denali – Dec 17, 2010 12:00 AM

Last Saturday at 4 pm, there was a short dominance interaction between Denali and Grizzer. There was an observation of Denali guarding a beaver carcass from Grizzer earlier in the day, which is a wolf social rule, regardless of rank, but may have caused Grizzer a little tension. All wolves had been fed 5 lbs of chicken the day before, and had a 120 lb deer waiting for the feeding program, but the night time temperatures had reach – 27 below, and cold weather can cause the wolves to be less tolerant. Maya also had a chase of Aidan right before Grizzer and Denali started, possibly increasing the tension. Regardless, Grizzer's sutures reopened, and even though the altercation was less than 6 minutes, and Grizzer was maintaining position of high tail and calm interaction after the scuffle, Grizzer needed to have veterinary treatment. The procedure was smooth, and we also looked at the tendon that seemed to be causing him a limp, and he was back in the pack within a few hours. But, we couldn't take the risk of having these sutures open again, so we moved Denali into the pack holding area and he will stay there until the Vet's give an OK to Grizzer's head. We are anticipating about a 14 day healing process. Denali is adjusting well, tail wagging with the pack through the fence, and is sleeping quite well with a significant amount of straw in the kennel. He has his daily meals, and has his own heated water dish. He howls to the pack, and is showing submissive posture when Grizzer is at the fence.