🐺 Dire wolf
Learn how many dogs actually have behavior problems and whether the dire wolf has been brought back.
👋 Hi and welcome back to my free newsletter where I share hand-selected dog research, news, and tips every week.
In this week's edition, you will learn how many dogs actually have behavior problems and whether the dire wolf has been brought back.
Enjoy reading! ✨
📑 STUDY
Behavior problems
A researcher from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) has discovered that more than 99% of dogs in the U.S. display behaviors that could be considered problematic.
The most common issues fall into three categories: aggression (55.6%), separation and attachment behaviors (85.9%), and fear and anxiety behaviors (49.9%).
This research is based on data from the Dog Aging Project (DAP) - a large-scale initiative collecting information from pet owners to explore how dogs age and what contributes to a healthy canine life.
So far, over 50,000 dogs from a variety of backgrounds have been enrolled in the study.
Owners were asked to rate their dogs’ behavior on 28 different items in the DAP survey, using a scale from zero to four - where four indicated a behavior of potentially serious concern.
"Overall, 99.12% of dogs had at least one response of moderate to severe in an area of behavior," said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, a professor in the VMBS' Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and author of the study.
"The majority of responses suggest dogs do not have a lot of problems, and the problem behaviors that do exist are relatively minor. Owners may not see them as issues worth addressing, but almost any dog owner will encounter a behavior that is at least inconvenient."
Beaver explained that the questions used weren’t meant to provide a diagnosis, and that certain behaviors can span across different categories.
"The questions used in the study are not intended to be a diagnosis, and many behaviors overlap into different categories. For example, anxiety and separation are often related behaviors, but questions about them were put into separate categories. Dogs may act aggressively out of fear, but again the questions about each were in separate categories. So, a fear-biting dog may not be obvious in the results," she said.
One clear takeaway from the research is the importance of recognizing behavior as a key aspect of dog ownership - one that both pet owners and veterinarians should address proactively to prevent escalation.
"Some studies report that only 50% of veterinarians ask questions about behavior during appointments, and owners may not think to ask the veterinarian about something they don't like," Beaver said. "This has to change, so we don't end up missing half of the problems.”
"For dog owners, it's important to learn to read your dog's body language and talk to your local veterinarian if there is any type of behavior happening that bothers you," she said. "They can help you identify the cause and find a solution."
Not every pet owner reacts the same way to their dog’s behavior. What may seem like a big issue to one person might be a non-issue for someone else, which complicates efforts to address problem behaviors.
"As an example, I once saw a miniature poodle that came in for a problem with barking," Beaver recalled. "In the patient's history, I found out that the dog would routinely urinate on a Persian rug, but that behavior didn't bother the owner as much as the barking."
Veterinarians might need to ask about behavior in several different ways to get the full picture.
"Owners don't always bring up behavior problems during appointments," Beaver said. "If a dog bites somebody as it walks out the door to the veterinarian's office, then they might mention it. But if it happened three months ago, they might not think to say anything.”
"Giving owners a questionnaire before asking in-person questions can help give them time to think, which will increase the chance that they tell you about behavior problems," she said.
While many behavior issues are relatively minor, some can be serious and require special attention.
"Every species will show a behavior that humans don't understand," Beaver said.
"If it's dangerous to you or other people, you need help, and you need to look at what else is going on in the animal's environment that may be triggering the dangerous behavior."
Among the most concerning behavioral issues in dogs is aggression, which can include growling, snapping, or biting - but understanding the root cause isn't always easy.
"Aggression is a normal behavior in animals and it happens for a reason," Beaver said.
"So, you need to consider why the dog is behaving that way. Is it fearful? Is it being threatened by a little kid getting too close, somebody staring in its eyes, by a bigger dog coming toward it, or by a stranger approaching? As veterinarians, we've got to look at the context in which a behavior happens to try and appreciate what might be going on in the animal's mind.”
"Animals think," she said. "But they probably don't think like we do."
Beaver emphasized that one of the best ways for owners to prevent aggressive behavior is by learning to interpret their dog’s body language - especially signs of fear that can lead to aggression.
"The information is readily available online, including sources from veterinarians," she said. "You can also ask your local veterinarian for pictures and other resources."
Families with young children should be especially vigilant. Children are less likely to understand a dog’s warning signals, which puts them at higher risk.
"The people most often bitten are children under the age of 7," Beaver said. "If you have children and a dog, be sure that they are only together under supervision. Do not allow your kids to climb all over the dog or pull its hair and ears. And teach your kids not to approach a dog - even their own family dog - unless they are with a parent."
📰 NEWS
Is the dire wolf really back?
In a groundbreaking announcement on April 7th, scientists revealed that they have genetically engineered what they are calling long-extinct dire wolves back to life.
The biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences shared photos of three fluffy, snow-white pups, which they described as marking the "world's first de-extinction."
The dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus), popularized by the HBO series Game of Thrones, vanished from the Earth following the end of the last ice age.
Now, more than 10,000 years later, Colossal’s CEO Ben Lamm says the team has "made healthy dire wolf puppies" and brought these apex predators back from extinction.
However, many scientists argue the company's terminology overstates what's actually been achieved.
"What Colossal have produced is a gray wolf with dire wolf-like characteristics," said Nic Rawlence, associate professor and co-director of the Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory at the University of Otago, via the New Zealand Science Media Center (NZ SMC).
"This is not a de-extincted dire wolf, rather it's a 'hybrid.'"
To engineer the pups, researchers started by extracting DNA from two ancient dire wolf fossils: a 13,000-year-old tooth found in Sheridan Pit, Ohio, and a 72,000-year-old inner ear bone unearthed in American Falls, Idaho.
With this material, they reconstructed a partial dire wolf genome and compared it to those of closely related modern species, including gray wolves, jackals, and foxes.
Based on this comparison, scientists chose gray wolves (Canis lupus) as egg donors.
This decision sparked debate, as dire wolves and gray wolves aren’t all that closely related.
"New information shows that the original dire wolf itself was not really a wolf," David Mech, an adjunct professor and senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
In fact, dire wolves split from modern wolves around 6 million years ago and belong to a separate genus entirely.
"Dire wolves are in their own genus, so a very different species," added Philip Seddon, a zoology professor at the University of Otago, via NZ SMC. "The African jackal might be more closely related to dire wolves."
To carry out the process, Colossal scientists collected gray wolf blood samples and used CRISPR gene-editing technology to tweak the cells so they resembled those of dire wolves.
They identified 20 changes across 14 genes as key to the ancient predators' unique features.
In a process similar to the one used to create Dolly the sheep in 1996, these modified cells were inserted into gray wolf egg cells - after removing the original genetic material.
The embryos were then matured in the lab and implanted into domestic dogs, a subspecies of the gray wolf.
The first pups, named Romulus and Remus, were born on Oct. 1, 2024, and are now five months old.
Colossal says the animals are housed in a nature preserve surrounded by 10-foot-tall (3-meter) fences, where they are closely monitored.
"They will live out their life in a luxurious preserve under human care," said Bridgett vonHoldt, a professor of evolutionary genomics and epigenetics at Princeton University and a collaborator on the project.
"As many have seen with previously cloned animals, their health always remains unpredictable and of potential concern."
A third pup, Khaleesi, was born on Jan. 30, 2025. While the risk they pose is uncertain, their behavior is expected to resemble that of gray wolves raised in captivity.
"Lots of captive wolves are handled by humans. Some remain submissive with their humans even as adults while others mature into a more aloof, standoffish animal. I expect the DW [dire wolves] will be no different," vonHoldt added.
The pups will not be released into the wild, though Colossal says it may eventually consider introducing them to "secure and expansive ecological preserves potentially on Indigenous land."
Yet, many scientists remain skeptical about the feasibility and wisdom of such a move.
"Any release to the wild would be fraught with negative PR and legal consequences, which would probably also be the case with any of the other types of newly created animals," said Mech.
Even more fundamentally, there are questions about how these animals would fit into today’s ecosystems. "They occupied an entirely different ecological niche than exists today," Mech noted.
While Colossal’s claims have drawn criticism, some experts have acknowledged the scientific progress involved. "Certainly, this involves advances in genetic technology, and these might have applications for the conservation of existing species," said Seddon.
One endangered species already seeing benefits is the red wolf (Canis rufus), the rarest wolf species in the world.
Colossal announced that it successfully cloned two litters of red wolves, providing a hopeful boost to their dwindling numbers in U.S. captivity.
Still, scientists continue to push back against Colossal’s dramatic framing.
"Colossal compared the genomes of the dire wolf and the gray wolf, and from about 19,000 genes, they determined that 20 changes in 14 genes gave them a dire wolf," Rawlence said.
And this is not the first time scientists have claimed to bring back an extinct animal.
In 2003, Spanish researchers cloned a bucardo - a subspecies of the extinct Pyrenean ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica).
Though a baby was born, it died just seven minutes later due to a lung defect.
Ultimately, Seddon concluded, while these technological advances are significant, the resurrection of the dire wolf remains out of reach.
"We have GMO wolves and might one day have GMO Asian elephants, but for now extinction really is forever," he said.