Wolfdog Ownership Stories: Moira Schein -Running with Wolfdogs
I had the pleasure of connecting with Moira Schein, the owner of 2 wolfdogs (Faelen and Maeve) and the social media account Running with Wolfdogs. Faelen is an upper mid content wolfdog, and Maeve is a high content wolfdog. Moira is a private wolfdog owner who has done an amazing job caring for her 2 wolfdogs. Her life revolves around caring for her wolfdogs and sharing her passion and knowledge of wolfdogs. She is an incredible young woman who has some very valuable insights to share.
Below you will find our full interview together, as well as a video segment of our chat together.
I hope you are able to gain some valuable insight about wolfdog ownership and its many joys and challenges from this conversation.
I know for me it was an absolute pleasure connecting with Moira and getting to know a little bit more about her story.
Moira working with her two wolfdogs, Maeve and Faelan. Photo credit: Anabel DFlux
How many wolfdogs do you currently own and what content are they? Have you owned wolfdogs in the past? If so, for how many years?
I currently own two wolfdogs: 4-year-old male Faelen, upper mid content, and 2-year-old female Maeve, very high content. I personally did not own wolfdogs beforehand. However, my parents and family had owned other wolfdogs prior to my current two.
How did you first find out about wolfdogs and what was it that made you want to own one of your own?
I have known about wolfdogs my entire life, as my parents owned a couple of low contents during my childhood. I have always been bewitched by wolfdogs- their extreme intelligence, dramatic behaviors, and misunderstood nature. I was experienced with northern and primitive breeds, I had the means and time to devote to a high maintenance dog, I knew how to build an enclosure and prepare a raw diet- in short, I saw no reason that I couldn’t provide a wolfdog a great home. Now, 4 years later, I understand that I had a romanticized vision of what wolfdogs are. Many of the traits in wolfdogs that I loved are accurate, and I do still adore them. However, there are many difficult and life-altering challenges, as well as ethical dilemmas, associated with wolfdogs that a young prospective owner doesn’t fully understand or know to consider beforehand.
Maeve (right) and Faelan (left)
What is one thing about your specific wolfdog or wolfdog ownership in general that totally surprised you in a good way?
About Faelen: Faelen stole my heart and soul. From the moment his big puppy eyes rested on mine, he claimed me. In that moment, my entire life shifted. Faelen has surprised me with his depth of emotion. Despite being enormous, powerful, and far from needing me, every day he decides to choose me. He’s incredibly loving, gentle, silly, and expressive with me. He demonstrates how he feels in every moment, and to me his communications are just as clear as if he were to start talking. He cries and whines with happiness when I come home, he bounces around like a joyful puppy when he plays in the snow, and he looks downright distressed when dinner is too late and all he wants is to go to bed. Faelen opened my eyes to the incredible depth of social intelligence that wolfdogs possess. Somewhere in his soft golden eyes, I lost my young and naïve self. I have been forced to change, grow, become resilient, and above all fiercely determined to make my life with him work out. I cannot say I was prepared for the way Faelen surprised me, and I cannot say life with him is easy or the same as it would have been. But I will be forever grateful for the lessons he has taught me and the once-in-a-lifetime bond we share.
About Maeve: Maeve startled me as she entered our lives, because she is in many ways the opposite of Faelen. Where he is soft and shy, Maeve is bold and brazen. Where he is gentle and sensitive, she is tough and determined. Maeve is a force of nature and lives every day with a blazing energy. In her eyes, I see the fierce green fire of the she-wolf who changed the life of Aldo Leopold a century ago. In her eyes, I see so much of myself. Determined, stubborn, difficult. At first, I was worried that we might not bond the same way I did with Faelen and felt that we butt heads a lot. Faelen adored her from moment one, and I feared that she would be satisfied with his bond alone, and never seek one with me. In time, I realized that she needed proof from me. Proof that I was trustworthy, gentle, strong enough to keep her safe, and lenient enough to keep her happy. While Faelen handed over his trust to me on day one, Maeve was too independent for that. I devoted myself to earning it. Today, my bond with Maeve is incredible. As I offered more of myself to her, she reciprocated and allowed me to know her. We learned to communicate peacefully, to compromise, and to love each other. Now, she is just as bonded to us, just as devoted to her pack as Faelen always has been. Yet still, every day her blazing amber eyes challenge me to better. To be smarter, more aware, more considerate of my actions and my feelings. Maeve has taught me that the love of a wolfdog is in no way granted. It is earned and upheld every single day through mutual respect and consideration.
About Wolfdog ownership in general: How much it forces me to live in the present. Wolfdogs don’t sit around worrying about tomorrow. They live each moment uniquely, to the fullest. As their caretaker, a full-time job, I am compelled to do the same. The time I spend with them is a wonderful lesson in living in the moment and savoring each one.
Faelen and Maeve enjoying time in their enclosure which just so happens to be connected to Moira’s house. This allows for tons of engagement with Moira and her family and allows for easy access to indoor time!
What has been your biggest challenge living with wolfdogs?
The main challenges I have faced fall into two main categories: The practical, and the emotional.
Practically, keeping my wolfdogs safe, happy, and healthy is a full-time job. Building a large and secure enclosure, sourcing and preparing 500 lbs. of raw meat each month, hours of daily walks and mental stimulation, time spent repairing things they might recreationally destroy- this all requires an enormous amount of time and money. To financially support our life, I work most days of the week, which means nighttime walks and training on those days to give them the stimulation they need and to maintain our bond. My days off are all spent devoted to more extensive adventures with the wolfdogs. Practically, caring for my wolfdogs is a never ending, often exhausting task that leaves little room for other aspects of life.
Emotionally, I personally find keeping wolfdogs (especially higher content ones like my two) an ethically fraught subject. Wolves are one of the most intelligent, physically active, and socially complicated species on earth. They live in large dynamic family groups, travel upwards of 20 miles a day, and are built to exercise their incredible problem-solving skills every day. Wolves in captivity clearly are unable to conduct their lives in the same way. Higher content wolfdogs, being mostly wolf, face many of the same problems that captive wolves may; boredom, stress, loneliness, and physical fitness issues. These problems can manifest in the form of behaviors such as pacing, destruction of their environment, escape attempts, increased conflict with pen mates, listlessness/depression, etc. While many captive facilities and some private owners do an excellent job of keeping their wolves or wolfdogs physically and mentally healthy, it is an extremely challenging and often specialized form of care. Personally, while I do feel that I’ve done everything in my power to properly care for my wolfdogs, I still often experience feelings of guilt surrounding keeping such animals. While my two get to enjoy long walks in the woods, they will never know the freedom of roaming a vast territory. While they have each other and their human family for companionship, they will never know life within a true pack, never experience their purpose in raising new litters of pups for the future of the family. However, it is also true that they are selectively bred wolfdogs, and not wolves. They would not survive or thrive in the wild. My two will also never know hunger or starvation. They’ll never know the loss of a family member to a hunter’s bullet, they’ll never be stranded and struggling in harsh weather. Regardless of my personal conflicted feelings, I often remind myself that my two beloved wolfdogs know nothing of these quandaries. They don’t sit around pining for the wild, or a pack they have never known. They simply know that they are safe and loved and that their next walk and next meal will arrive on time. As long as they are here with me, I try my utmost to remain present and happy alongside them.
Photo credit: Anabel DFlux
So much love, care and devotion goes into caring for wolfdogs. Moira is a great example of what building a successful relationship with wolfdogs is all about.
What are bad recommendations or advice you hear often about wolfdog ownership?
Nearly all bad advice that I come across when it comes to wolfdog ownership is a result of misrepresentation. This is when someone who owns a pure dog calls it a wolfdog, and represents it as such to others. Often times, these individuals believe it themselves, and are ignorant to the fact that their loyal, well-behaved, trainable, adaptable dog is really just a dog, not a wolfdog. As a result, they tell others that their wolfdog was the best dog they ever had, and give advice as to their care that would not be wise or applicable to true wolfdogs.
Common bits of “bad” advice that I hear are:
You must be alpha and show them who’s boss or they’ll challenge you.
This stems from the long disproven “alpha theory,” and is not sound advice for wolfdogs or any dog. They have no concept of humans being their alpha and displays of “dominance” or physical cruelty only result in a wolfdog developing a deep mistrust of their owner. Wolves and dogs are inclined to follow a leader who is strong, confident, smart, and benevolent. While dogs are naturally submissive and accept the treatment they are given, most wolfdogs have no such inclinations. Gentle but firm guidance developed around solid boundaries, mutual respect, and kindness is the only way to be seen and truly respected as a leader in a wolfdogs’ eyes.
Never feed them raw meat or they’ll develop a taste for blood.
This is simply a myth. Raw meat does not incite bloodlust in any dog, and will not compel them to go on killing sprees. However, raw meat is often seen as a higher value item than dog foods and may result in more intense resource guarding behavior.
Wolfdogs are protective/good guard dogs.
This is often heard from owners of misrepresented German shepherd mixes. While some dogs are good guard animals and are inclined to put themselves at risk to protect or possess their family from outsiders, wolfdogs have no such tendencies (especially if they have any significant wolf content). Wolves’ strongest instinct is self-preservation. While they may fight other wolves or animals to protect their families, they flee before humans without exception. A wolf will simply not stand up to a human, even to save their newborn puppies. Wolfdogs have inherited this fear of humans, to varying degrees. While many can be socialized and conditioned to accept friendly or neutral humans around them, an aggressive stranger will be met with an instant flight response. They have no concept of putting themselves at risk to defend one human against another human, and their instincts scream to flee and save themselves. Real wolfdogs, especially those with significant wolf content, are perhaps the worst guard dog on the planet.
Raise them with your children and they’ll protect them.
While wolfdogs often truly adore their families, this advice is oversimplified and often not true. It can even be dangerous. First, as covered above, wolfdogs are not protective animals. They do not see human children as their own babies. Second, wolfdogs are animals that react according to momentary stimulus. While they may be gentle and loving to children in general, they can just as easily become startled or driven by momentary prey drive at the sight of random movements, and nip. This is true for any dog, but generally, dogs have been bred to be more tolerant and predictable in their reactions compared to many wolfdogs.
Given enough space, they’ll stick around your property.
This is also advice often offered by owners of misrepresented dogs. While a loyal shepherd mix may very well stick close to home, true wolfdogs are almost without exception wanderers. They are exceptionally intelligent, curious, distractable, and physically capable animals. They have no sense of human boundaries, and can easily wander 100 miles before thinking of turning back. During this time, they are likely to be injured or killed by other humans/cars, get into conflicts with other pets/livestock, or simply become lost or stranded. Proper containment and supervision are essential for keeping wolfdogs safe.
Wolfdogs are half wild and cannot be trained.
Often heard from the other side of the aisle, people who dislike wolfdogs yet don’t really understand them. Wolfdogs are not half anything. They are all individual multigenerational animals, products of their genetics, experiences, and environment. Many wolfdogs of all contents truly enjoy human interaction and can be taught many things. They are exceptionally intelligent creatures, and love to engage with new puzzles. However, it is true that many wolfdogs decline to be trained the same way as dogs- that is, trained to behave a certain consistent way in a situation every time. Wolfdogs are not yes-men, and carefully analyze each request before deciding whether they choose to comply. If they don’t feel like it, if the reward is not good enough, if the human is not around to enforce boundaries, they may think better of their “training” and choose their own way.
It’s all in how you raise them/A properly treated wolfdog will behave according to its owner’s wishes.
This is the only bad advice that I hear consistently from wolfdog owners themselves. Its not completely wrong- certainly properly raising a wolfdog and treating them well is vital. Yet, people have the expectation that comes from raising dogs- put the work in, and you’ll get a certain result back. With wolfdogs, this is just not always true. Many owners do everything they can, give everything they have, and still do not end up with the animal they dreamt of. Wolfdogs grow up, unlike dogs who are programed to behave like perpetual puppies, flexible, happy, tolerant all the time. At sexual maturity, wolfdogs become adults, and often become a lot less tolerant, less friendly to other animals, and less content assimilating in the human world. This is especially true for higher content wolfdogs. Telling prospective owners that if you raise a wolfdog properly it will behave the ways you want it to is simply inaccurate. There are many wolfdog success stories out there. But there are even more instances of animals and owners struggling to make things work, even if they’ve done everything they were “supposed” to do.
Because Moira has spent so much time and effort socializing and training her wolfdogs, they are able to be off leash in certain environments for some extra exploration time. This is such a gift to be able to give your wolfdog if you are able to do it in a safe and controlled manner.
What words of advice would you give someone thinking about getting their first wolfdog? What advice should they ignore?
I would advise that they never make this decision quickly or easily. Do the research, get the hands on experience, understand truly that these are not fairy tale dogs that will always succeed with the right treatment. Hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst. I always advise that people interested in wolfdogs start by volunteering at a sanctuary with real wolfdogs, and learn about the different content levels, their needs, their drawbacks, and why people so often fail with them. Beyond this, there are the practical concerns: preparing a containment, learning to provide a partially or fully raw diet in the proper ratios, ensuring you have the proper ownership and training experience with similarly stubborn and intelligent breeds (often northern and primitive Asian spitz breeds), ensuring you have the space and time for a wolfdog (someone living in the suburbs with a 9-5 job is likely not going to succeed), and that you have the lifestyle suited for one (basically, say goodbye to vacations)!
Advice to ignore would often be from people who don’t have real hands-on experience with actual wolfdogs, or from breeders who are trying their best to sell a pup. In the latter case, its common to hear claims of their wolfdogs as not exhibiting the “normal wolfdog problems,” and that they are suitable for first time owners, people with small children, etc.
What has been the biggest key to your success living with your wolfdogs?
I would say my understanding of their language, behaviors, and communication to me. Knowing how to read their body language and understand their wants, needs, motivations, and intent in any given moment is paramount to living cooperatively with them. Without understanding their perspectives at all times, I wouldn’t be able to build a bond of trust with them. Without this bond, nothing we do together would be possible.
“Maeve is a force of nature and lives every day with a blazing energy. In her eyes, I see the fierce green fire of the she-wolf who changed the life of Aldo Leopold a century ago. In her eyes, I see so much of myself. “ - Moira Schein
Is there one specific thing that you have done that has dramatically improved your relationship with your wolfdog?
I never force them into anything. This lesson came quickly with Faelen, even as a tiny puppy. After his first (and last) bath shortly after coming home, he made my betrayal very clear. He didn’t trust my hands reaching towards him, was wary and watching wherever I went. Seeing the reproach in his young eyes broke my heart. I had violated his autonomy, and he viewed me differently because of it. Luckily, as a young puppy he quickly forgave me and forgot the transgression. But I learned that day that wolfdogs demand respect far more than a dog does and coaxing them into things must be done because they trust you and want to follow your lead. Today, Faelen is enormous and physically un-forceable into anything he doesn’t wish to do. Thankfully, because of the trust we have built over the years, he chooses to participate in almost everything I ask of him.
If you could have a do over with your wolfdog, what is one thing that you would do differently?
I honestly am not sure I would do anything specifically differently. If I could go back in time and talk to myself though, I might caution myself to wait. Wait until I had the money to buy them the vast ranges of land I’d someday wish for to enjoy with them. Wait until I already lived in the place that I want to end up with them. However, I can’t say that my life would look the same had I not gotten them when I did…
Are there any valuable lessons your wolfdog has taught you? (i.e. how would your life be different if you never owned a wolfdog)’
Absolutely, there are too many lessons to count. Mutual respect, communication, patience, and humility above all. My wolfdogs have certainly taught me that there’s no such thing as knowing everything, or being fully prepared for what they might throw at you.
My life would likely look very different if I never owned my wolfdogs. In their eyes, I found my purpose and my career. Today, I work not only to educate people about wolfdogs, but also have the privilege of working with conservationists at the California Wolf Center towards their mission of wolf reintroduction and carnivore-human coexistence. In the future, I intend to continue my work with wolves and wolfdogs and can’t wait to see what the next step of my journey turns out to be.
BONUS: What are three key words you associate with wolfdogs or wolfdog ownership?
Complicated
Challenging
All-Consuming
