By now, pretty much everyone knows that dogs come from wolves. In fact, recent research studies have brought the origin of dogs even deeper into the mainstream consciousness. Humans have long shunned wolves from populated areas, however, and few have enough direct experience with them to understand how drastically they’ve changed over the ages.

So, what kinds of changes did they undergo to become our friendly, lovable, and sometimes mildly annoying companions? To answer this, let’s explore some physical and behavioral differences between everyone’s favorite versions of Canis lupus.

Behavioral Differences

If you’ve ever owned a dog or known someone who has, you’re probably familiar with dog behavior. Though all pets have their own personalities, the vast majority exhibit a fairly small range of conduct. After puppies are socialized and trained, most become friendly, excitable, and eager to please. Even those who suffer from anxiety and abandonment issues easily learn and obey commands.

Consider for a moment how amazing this is — we’ve bred an animal so thoroughly that it can live comfortably in our homes after only a brief training period. But how is this possible? Well, we don’t exactly know how it happened, but the domestication gave dogs two separate socialization processes: one in which they learn verbal and body cues from other canines; and one in which they learn to comport themselves appropriately around people. These periods occur at overlapping times during the first weeks of a puppy’s development. As long as a young pup is exposed to both littermates and humans, it’s well-prepared for a social life in the modern human world.

Unlike domestic pets, wild canids undergo no special socialization period that accustoms them to human manners. You might say that they simply see humans as big, ugly, rude, and hairless wolves. Their behavior, therefore, is noticeably different from that of a domestic animal, even when they’ve been afforded loads of human contact. So how exactly are they different?

Receptivity to Training

Humans bred domestic dogs for tens of thousands of years. While the spatial and temporal origin of canine domestication is still hotly debated, this lengthy history left plenty of room for people and their companions to develop the special communication style we now call positive reinforcement. Whenever early dogs did things people liked, people rewarded them with food or praise. Over the ages, pups learned to enthusiastically repeat rewarding behavior.

Wolves untainted by humans never evolved to please people, so they don’t tend to perform tasks for humans unless motivated by food. This isn’t to say that they can’t perform these tasks — they just don’t usually feel compelled to. The tasks they learn most easily, therefore, are ones they associate most easily with food, such as moving to a specified location or sitting on command. Interestingly, wolves aren’t as receptive to vocal commands as dogs, so visible body language cues are usually more effective at getting captive creatures to obey.

Vocalizations

The domestication process encourages juvenile traits to remain for life. Dogs share traits such as enlarged head-to-body ratios, exaggerated eyes, and playful behavior with other human-bred creatures, like cattle or goats. If you’ve ever wondered why wolves don’t bark, they actually do — just only for a short time. Wolf pups make this and several vocalizations they don’t retain into adulthood. While barking is important for warning adults about impending danger, the behavior is only useful for the first few months of a pup's life. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Humans selected animals that barked later in life as they chose which of their companions to breed.

Social creatures who can’t speak to one another need still need to let others know when they feel violated or intruded upon. When it comes to expressing boundaries, therefore, wolves are far more vocal than dogs. You can think of dogs kind of like passive-aggressive people, in that they don’t usually make their feelings known until they’ve boiled over. Wild creatures, on the other hand, are more like assertive people, and they frequently snarl or growl to establish their personal space or make their intentions known to the rest of their pack.

When you encounter a snarling dog, you can be fairly certain you’re in real danger. Such a dog may imminently bite. A growling adult wolf can seem very alarming to those unfamiliar with wolves, but well-socialized animals may give many such warnings before biting.

Intelligence

Judging animal intelligence can be difficult and unproductive, but it’s safe to say that both wild canids and their domestic counterparts are highly intelligent creatures. They tend to thrive, however, under different intellectual conditions. Where dogs can store and act upon an impressive number of verbal commands, wolves don’t tend to place much value on listening to people. Instead, they excel at solving problems together with their pack members.

One research study presented animals with a box containing food. Though the smell of food permeated the box, two ropes were attached to it in such a way that it would only open when two animals pulled on both ends at the same time. Not surprisingly, undomesticated pack animals found it much easier to open the box and collect the food inside. Since dogs seemed to have lost some of their expertise at interspecies communication, they struggled to uncover their reward.

Aggression

Although socialized wolves give many warning signs before they bite, they can still be dangerous under the right circumstances. Natural predators don't seem to see children as tiny humans like we do. Instead, they view them as potential meals. It isn’t clear why this is the case, but it might have something to do with their lack of a human-specific socialization process. Although wolf attacks in the wild are rare, wolf-dog hybrids have killed people, and most of these fatal attacks were on children and babies. Naturally, they don’t make great family pets.

Household Living

Full content animals and wolfdog hybrids often struggle to live fulfilling lives in captivity, as human dwellings are not stimulating enough environments. Wolves are highly energetic creatures that thrive on social interaction and can travel 30 miles in a single day. If bored, one may decide to tear up your furniture or chew through the drywall. Wolfdog owners have even reported their pets chewing doors off their hinges and escaping. Obviously, this is less than ideal, as suburban residents aren't usually inured to seeing roving predators in their midst.

While some of the most intelligent dog breeds become destructive when bored, wolfdogs take things to a whole other level. Those who do adopt wolfdog hybrids or pure wolves should always have a large, well-fenced, outdoor area.

Physical Differences

You might think that wolves and certain wolfish dog breeds look similar, and you certainly aren’t alone in your opinion. Each year, hundreds of suburban citizens in the Western US report wolf sightings, but the vast majority turn out to be far more likely encounters with coyotes or dogs.

To a trained eye, there are marked differences between wild animals and even the wolfiest domestic breeds.

Eyes

Full content animals almost always have yellow, auburn, or grayish eyes. Dogs have blue or brown eyes much more often. While yellow eyes are often an indicator of lupine DNA, however, they aren’t a sure predictor.

Ears

Wild mammals living in the Northern Hemisphere often need to survive in extremely cold environments. Protruding limbs or features prone to frostbite, therefore, have been selected out of the gene pool. North American and European wolves have smaller, more rounded ears than dogs.

Head and Snout

A wolf has a less defined transition between its head and snout than a dog. If you find this description confusing, consider that dogs are essentially perpetual puppies with "neotenous" or babylike traits. In other words, they're closer to what we consider "cute."

Posture

Because domestic canines don’t have to worry about ambushing hunting deer or moose, they don't need to shield their silhouettes, and they’re usually happy to walk around with their heads held high in conspicuous confidence.

Tail

Canids use their tails as communication tools. Since communication is most important for those still living in the wild, wolves tend to walk and run with their tails directly behind them. Dogs, in contrast, may have their tails curled up, down, to the side, or straight. The tail is often the clearest indication that a creature is a wolfdog, not a pure wild animal.

Unless you live in one of the few places in the US or Europe that still have wolves, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see one in the wild. Many shelters, however, are full of wolfdog hybrids that need homes. If you have kids and don’t have much property, you should opt for a standard pup, but if you’re ready to lend your property and alter your lifestyle for an animal in need, consider a wolfdog. Someone has to.

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Wolves vs Dogs: How To Tell the Difference