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     He is a White German Shepherd Dog ( WGSD ) and Grey Wolf hybrid ( percentage unknown). I have had him since he was five weeks old. He stays indoors and goes outside when I do and pretty much goes where I go. He is a great family pet and a terrific protection/guard dog. Most people are afraid of him because of his size. He can stare most children in the face. He does not show a reaction around children, except to notice that they are there. I also have a female White German Shepherd Dog ( WGSD ), who is half Bay as a Pup his weight and size and you cannot separate them. They grew up near a dog park in Athens, GA, where I socialized all my dogs. Sometimes you could have twenty dogs playing within one acre. They all just played like mad. Some of them made their own competitions and swim (races) after a ball. Bay has been in one fight where his ear was torn by an Old English Sheepdog. Bay did not start this fight, the other dog jumped him in the water. Bay knows he is not to fight and did not retaliate against the other dog. He just barked and showed everyone of his teeth. His favorite toy is a tennis ball, his other annoying toy is what I call the nasalator, it is one of those nasal suckers. Yes, he is weird. Bay knows he is bigger, stronger, and faster than most dogs and all people. We had a dominance problem, but I cured that with the alpha roll-over technique.

     You can find that in "How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend" by the Monks of New Skete. Before he was six months old, he had completed basic obedience and beat every dog in the class. As with most hybrids, Bay has a brain and uses it. He is a problem solver, a thinker, and he can open his kennel door now, as well as other things. Since hybrids are part wolves, I would suggest books on wolf communication and how they cooperate within their own pack. They use a great deal of eye contact and body language. That is where I had the dominance problem at first: I wear glasses and realized he was not paying attention because he could not read my eyes.

     Bay has an amazing amount of agility, he understands and knows where his back feet are. Most dogs as puppies, do not use their back feet; Bay knew exactly where his feet were and was navigating my bed at 9 weeks of age. He could walk along my body, as if it were a ledge when I was laying on my side and not fall off. He weighs too much for that now, but I wanted to tell you that they use their back feet.

     He is a family member and we are pack members. I call him my son because that is how I feel about my dogs; they are my children. I have always had dogs in my life and have been fascinated by wolves in the wild. All of my dogs sleep in the den (bedroom). They have their own beds and like to be up level with you. Bay has a liking to being taller than humans and will sit on top of his kennel that I placed by the front door. This way he can sit in the window and when someone comes in, look them right in the face or look down. I train and socialize my own at a young age. Physical training as well as mental training is good.

Example: You do not want to go outside on a rainy day, I doubt they want to either. However, your dog is hyper and you are tired. Mental games or basic obedience in the living room can be just as tiring as running outside.

     I recommend crate training, but I did not use it that much since I am usually with them. However, Bay knows that if I say "kennel", he is to get in and wait for me to shut the door. This makes it easier to bring groceries in, otherwise he "helps". He is still quite young-at-heart and even at 150+ lbs, he is a baby to me. He takes his guard duty seriously: My belief is that all dogs need a job or function to feel useful within the pack. Bay's job is protection.

     Not everyone knows I have three white German Shepherds, or the fact that I consider them to be my children, especially when you cannot have the two legged kind. Bay is my oldest and will be nine years old come the end of March.

     Recently, Bay began to limp, not just a little bit either. I took him to the vet and they did a sight exam and gave him rimadyl to help ease him. It worked for a little while. During the ten days he was on the medicine, Mercy ran into him and seemed to undo all that the medication had done.

     Back up: They have to do a sight exam because the last time they sedated Bay, three and half years ago, he bit me. We were confined in one of those small rooms that vets have. Anyway, the first sedation did not take so they stuck him again, trying to knock him out. After it looked like he was asleep, I bent down to push him on his side, and he jumped up and latched onto my hand. Needless to say, I screamed, and ended up in the emergency room. This all happened just because Bay needed his nails trimmed. That is more ancient history to know why he is like this. (Before anyone says anything, No, Bay cannot be muzzled, if he sees the muzzle, he will go into a rage.)

     Bay is a legend at this vet clinic, they have told the story of what happened to just about everyone. The doctor who did the sight exam, said he had "heard" about Bay.

They started sedation on Bay this morning around 8:45 AM. It did work, they were able to muzzle him and xray his leg. His leg was not broken.

Now for the utter sadness and void in my heart.

What they found was a malignant tumor. They would have to send him to University of TN, to have his leg amputated and under go treatment. I have already opted out of this. I do know dogs can adapt very well. Bay is going on nine years old and all he ever wanted was to chase tennis balls. Bay weighs 114 lbs. That is too much weight and stress on three of his legs. He would also be devastated by the treatment. My heart is killing me right now. They are in the process of waking him back up and I will pick him up in about an hour, and bring him home. I will wait for the final pathology report. I have many other calls to make as well, like where I can take him. I have no place to bury him, so I think cremation is the best. Bay is my son, and I agreed to do whatever necessary to keep his life full. I love my son very much. My heart just aches right now.

To my beautiful son Bay, May he rest in Peace.

Bay physically departed this world, March 1, 2004. Bay was eight years old, and he would have been nine years old March 28, 2004. I made the decision of what had to be done, based on the findings from x-ray and biopsy. The malignant tumor was eating at the bone already and would have spread quickly and aggressively.

I love you, my son, Bay.

This is my Son, Bayou-Wolf's Courage.
(drawn with paint program, a *.bmp file)
He weighs 110+ lbs and makes a great Guard dog.