Wolves as pets and working animals
Though wolves are trainable, they lack the same degree of tractability seen in dogs. They are generally not as responsive as dogs to coercive techniques involving fear, aversion to stimuli, and force. Generally, far more work is required to obtain the same degree of reliability seen in most dogs. Even then, once a certain behavior has been repeated several times, wolves may get bored and ignore subsequent commands. Wolves are most responsive toward positive conditioning and rewards, though simple praise is not sufficient as in most dogs. Unlike dogs, wolves tend to respond more to hand signals than voice. Although they are more difficult to control than dogs, they can be easier to teach if the motivation exists.
Wolves are less suitable than dogs for working. Swedish wolf biologist Erik Zimen once tried to form a dog sled team composed entirely of wolves. The experiment failed as the wolves ignored most commands and were far more prone to fighting than sled dogs. North American wolves and wolf hybrids were used as experimental attack dogs by the South African Defence Force in Apartheid South Africa in an attempt to breed animals capable of tracking guerrillas. Because the wolves would not follow even basic commands, the experiment was abandoned. However, their sense of smell can rival that of established scent hounds. According to reports published in 2006, ongoing research at the Perm Institute of Internal Troops in Russia demonstrated that wolf/dog cross-breeds took 15–20 seconds to track down a target in training sessions, whereas ordinary police dogs took 3–4 minutes. Their success has led to plans to use them as police dogs for the Russian police.
Predation
In mythology and folk fable, predators such as the fox and wolf have mixed reputations. The fox was a symbol of fertility in ancient Greece, but a weather demon in northern Europe, and a creature of the devil in early Christianity; the fox is sly, greedy, and cunning in fables from Aesop onwards. The big bad wolf is known to children in tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood", but is a demonic figure in the Icelandic Edda sagas, where the wolf Fenrir appears in the apocalyptic ending of the world. In the middle ages, belief spread in werewolves, men transformed into wolves. In ancient Rome, and in ancient Egypt, the wolf was worshipped, the she-wolf appearing in the founding myth of Rome, suckling Romulus and Remus. More recently, in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 "The Jungle Book", Mowgli is raised by the wolf pack. Attitudes to large predators in North America, such as wolf, grizzly bear and cougar, have shifted from hostility or ambivalence, accompanied by active persecution, towards positive and protective in the second half of the 20th century.