Grayback-It’s tough being a little pup

Grayback is referred to as the less dominant pup in comparison to his brother, Axel. When he decides to play-wrestle, he will tend to go for the back leg of Axel, whereas Axel play-wrestles from the face. Grayback tends to sleep a little longer than Axel, and is often on the receiving end of Axel’s nips to wake up. Grayback has just mastered being able to climb up the hay bale. His favorite sleeping place is in the den box or beside the birch tree. When feeding, Grayback will often try to suckle the pup care staff’s fingers with gruel on it.

-Kim Goodbrandson, Pup Care Participant

Building Trust

One of the main reasons why we socialize wolf pups is to build trust between staff and wolves in order to meet their basic physical and psychological needs in captivity.  We believe in the method of positive conditioning young pups by creating a comfortable environment.  In this photo, Grayback falls asleep in the arms of the wolf care staff after a feeding.  The pups have been weaned from the bottle and are now lapping a mixture of meat and milk replacer, which will be their diet for a few more weeks.  By the time they are 6 weeks old, we will gradually add larger amounts of meat to their diet.  We conducted a “trail run” program in the auditorium last evening with Center staff and volunteers to give the pup a positive experience before we begin public programs on Memorial Day.