Wolves as pets and working animals
Generally speaking, on the basis of their experience, tame wolves are strictly "one-man dogs". They may be confiding and playful with the man who raised them, or even with his whole family, if fed and cared for by them, but they are suspicious and timid in the presence of strangers. They invariably retain certain reactions of wolf nature, as for instance, an incorrigible desire to kill chickens or other small livestock whenever opportunity arises.
Attachment behaviour in wolves
Wolves who have been hand reared for 16 weeks showed a different behaviour compared to those hand reared for 3-7 weeks. The wolves that were tested were separated from their mothers and littermates 3-5 days after birth. The wolves were in close contact with their caregiver for 20-24 hours for the first 16 weeks. The wolves were socialized with other wolves and were exposed to novel situations to the extent that they were used to traveling in cars and on public transportation. Due to the hand rearing the wolves lacked wariness and did not actively avoid humans. It was noted that the wolves had a strong interest in strangers. The experiment was tested over seven episodes where the wolves were first exposed to their caregiver, their caregiver and a stranger, just a stranger, their caregiver, were left by themselves, with a stranger and finally their caregiver. The hand reared wolves studied seemed to seek physical contact with the stranger and did not discriminate between following their caregiver or stranger. This result was theorized to be due to the wolves being of a more independent age at the time of testing. After the study the wolves used were able to re-socialize and were allowed to enter into a pack of wolves.