I had a wolf hybrid for several years, rescued him. first off, he does look pure husky but thats a funny thing about wolf hybrids (actually that brings up a different one, hybrid is an incorrect term. canis lupis is the wolf, canis lupis familiaris is domestic dog. same species. therefore not hybrid).
anyway...a 75% wolf dog can have any % wolf traits and dog traits. a wolf dog who is 10th generation where in every breeding (parents, grandparents etc) had one pure wolf and one half wolf 1/2 dog would be mostly wolf. however it could have zero wolf traits. also same dog could have zero physical wolf traits and look like a pure dog (say lab since some people think my gsd is a wolf) and have 100% wolf mental traits. or the other way around.
the wolf dog I adopted was 1/2 wolf and 1/2 gsd (supposedly). he looked like a pure wolf and even fooled students, volounteers and the director of the wolf sanctuary in Tyson Missouri. but mentally he had almost no wolf mental/personality traits.
my wolf dog was estimated to be between 4-6 years old when I adopted him and he died about 4 years later. he never once growled at anyone or any dog. he was easy to train with ONLY positive rewards. the only punishment I could give him was to put him in his crate and that was rarely nessacary as a stern look or tone of voice would make him look guilty and grovel.
the best advice I can give you is to never trust him off leash unless inside a secure fence, never trust him around small animals (including dogs smaller than he is...if he weighs 85 pounds then dont trust him with any dog under 60 pounds) as the dog may think it is tougher than he is and missunderstand his actions and cause a fight, if the dog is much smaller than him (or if it is a cat, rabbit, chicken, ferret, hamster etc) it could VERY EASILY trigger his prey drive. and ABSOLUTELY be certain to check your state and city/county laws to be sure wolf dogs are legal.
as for his neutering, most vets recommend 6 months but if you wait until he is 6 months you may have problems later. as a wolf dog (if he has ANY wolf traits) he will start maturing earlier than a domestic dog. I would recommend 5 months old.
also, black wolves are not a seperate sub-species, they are just a different color. all of the wolf types you listed (except 1) behind 75% ARE timber/grey wolf. timber wolf/grey wolf is just the common name for all north american species except one (same as the except 1 mentioned above) and that is the red wolf which is now believed to have been born/evolved from crosses between wolf and coyote. no matter what any breeder tells you they do not have wolf dogs with red wolf genes in them unless by some miracle they can trace their breeding prgram back atleast 30 years +/-. the red wolf has been an endangered species for a very long time and no civilian (or anyone who would breed for profit, sorry no matter how much you like wolf hybrids that is the only purpose) has been allowed to own one (or any dog or cross with red wolf in it) for a very very long time. not trying to insult you or hurt your feelings or make you look dumb, just trying to inform you. also the canadian buffalo wolf does not exist. their is a sub species of wolf found in canada that has been incorrectly named by wolf dog breeders the buffalo wolf, however this subspecies has been de-classified as it is no different than about 30% of wolves in north america. and as a matter of fact there are now only 5 sub-species of wolf recognized in north america rather than the 20 something that were recognized up until about 6 years ago. that sub-species of wolf was called the buffalo wolf by breeders who claimed that because it fed on the enormous buffalo (bison) it was a lot larger than any other wolf. other breeders claimed they had the rare siberian blonde/golden/rust/tawny wolf which never existed, they would claim that fish and wildlife agents would tell you that because they had never heard of one because they went extinct in the wild in the 30's. in reality they were breeding yellow labs crossed with gsd's, malamutes or huskies. others claimed they had the mackenzie valley wolf in their mix and that it was far more docile and trainable than any other. the mackenzie valley wolf was no different than any other wolf sub-species except it lived in the mackenzie valley region. 99% of wolf dog breeders lie.
hopefully your breeder (if you got him from a breeder) was one of the extremely few good breeders. what were the living areas of the animals he/she had like? (all of them including puppies, parents, other breeders, retired breeders etc). if you dont mind my asking, how much did you pay and did the breeder offer any type of health and temperament garauntee? and how many animals did the seller have?
I am not asking these questions to point a finger or to try to convince you that you made a mistake. I am merely asking because if you DID have a good breeder then others reading this who may decide (or have already decided) that they want to get a wolf dog will know of atleast one good breeder.
lastly, anyone who is considering getting a wolf dog, get one through a rescue such as this one...
http://www.liquinet.com/wolfdogadoption/ which I am not affiliated with in any way at all. they are not trying to make money, the adoption fees go to feeding and caring for other animals. actually it costs them roughly $35,000 a year to care for the animals and from adoption fees they make about $18,000 a year, not enough to cover even half of their costs. I know because I have asked them what their adoption fees are. I currently live in a state where wolf dogs are not legal, but if I ever move away I might want to adopt another.
anyway, a rescue (since they are non-profit) will try very hard to place each animal with a person/family/home that it will fit in without ever having to be given up again.
oh by the way...he is adorable. I hope you will post more pictures frequently.
