Wolves as pets and working animals
Some wildlife centers housing captive wolves prohibit handlers from entering wolf enclosures if they happen to have a cold or other vulnerability which the wolves can detect. Captive wolves are generally shy and avoid eye contact with humans other than their owner, as well as not listening to any commands made by any other humans. They usually vacate rooms or hide when a new person enters the establishment. Even seemingly friendly wolves need to be treated with caution, as captive wolves tend to view and treat people as other wolves, and will thus bite or dominate people in the same situation in which they would other wolves. Ordinary pet food is inadequate, as an adult wolf needs 1–2.5 kg (2–5 lbs) of meat daily along with bones, skin and fur to meet its nutritional requirements. Wolves may defend their food against people, and react violently to people trying to remove it. The exercise needs of a wolf exceed the average dog's demand. Because of this, captive wolves typically do not cope well in urban areas. Due to their talent at observational learning, adult captive wolves can quickly work out how to escape confinement, and require constant reinforcement by caretakers or owners, which makes raising wolves difficult for people who raise their pets in an even, rather than subordinate, environment.
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.