The Mystery of the Blue Wolf Dog Breed: Is it a Wolf or Dog 2024

Last Updated on May 14, 2024 by themubbi63

This rarest of rare dog breeds – seriously, there’s only one in the entire world so far – is quite a conundrum. While the Blue Wolf Dog that was recently bred by a British woman has gained quite a lot of fame online, it has also been the subject of great controversy. Many people dismiss the whole business as fake and say that the dog is a Blue Bay Shepherd, a breed that is currently in development. The owner, too, has faced quite a lot of backlash and has said herself that most people shouldn’t own Blue Wolf Dogs. So let’s find out more.

What Exactly Is a Blue Wolf Dog?

You’ve heard of wolves and you’ve heard of dogs. What exactly is a wolf dog, however? Well, they’re dogs that have a significant percent of wolf genes. Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes, for all that they look like wolves, don’t actually have any wolf blood. They’re a hundred percent domestic dog. 

But wolf dogs, on the other hand, can have up to 85 percent wolf blood, depending on how they’re bred. (If you have a wolf dog with that high a percentage of wolf blood, it will be registered as a hybrid animal and not a dog breed.)

Why do people breed wolf dogs? Mostly because they like how they look. They might also have some ideas about how these dogs will be great guard dogs or faithful companions. This isn’t strictly true. Wolf dogs have consistently featured on lists of most aggressive dog breeds. This is because they’re partly wild and the high prey drive makes them difficult to train and socialize.

The Blue Wolf Dog is a unique kind of wolf dog because of the smoky blue color of its fur. Currently, there is only one in existence so we can’t really comment on them as a breed. The only information we have so far is from a sample of one.

One Of a Kind

Ocean, a pup that is just over one year of age, is the only dog that is classified as the Blue Wolf Dog in the world. While many people think of the Blue Bay Shepherd when they think of the Blue Wolf Dog, Ocean’s owner insists that that isn’t what Ocean is. She is actually part wolf and part an amalgamation of other dog breeds. 

Ocean’s owner is Anneka Svenska, who is a British presenter, journalist, actress and environmentalist. In fact, she’s a quite renowned animal expert and has a Youtube channel – Animal Watch – where she educates viewers about different kinds of animals. 

She chose to create Ocean because of her previous experience and work with wolves and wolf dogs. She knew that a blue-coated wolf dog was possible. With her striking blue fur and yellow-gold eyes, Ocean is quite fearsome to look at. And yet, she has won hearts all around the world. She travels with Svenska a great deal and people stop them wherever for a look at this one of a kind dog breed.

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DNA Of the Blue Wolf Dog

Now, let’s talk about what percentage of wolf DNA is in Ocean. Ocean is 25 – 30 percent timber wolf (timber wolves or gray wolves being the big gray wolves that are found throughout parts of North America, Europe and Asia). She’s considered a low content wolf dog (uptil 40 percent). 

Gray wolves, despite their fascinating history and social structure, have long played villanous roles in the minds of the public. After all, we have grown up on childhood fairy tales and fables where the wolf was a cunning, dangerous enemy to the heroes of the tail, whether that’s Red Riding Hood or Three Little Pigs. However, new research has shown that wolves aren’t all that scary and live in complex social structures just like human beings.

Ocean, of course, is a multigenerational wolf dog, which means that she is a few times removed from her original wolf ancestor. Breeding wolf dogs and owning them is allowed in various parts of Canada, the UK and the USA. Svenska also does not face any restrictions while traveling with Ocean, due to not having any wolf in her direct parentage.

If she’s 30 percent wolf, what are the other parts made of, you might ask? What is the dog in the equation? The answer is Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, German Shepherd and Samoyed. All four are medium to big, wolfish looking dogs. Thus, Ocean looks more wolfy than many other wolf dogs.

The blue color actually comes from Ocean’s dog ancestry because gray wolves don’t come in the color blue. However, German Shepherds do. They were deliberately bred that way to incorporate the striking color. Ocean’s own parents weren’t blue but they did have the recessive blue in their genes, which is where Ocean got it from.

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Not a Blue Bay Shepherd

Many people insist that Ocean must be a Blue Bay Shepherd because she looks so much like one. However, Svenska says that she is not a Blue Bay Shepherd despite her looks. Blue Bay Shepherds are a rare breed exclusively bred by Vicki Spencer from Florida. They have much higher percentages of German Shepherd and much lower wolf percentages than Ocean does.

While Vicki does have foundation blue wolf dogs (first or second generation dog-wolf cross breeds), she uses these dogs to breed her Blue Bays. She doesn’t sell these dogs and doesn’t advertise the wolf gene within them. Thus, while these dogs are technically Blue Wolf Dogs, their genetics are quite different from Ocean’s. 

However, Svenska has been honest about the fact that she did visit Vicki Spencer and her foundation blue wolf dogs. They are the reason she fell in love with the idea and decided to create a Blue Wolf Dog of her own. These foundational dogs don’t have the other dog breeds in their DNA that Ocean does.

Social Media Presence and Popularity

Ocean is quite the popular dog on social media. She has her own page on Facebook and Youtube. Svenska travels with Ocean wherever she goes and makes reels of her, as she is a full time content creator. The Instagram page gained over 150,000 followers in just a few short months. 

Despite her intimidating looks, Ocean is very popular. Svenska says that they cannot go anywhere without getting stopped when people meet Ocean. After all, if you met a woman walking around with what looks like a blue colored wolf, wouldn’t you want to meet her? Ocean’s a showstopper because of her looks.

One person commented that they would not be scared if they saw Ocean coming and would want to hug the ball of fluff instead. Another person stated that Ocean looked more like a wolf than a wolf dog and was extremely beautiful and mesmerizing.

Size Of Blue Wolf Dog

Ocean is a big, big dog. At just a few months old, she had outstripped her husky playmates in size. Most wolf dogs weigh between 70 and 100 lb and timber wolves themselves might even weigh 140 lb. Add to this the German Shepherd and the Alaskan Malamute, both big and heavy dogs, and you have a behemoth on your hands.

While Ocean has not reached her full size yet, Svenska estimates that she will be around the same size and weight as a full grown female wolf or German Shepherd. At the last estimate provided by her owner, Ocean weighed just about 66 lb or 30 kg. But the final estimate may be about 99 lb or 45 kg. At the moment, she is more fluffy than chunky and looks bigger than she actually is because of all the fur. This is typical for adolescent wolf dogs.

Wolf dogs generally reach full adulthood at three years of age. In their adolescence, they’re more long and lean with very little muscle. Ocean, of course, is a female. Her brothers, if she has any, will be bigger and heavier with the power to match.

Appearance Of Blue Wolf Dog

Ocean is a solid Blue Wolf Dog. This means that her undercoat and overcoat are both blue, without the undercoat being white. She does have a flash of white on her chest and her paws, a common phenomenon with many wolf dogs. She had bright blue eyes as a puppy but that has since changed color.

Now, Ocean’s eyes are a piercing yellow. In fact, she had different colored eyes, with one being bright yellow and the other being partially gold. She has a bit of brown in the gold eye, which makes her look cross-eyed, although she is not. In fact, because of the amount of fluff and the cross-eyed look, she is cuter than most wolf dogs have any right to be.

Her ears are smaller than the large ears that German Shepherds generally have. This is because of the Husky-Samoyed genes. But she has a thick, fluffy tail just like a German Shepherd. Her coat is much softer and curlier than the stiff coat of a wolf, much like a Samoyed.

However, because of her long fur and double coat, she does need a lot of grooming. She needs to visit the grooming salon every two weeks to get her fur brushed and her nails clipped.

Temperament and Behavior Of Blue Wolf Dog

Because Ocean has a high percentage of German Shepherd blood, she is extremely trainable. She can be taken off the leash and isn’t in the least camera shy. She has experience traveling with Svenska. The trainability was a priority for Svenska who also owns huskies and concedes how terribly difficult they are to train.

Ocean is extremely gentle and intuitive. She’s like a cat in many ways (perhaps that’s the Husky genes coming out) and loves playing with balls, jumping up high in the air to catch them. She loves stuffed toys and belly scratches. She has grown up with other dogs and she gets along well with other animals. 

However, that’s just Ocean and individual temperament does play into how a dog will act. Getting a wolf dog, of any kind, is a huge commitment and not a thing to take lightly. They need to be constantly socialized, from a very young age. They’re demanding animals and very strong. They’re also highstrung and sensitive. They hate being indoors and will pace back and forth until you let them out so you’d better have a lot of space to accommodate them.

They need a lot of exercise and playtime to work off their high energy. They can jump high and some are escape artists so you can’t leave them unsupervised in a backyard with low fences. They need constant grooming and shed all the time. They can get nervous on walks and you need patience and strength to deal with them and not get dragged around. They might be stubborn and obstinate at times.

People buying dogs that they are unprepared for is always a bad idea. That’s how a lot of dogs end up homeless or at rescue shelters. With wolf dogs, the amount of care that they need is enormous. They aren’t for everyone. Svenska is firm on the fact that you shouldn’t get a wolf dog if you’re unprepared for it. Despite her trainable and easygoing nature, Ocean isn’t for everyone. In fact, the only reason she has had a happy and comfortable life is because Svenska works from home and takes her along on her travels.

Conclusion

The Blue Wolf Dog is a fascinating anomaly, currently embodied by the internet-famous Ocean. While her beauty is undeniable, the breed’s high wolf content raises significant concerns. Wolf dogs are not suitable pets for most people. Responsible pet ownership means choosing a breed that matches your lifestyle and experience level. Remember, adoption is always an option!

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