Eating Hair & Anal Marking

Gypsy Wolf · 28-09-2010, 20:09

Hi all,
Interesting things that I have been noticing in my 1 and a half vlcaks...
The first is an interesting behavior I see frequently in Pongo - initially I thought he had issues with his anal glands - I even had a vet look at his anal glands - he would drag his butt in certain places. After some research, I found out that wolves will "mark" territory with "anal marking" behavior. In domestic dogs, anal marking is also a sign of dominant behavior.
Another thing that I have seen - in Luna, specifically - is "hair eating"... this is another wolf behavior seen specifically in Luna when she eats bones. In wolves it is part of the "kill" of course, but one theory on why wild wolves do not have "issues" digesting bones is that the hair they ingest wraps around the bone bits as they pass through the intestinal tract. Obviously, both of these behaviors are instinctive.
Would love to hear of any other vlcaks that display these behaviors...

28-09-2010, 20:09	#1
Gypsy Wolf Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Florida & Minnesota U.S. Posts: 252	Eating Hair & Anal Marking Hi all, Interesting things that I have been noticing in my 1 and a half vlcaks... The first is an interesting behavior I see frequently in Pongo - initially I thought he had issues with his anal glands - I even had a vet look at his anal glands - he would drag his butt in certain places. After some research, I found out that wolves will "mark" territory with "anal marking" behavior. In domestic dogs, anal marking is also a sign of dominant behavior. Another thing that I have seen - in Luna, specifically - is "hair eating"... this is another wolf behavior seen specifically in Luna when she eats bones. In wolves it is part of the "kill" of course, but one theory on why wild wolves do not have "issues" digesting bones is that the hair they ingest wraps around the bone bits as they pass through the intestinal tract. Obviously, both of these behaviors are instinctive. Would love to hear of any other vlcaks that display these behaviors...