An Arizona teen was walking down the street when he noticed a small puppy with a sign next to him that said ‘free puppy.’ Without even a second thought – the teenage scooped him up and brought him home. He was certain it was fate that he stumbled across the lone pup. He had been wanting a dog for quite some time.
The college student brought the puppy with amber-colored eyes home and named him Neo. But as soon as he was in the house, the teen noticed something was different about his new pup.
After bringing Neo into his home, the teen noticed that the puppy seemed to be extremely unruly, more so than a typical puppy. The little dog wasn’t at all interested in learning how to potty train and seemed to have limitless energy.
It was obvious that Neo was going to need constant supervision and attention, something that the student couldn’t give because of his school schedule. So, while he was in class, he would simply leave the young dog in the backyard.
During the day, Neo was left alone in the backyard. To entertain himself, he would dig holes all around the perimeter or jump the fence to play with the neighbors’ dogs.
Realizing the backyard wasn’t the most secure place for Neo, the teen built a taller fence – however, it didn’t seem to stop Neo whatsoever. In fact, the hyper dog decided to just chew his way through the new fence in order to go play with his friends.
As days past, Neo was proving to be more and more of a handful. The college student was realizing that something was very odd about this dog, even his neighbors thought that Neo was atypical.
One day, Neo escaped and ran into the neighbor’s yard. They invited him into their home and his demeanor completely changed.
After coming into their home, the normally excited and hyper Neo all of the sudden became reserved, scared, and stand-offish. The dog would avoid all eye contact with them and simply cower in a corner of the bathroom.
To try and comfort Neo, the neighbors offered him treats but he just didn’t seem to be interested. After a while, the little dog left their house but the very next day – he would be back in their yard, repeating the same odd routine.
A few repeat visits of this odd behavior led the neighbors to call the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. The teen appeared to be out of town and the knew something was ‘off’ about Neo.
Maureen O’Nell, CEO of the Humane Society, arrived to evaluate the situation, took one look at the dog and said, “you know that isn’t a dog, right?”
As it turns out, Neo is what is called a ‘wolf dog,’ in fact, the energetic boy had far more wolf DNA in him than he did domestic dog. In the state of Arizona, the only people that were allowed to have wolves or wolf dogs were Native Americans and those with a special permit.
O’Nell immediately contacted Wolf Connection, a wolf and wolf dog sanctuary in the Angeles National Forest in California near the Arizona border. They were very interested in taking Neo in, and after contacting the teen owner, he agreed that it would be the best situation for the dog.
On his very first night at the sanctuary, Neo joined in with the other wolves for the nightly howl.
“He didn’t wait to see where he fit in with the pack,” O’Nell said. “He knew he belonged.”
Wolf Connection has rescued over 50 wolf dogs over the past seven years and has given them a safe place to live, love and an extremely enriching quality of life. If you want to support Wolf Connection’s continuing rescue efforts and care of the wolves at the sanctuary, you can donate here.
Neo couldn’t be happier at his new home and it certainly shows in the video below.
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