
Doug's friend Bob literally around the corner 1/2 mile away had offered long ago to take Sam when Doug passed away, and Doug was very comfortable with that-Bob has a large Rotweiller mix that Sam often visited and played with over the years-Sam is about 8 years old now.
About a week after Doug passed away Bob took Sam over to his place (5 acres) and shortly after arriving there was some kind of confrontation and Sam bit Bob, Sam stayed there about a day and a half then went back to Doug's place by himself.
We have been driving 30 miles round trip everyday to look in on Sam and feed him while working on cleaning up the place, ect.
My Wife has contacted 2 Wolf-Dog rescue places both of which are full right now-and they told her even if they had room that he would be caged for 23 hours a day and let to run in a 15x30 pen for only 1 hour.
We don't want that for Sam, we feel that would be letting Doug down, we live in a regular residential neighborhood and have thought of a fence to house Sam but aren't sure this is the best solution for him-he does dig big holes to lay in and we're afraid he'll dig out of the fence and possibly bite someone else.
Sam has never shown agression to my Wife & I since he was a puppy, never towards Doug, and not even the mobile vet (female) that came out to vaccinate him last year, but this has all been on HIS turf.
Please don't suggest putting him down, that is absolutely the furthest thing from our minds and we feel that is a cop out.
Thanks guys for reading and any suggestions & BTW We are in Central Florida on the east coast about 35 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center.-Rick

 

You can build a dog run that he cannot dig out of. That would probably solve all your fear of him biting someone. I would think he would adapt to your place in short order...particularly with a lot of love from you guys. Good luck and my condolences on the loss of your brother in-law.

 

I don't think you have many choices here. Being half Wolf, I think is a big problem. Like you said, Bob took him away from his territory and that may be the reason he bit Bob, to get back home. Neal has a good idea, but I would wonder what the neighbors would say about this.

I really don't know what would be best for you. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Best of luck and be careful.

 

Thanks so far guys, my friend Randy has 2 German Shepards and feels that we can construct something at my house to keep Sam in-its not going to be his 2.5 acres to roam but it will be bigger than a 15x30 run and a cage.

 

Good luck and best wishes.

I used an electric fence at one time to keep my chow mix from jumping the fence. Worked good and no problems. Should work at the base of fence as well. I have also heard of burying chicken wire around the base of a fence. Dogs don't like getting their claws in it.

 

Costly, for something the size you would need, but I once had a small 16x16 dog pen which the dog could not dig out of... the concrete was poured through the chain link. Perhaps it could be done for a 1' wide "curbing" around the perimeter.

Aside from the above, I, too, would be concerned over the more significantly tame environment Sam will have to live in in your neighborhood as perhaps being too much of a compromise for his personality/genetics. At the same time, that might not be as much of an issue of the dog is very young, but with Sam being about 8 years old now, I think it might be a severe challenge for Sam to adapt to the more restrictive environment.

 

X2 on the concrete idea....its the first thing I thought of when I opened the thread.

I think everybody has good points on concerns, but I completely understand you wanting to make something work. Have you thought about bringing him home for a visit? Maybe start with a new bed that he uses at the old property for a few days, then bring him and his new bed for a weekend visit at your place, to see how he copes. I don't know if that's even possible with your existing yard situation, but I would guess anything you can do to make it him feel secure and the transition smooth might help.

Any way you look at it tho, its probably going tto be a challenge for everybody. Even normal 8 year old dogs are pretty set in their ways, and they're not wolves.

Keep us posted...

 

Yea, Thanks again so much guys, I really appreciate all the suggestions and advise.
I just came from spending about 4 hours with Sam, he is really a good dog, all white, but is definatly 1/2 Wolf, Doug got him through a friend who btw has Sam's brother Casper-THAT friend lives in a travel trailer and cannot take Sam or she would for Doug.
I think Sam is kind of bonding with me, my Wife and I are life-long animal lovers but we have cats here now, 3 elderly cats inside and 1 7 year old outside-(recent adoptee) that is carrying the feline aids virus.
There is NO emergency to relocate Sam, the property was sold 2 years ago and Doug was just renting-turns out the buyer used to work with my Wife, Vicki years ago-(small world) and has been very gracious about the property and Doug's condition. He is 70 years old and plans on building a home on the property but doesn't seem to be in a rush.
It actually helps me to be able to tell you all about this situation-I feel a deep family type situation as I have been part of the FTE for almost 15 years now.-Rick

 

UPDATE: 8/6/12 We found Sam a GREAT GREAT home!
Turns out the new owner of the property's Grand Daughter knows these GREAT folks that live about 50 miles north of where Sam & Doug lived-THEY have 4-5 acres, horses, ducks, a female shepard and even a bird inside the house!
-They came down this past Friday night and met Sam-(they have a GREAT 12 year old Daughter who fell in love with Sam, and he fell in love with her at the same time) Sam acted as these folks were his best friends and stayed out the whole time they were there which was about 3 hours.
Saturday we took him up to their place so we could see where he was going-what a nice place for Sam!! he never liked to stay inside a house long before but went right into their house and ended up sleeping on the floor on a dog bed right next to their Daughters bed all night-he got up and checked on her often, they sent a picture on Sunday of him on the bed with a new black & white bandana on-he looked so cool!
This is the very best outcome for Sam we are so happy for him, we know that Doug is looking down and smileing with approval of Sam's new place and family.

 

Thanks for the update Supercab. Sounds like things are working out.