I'm going to give a kind of rambling answer because I get asked this question a lot. It usually happens like this: someone meets my canines, is impressed by them and compliments me on my great dogs, and then I let whoever it is know that they aren't really dogs. Of course, they aren't really wolves, either, since they aren't full-blooded. That would make them members of an endangered species and while getting an endangered species handling permit is a pain in the ass it is nothing compared to the monumental act of douche baggery that keeping something that should be left in the wild to be free truly is.
For anyone reading for the first time, I have two wolf mixes. You don't call them wolf hybrids because wolves and dogs are both canines and thus are from the same species. It is a common mistake, especially on the Internet. To clarify things by way of an example, if you crossed a jellyfish (an cnidarian) with a bird (an avian), the resulting creation would be a hybrid. (Okay, am I the only one who suddenly wants a flying attack jellybirdfish pet? Holy crap, those would be cool!) Anyway, I have a male Black Siberian husky who is a quarter timber wolf (also known as grey wolves and Canis lupus) and a female red wolf (also known as Canis rufus) that is about ten percent red Siberian husky. The female is called Winter and the male is called Cort (which, as it turns out, is Gaelic for 'braver than he is smart'). Fun fact: all wolves and dogs in existence today are offshoots of these two wolf breeds.
I have a bunch of reasons, which I will now post in no particular order. One thing I really hate is how 'dog breeds' have come to represent appallingly inbred animals with the minds of puppies and bodies that are so wracked with defects that they can barely function as living organisms. Mutts are way better, but still end up grown animals with the minds of puppies, because that is the number one trait that has been selected for since we partnered up with canines at least thirty-five thousand years ago. The canine was the first animal domesticated by man, and I reckon we have done a pretty good job of adapting to each other
Wolves and wolf-mixes, on the other hand, actually grow up. They don't want to spend every second of the day cringing at your feet or fawning over you or begging to be petted. It's more of a "Hey, scratch my butt," thing. Then they go lay down or get on with whatever other furry business they have. They also make excellent defenders while not being aggressive--as long as you socialize them right. Get them around as many other dogs and people before they are six months old as you can, or they begin to think that anything that isn't 'pack' is 'food'. Wolves also have a sense of humor, can hold grudges, and like all other canines, are excellent tool-users. The tool that all canines prefer the most, of course, is us--human beings. If you don't believe me, ask yourself why you are getting up the next time your dog is scratching at the door or nosing around an empty food bowl. Or why you keep throwing the ball every time they bring it to you.
There are a lot of reasons, I reckon--not all of which I could properly explain. I suppose the one that matters most to me is the look on a dipstick's face as they try to break into your house and a hundred pounds of something that looks like it just came out of "Call of the Wild" pops up on the other side of the window--that is always hella funny.
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