Apollo Caretaker

Apollo, at only a few weeks of age, was advertised on Craigslist as a free Husky/Shepherd cross. The new owner, a private dog trainer from Boulder, drove all the way to Spokane, Washington to pick up little Apollo. At At a routine checkup, a vet identified Apollo as having a good amount of wolf in him. After researching the difficulties of taking care of a wolf-dog, Apollo’s owner realized that he would be unable to care for the puppy as he grew. Further research also led the young man to the conclusion that Apollo would have a much easier time accepting a new home the sooner he was moved. After looking into possible wolf rescues, Apollo’s owner decided to give his young puppy a home at Mission: Wolf.

When Apollo arrived at three months of age, we placed him with wolf puppies Zeab and Farah, who had arrived a month earlier. A week younger than his new siblings, Apollo was the smallest and quickly became Zeab and Farah’s favorite chew toy. Nevertheless, the puppies took a liking to each other right away and delighted staff and visitors with their playful antics.

Our lead Ambassador wolves, Magpie and Abe, adopted the three pups in the fall of 2010 and the five of them traveled across the country, meeting thousands of people for a season. As he has grown and matured, Apollo has turned out to be one of the wolfiest animals to ever come through the refuge. True to wolf form, he has become very shy with everyone except for those who raised him. Given this fact, he was retired as an Ambassador. He continued to live in the Ambassador pack until the fall of 2011, when he and litter-mate Farah began showing signs of wanting to start their own pack. We obliged the youngsters and gave them their own enclosure. Having grown up together, the two are closely bonded and can regularly be seen playing and sleeping together under the aspens.