Denali is starting to show less testing towards Oscar and more social behavior. He's been more likely to follow Oscar as staff take Oscar for daily walks. Denali has also been extremely tolerant of fly ointment, often standing for several minutes as staff not only coat his ears with ointment, but get in between his toes.
Sorry for not posting wolf logs last week. I took the weekend off for a fishing trip with my grandson. I am also preparing for the Working for Wolves program this weekend, we will be making Grizzer a pond and getting some gate systems set up. I won’t have time to process video for Youtube until Sunday night, so thanks for understanding.
When Denali does get attention from staff, it's usually short lived. Aidan is very observant to the interactions between staff and Denali and Denali is wary if Aidan is nearby. This is a complete change from last year when Aidan was bottom of the rank order and didn't have as much attention. It will be interesting to see the dynamics between these two after the pup introduction.
Denali greeting the pups with submissive ears and enthusiasm. He was much more animated and did several playbows compared to Aidan who was much more guarding. I see Denali in a role of being the stimulator of social behavior, probably similar to the role Grizzer played in 2008. It will be important for Denali to show a few more boundaries than Grizzer did.
Denali has been benefiting from the pups on site, not from the pups directly, but in Aidan's response. Aidan is so stimulated by the pups that he seeks out Denali, licks his face and rolls in submission. We even have video of Aidan wrapping his paws around Denali's neck. Needless to say, Aidan's chasing of Denali has diminished and they are doing much more playbows and social wrestling.
Denali has significantly increased the amount of time he has spent with wolf care staff, even while Aidan greets. Denali doesn't show as much interest in the pups as Aidan, but is does a few playbows next to the fence. Denali has spent a fair amount of time in the pond and was very active when the upper pond was recently started.
One benefit for Denali is that the presence of pups has made Aidan extremely social. After a pup visit to the yard, Aidan is observed rolling on his back wrapping his front paws around Denali's neck. Of course, in the morning when wolf care come in, there's typical posturing for greeting opportunities with staff. Today is a rainy day, and Denali has chosen to sleep in the slate den, giving visitors to the center a chance to see him. Aidan has retreated to the main den, with no view to the public.
Denali has really increased his social behavior lately and has been a bit more engaging with staff. He even took the rake from the wheelbarrow and had some excitement dragging it into the woods. This was a good chance for staff to practice guarding behavior and is a great reminder as to why we have consistent handling behavior with pups. They respect wolf care staff possessions when we guard them, and we need to be consistent about protecting our possessions.
The logs will all be the same this week. It has been an extremely busy week for the wolf curator between the job at the college and the Center. Wolf care is still done, but all other activities such as email, logs and reports are on the back burner. We had a relatively calm week except the return of the sled dogs created some stress for Shadow. He did some pacing, and in the warmer than average days, he got a bit overheated. He eventually settled down by mid-morning, and was fine the next day. This is the last trip for the dogs, and they will be moving back to their home turf by Wednesday. Aidan was less anxious and a bit more dominant, Denali got very playful, Grizzer howled, Malik ignored everything and Shadow paced. We are in the process of finalizing the Pup Care teams, and will be making decisions and sending notifications by the first week of March. We should return to a full set of logs next week.
Denali is scheduled for full blood panel as part of this upcoming exam. He doesn't have any other issues, except some recent bout of scooting behavior which might indicate parasites. We did take a fecal to the vet clinic today, so we should get the results of that before the exam. It is customary for all wolves that may have nose to nose contact with the new pups to have a complete exam with blood work to make sure there are no issues that may affect the pups. Grizzer, Denali and Aidan will all have nose to nose contact through the fence. Due to Denali's tendency to test Aidan, he will stay in the medical pen for recovery until Aidan is completely back on his feet. It's been our experience that the rest of the day is spent sleeping, so fresh staw will be part of the plan.
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