shadow – Jul 21, 2008 12:00 AM

During Friday’s wolf care, Malik was growling trying to dominate Grizzer. Shadow immediately body blocked Malik, with full hackles and growls. To some people, Shadow’ behavior was that of protecting Grizzer. The reality is that he was protecting his own rank as the pack’s leader. If a lower ranking wolf starts gaining rank order by means of dominating the second ranking wolf, that might give him the confidence to attempt challenging the dominant male. Shadow’s behavior prevents Malik from escalating in the rank, and a possible challenging him. Shadow is a very confident wolf and a confident pack leader. He still shows strong sings of ownership of the pups over the other wolves.