They are far more popular with people than wolves.Įveryone loves a GSD but not a wolf. Smaller, lighter, and friendlier, they look out through dark brown eyes. In ConclusionĪlthough bred to look like wolves and once known as the Alsatian Wolf-dog, German Shepherds are very different from wolves. Meat does seem to be what they like the best, though and their digestive system tackles meat easily.ĭogs eat differently and that may be why they were domesticated, while wolves remain wild.Īccording to Science magazine, dogs have 122 gene differences in their digestive tract to wolves, making people food like rice easier to digest than meat. Wolves eat meat all the time, right? Actually, they eat whatever they get a hold of. Many species teeter on the brink of extinction because they have been hunted ruthlessly by people.Īccording to Wikipedia, only about 300,000 wolves remain in the entire world. The future of our partner, this descendant of the wolf, is secure. This means there are millions of GSDs and part-GSDs just in America. The GSD is the second most popular dog breed, according to the American Kennel Club. They have no one to teach them about the weather except us. In sad contrast, the GSD needs what we could call “creature comforts.”Īny dog, including a seemingly tough German Shepherd, needs heat and shelter from the cold and plenty of shade in the heat. They not only evolved bodies to thrive outside in extreme heat or cold, but they learn from older pack members how to cope in bad weather. You can find wolves living outside in all kinds of weather like blizzards near the Arctic Circle to the searing deserts of the Middle East. Seven: Differences in Tolerating Extreme Temperatures Other eye colors have appeared in GSDs, especially blue, but they disqualified in the show ring and so are rarely bred to pass that eye color gene along.Īll dog and wolf puppies are born with blue eyes but their real color comes in a couple of months. In contrast, all GSD eyes are shades of brown. Other colors include yellow, amber, grey-blue, and blue-green. Wolf’s eyes come in a wide variety of colors, including pale grey to a brown so deep it’s nearly black. Yes, but it is only seen in very old wolves as a consequence of arthritis, notes author and animal behaviorist Jeffrey Moussaieff Maison in his popular 1998 book, Dog Never Lie About Love. It appears in GSDs of all ages, but especially in puppies and young dogs, like Riley in this YouTube video. Partly because of the fashion for unusual hind legs and partly because of inbreeding, GSDs suffer from a painful genetic condition mostly unknown in wolves. Five: GSDs Suffer Hip Dysplasia Far More Often Than Wolves Their hind legs are much straighter, and arguably much stronger than a modern GSD’s. Wolves do not need a permanent fake crouch because they stalk so well without any modifications from humans. In order to mimic a wolf creeping up on the flock, the hind legs permanently crouch.Īccording to AKC, This has been bred to extremes in America, as seen in the current breed standard at the American Kennel Club’s website. German Shepherds got their name honestly, as being a sheepdog. If they were human, they’d constantly be in their trailer.Ĭhances are unless it’s a nature documentary, that wolf you saw in the movies was really a husky or a GSD. This makes them constantly on the large and small screens – often playing wolves.īecause they are so incredibly hard to train and have very little interest in pleasing people, wolves make poor actors. They take cues from their owners or trainers readily. Three: GDS Make Better Actorsīecause German Shepherd dogs love pleasing people, they learn an intricate variety of tricks. The wolf will either stare at you or ignore you. If you point your finger to an interesting object like a tennis ball, the GSD will follow your finger’s direction to the ball. On the other hand (or paw) wolves just do not want to know anything about people except how to avoid them. GSDs make great search and rescue dogs, guide dogs, police dogs, and (surprise!) sheepdogs. Their people-pleasing nature made them the dog in demand for jobs where humans and dogs need to work closely together. Two: Differences in Paying Attention to People In contrast, German Shepherds only tip the scales at 49 to 88 pounds. Like dogs, male wolves grow taller, longer, and heavier than females. Wolves weigh anywhere from 51 pounds for a small female to 180 pounds for a big male. Although considered big dogs, only the largest equal the size and weight of the smallest wolf.Īccording to the Integrated Taxonomic Integration System, wolves come in three species, but on average they range in height from 2.2 feet to 2.7 feet.
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