Merlin
sex: male
born:
28 April 1997
birth
place: Vermont
champion:
Shanti Kantha
Almost
every animal at Wolf has had a champion,
someone who connected with them and their plight. A special person
who went the distance to find them a home at Wolf.
given
sanctuary: 24 September 1997
Merlin's Story
At 5 ˝ months of age, the same time after birth that he arrived at Wolf,
Merlin was one of the largest pups we had ever seen. His size and
energy level were the main reasons why Merlin had lived in a small
kennel from 6 weeks of age until he arrived at Wolf.
You need to understand that the people caring for him did the best
they could. A woman in Vermont, believing a wolf-dog was what she
wanted to have as a pet, had purchased Merlin when he was 3 weeks
old. The lady who owned Merlin loved him, or he probably would have
met the fate of thousands of other wolf-dog pups in the United States.
Many wolf-dogs are euthanized. The unlucky ones are beaten, chained,
or, the worst fate of all, abandoned in some wooded area and left
to starve to death. Merlin was one of the lucky ones. At 6 weeks of
age, his owner realized she had made a serious error in purchasing
Merlin. The woman just could not handle him. He was big and full of
energy, knocking things over, breaking knickknacks, chewing on everything
in the house, escaping from the yard and, in general, being exactly
what he was. A puppy.
Merlin’s
owner knew that if she could not control him at 6 weeks of age, she
would never be able to take care of him when he was older and would
more than likely weigh over 100 lbs. He was taken to her veterinarian’s
clinic, where he lived until his new caretakers found Wolf.
Merlin had two champions at the clinic: the veterinarian and the vet-tech
who worked with her. These kind people loved and cared for him, making
sure he was fed, watered, exercised and played with. The vet-tech
even took him home with her on occasion, and had she been in a position
to keep him, we are sure she would have.
At approximately
the same time that Zeke and Artemis were grieving for the loss of
their companion, Sasha, arrangements were being made to fly Merlin
to Colorado and his second new home, Wolf.
When he arrived, he was placed in the enclosure where Zeke and Artemis
lived. The three animals bonded very well, and eventually Merlin went
on to be one of Wolf’s ambassadors, traveling
with the educational team to schools and programs over the entire
state.
Merlin
has grown to approximately 110 lbs. and exhibits a very mischievous
personality. He tests every individual he encounters, two-legged and
four-legged. His overtures are of a playful nature, pulling and nipping
at anything he can. Humans have lost tie-strings on jackets, ball
caps, shoe laces, hair ties and, in a few cases, a drop or two of
blood. Remembering that these playful overtures have a very serious
implication in the wild is important. This playful testing establishes
the dominance structure within the pack. This premise is why Wolf
has a policy of never “playing” with any of the animals at
the sanctuary. Playing establishes an equal status that can then be
challenged through that playful exercise. Even if the play never elevated
to an all out dominance challenge, just the form of play used by wolves
is more extreme than most humans can handle comfortably. Merlin still
resides with his companions at the Wolf
Sanctuary and gives all the signs of being healthy and happy.
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