Freedoms Song Wolfdog Rescue - Closed

06/07/2026

Kenai nine years ago at his foster home. ❤️

On Kenai's evening walk, he heard a pack of coyotes. He stood still as a statue listening to them.

06/03/2026

The Problem With Turning Wolves Into Disney Characters

Every few months, a post goes viral of wolves touching noses, followed by a claim that wolves are uniquely loyal, only have one mate for life, and that a she-wolf wraps herself around a male's neck to show protection and "unconditional love."

It's a lovely story.

The problem is that most of it isn't how wolves actually work.

Wolves do often form long-term pair bonds. Many breeding pairs stay together for years and may remain together for life. But not always. Wolves can and do find new mates if a partner dies. Some packs contain multiple breeding animals. Nature is complicated.

As for the neck-wrapping claim? There is no known wolf behavior where a she-wolf intentionally wraps herself around a male's neck because it's his "most vulnerable part" or as a special display of unconditional love.

What people are usually seeing in photographs are normal social behaviors. Wolves lean against each other. They rest together. They groom one another. They place their heads, necks, and bodies across packmates during greetings, bonding, play, reassurance, and conflict resolution. Wolves are highly social animals that rely on physical contact, but they aren't acting out human romance novels.

And honestly, the truth is more interesting.

A wolf pair isn't together because of some mystical concept of unconditional love. They're partners. They hunt together. Defend territory together. Raise pups together. Survive brutal winters together. Their relationship is built on cooperation, communication, and mutual dependence.

That's not less beautiful.

It's real.

As someone who has spent years around captive wolves and wolfdogs, I've seen wolves comfort one another, play together, grieve losses, and show remarkable patience with pups. I've also seen them argue, steal food, get annoyed, and remind everyone that they are animals, not furry humans acting out our ideas of romance.

We don't honor wolves by turning them into fairy tales, but appreciating them for what they actually are is more than enough.

What’s the strangest "wolf fact" you've seen shared online that turned out not to be true?

For more on real-world conservation with a supernatural twist — Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling, darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Trailers featured on the page.

06/02/2026

Seven years ago, the royal couple of FS got their wings and left broken bodies behind. They are still very much loved and missed. We've heard that they visit their foster mom from time to time.

💜💜💜

Five years ago, our much loved couple River and Apollo crossed the bridge together. Their health had declined to the point that it was the right thing to do, even though it was one of the hardest things we have ever done. River was more than ready. Apollo was unsure. But I swear I heard River say this, as she raised her head to look at her love - "Come on, big boy. I'm not going without you." And in a split second they left their broken bodies to run and play in paradise, pain free. We have heard that occasionally they visit their foster mom. We miss you, River and Apollo, and love you very much.

06/01/2026

Welcome June...

05/26/2026

We sure miss you, Puppy ❤️💔😢

Goober aka FS alum Kenai was enjoying my new pillow. Good thing he's cute. ☺️

05/26/2026

A lot of people are surprised to learn that some of Hollywood’s most famous “wolves” weren’t CGI or just dogs.

Look closely, and you'll understand why these performances were so real and outstanding.

Before modern visual effects took over, filmmakers often worked with real wolves or high-content wolfdogs because they moved differently than northern breed dogs. Their posture, eye contact, gait, pacing, and social behavior read differently on camera, even if the audience couldn’t explain why.

One of the best-known examples is the wolf from the movie Dances With Wolves. The wolf “Two Socks” was played by an actual wolfdog named Teddy. The production famously spent weeks getting Kevin Costner and the animal comfortable working together, and it helped create some of the most believable human-canid scenes ever filmed.

The 2010 movie Frozen (the ski lift horror film, not Disney) also used real wolves mixed with trained wolfdogs for several scenes. Their behavior on camera is a huge reason those scenes still feel unnerving today.

Alpha is a movie people question. The animal “Alpha” himself was played primarily by a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog named Chuck, which makes sense once you know what you’re looking at. The movement, facial structure, and trainability are much more consistent with a dog than a fully wild wolf.

And try it yourself. You can usually tell the difference.

Real wolves and high-content wolfdogs tend to move with less exaggerated expression than domestic dogs. Less “Disney face,” more observation. They stare longer. Move quieter. React later. Even standing still feels different.

That subtle difference is probably why older wolf films still feel so eerie and believable decades later.

If you love stories where wilderness feels almost alive — where the line between human and wild things slowly blurs... Sirens of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness continues the Adirondack Gothic series with another haunting mystery deep in the northern forest. Trailer featured on the page.

05/25/2026

Shanuk, one of FS much loved Queens... and our only out-of-country placement. Her mom loved her dearly, as did we. And that love continues...

FS alum Shanuk is so very loved by her mom. She was adopted many years ago, and now showing her age a bit. 💜

05/25/2026

Why Wolfdog Phenotyping Still Matters Even in the Age of DNA

Before DNA tests became common, experienced wolfdog people relied heavily on something called phenotyping.

Phenotyping is exactly what it sounds like: observing the animal in front of you.

Not just what it looks like, but:

How it moves, reacts to stress and bonds with people.

How it handles eye contact, novelty, pressure, other dogs, strangers, containment, and routines.

Wildlife professionals, and sanctuary workers all used phenotyping long before cheek swabs and genetic panels became widely available.

And honestly? Good phenotyping is still important in conjunction with DNA.

Now, to be clear, DNA has changed the wolfdog world dramatically for the better.

There’s far less room now for people wildly inflating content claims to sell puppies or lowering content labels to make difficult animals seem easier to place.

That’s important because bad phenotyping in the wrong hands caused real problems for years.

Unscrupulous breeders would call obvious low-content animals “90% wolf.”

Meanwhile, shelters and rescues sometimes labeled northern-looking dogs as wolfdogs with zero evidence at all.

Both situations harmed animals.

Some dogs lost adoptive homes because they were mislabeled as wolfdogs. Some actual high-content animals ended up in homes completely unprepared for their behavior.

DNA helped bring much-needed reality into the conversation.

But here’s the part people sometimes miss: DNA percentages are not personality tests and genes express themselves in strange ways.

You can have two littermates raised under the exact same conditions who turn into completely different animals.

I once knew two high-content sisters raised by the same owner in poor early conditions. They spent much of their first year confined under a small porch.

Yet as adults, they became polar opposites.

One was social, confident, affectionate, easy to work with, and eventually lived successfully with a Pomeranian and a cattle dog.

Her sister remained anxious, shy, highly selective with bonding, and struggled socially with both people and dogs her entire life.

Same litter. Same genetics. Same environment.

Completely different outcomes.

That’s why observation still matters.

Because content alone doesn’t tell you how resilient an individual is, how social they are, how fearful they are, or what kind of life they can realistically thrive in.

And honestly, even the wolfdog community itself still debates terminology constantly.

What counts as low? Mid? Upper mid? High?

Everyone seems to draw the line in a slightly different place.

At the end of the day, percentages are useful tools.

But they are not replacements for experience, observation, and time spent with the actual animal standing in front of you.

A wolfdog is still an individual first. Not a math equation.

If you enjoy thoughtful discussions about wolves, behavior, identity, and the blurry line between wild and domestic, my Adirondack Gothic series explores many of these same themes through the eyes of wildlife biologist Jess Taylor.

Set in the remote Adirondacks after wolves return for the first time in over a century, The Wolfer’s Daughter blends real-world conservation, dark humor, folklore, and the complicated relationships between humans and predators. Trailer featured on the page.

05/25/2026

05/23/2026

Art by Jody Bergsma, one of our favorite artists.