A wolf among the herd
A betta fish can be the most exotic pet a college student has time to care for. Kimmi Kraus, a sophomore majoring in wildlife science, is raising her 10-month-old wolfdog Damu, and the pair can be seen almost daily on Utah State’s campus.
Damu is high content wolfdog. Content refers to the amount of wolf heritage in an animal. High contents range from 85 percent to 98 percent. Kraus estimates Damu’s percentage to be around 85 percent to 90 percent wolf. When fully grown, he is expected to be roughly 130 pounds, with a shoulder height of about 32 to 33 inches at the shoulders.
Kraus typically takes Damu to campus for several hours each day, and said she often gets caught up with people near the Quad. She said these walks serve both to educate people and dispel myths about wolves and wolfdogs, as well as to help Damu get exposure to a variety of settings and build socialization skills. Kraus said these visits with students can also serve as a means of stress relief for students.
“It takes your mindset out of the stress of classes, and you get to interact with an animal that will help lower your blood pressure and just make you feel a little bit normal aside from the whole crazy classes and tests and midterms,” she said. “It is just nice to take a break while you’re running through campus.”
Damu is an ambassador animal, which Kraus described as an animal used for education and public awareness. The two of them have done both formal and informal educational presentations in an effort to eliminate myths and misconceptions regarding the purity of wolfdogs, as well as a belief that wolfdogs are from the wild and possess vicious tendencies.
“Lots of people have stereotypes and perceived ideas,” she said. “People fear what they don’t know.”
In spite of his large and wolf-like appearance, Damu actually has a very agreeable temperament.
“He’s actually a really sweet guy,” said O’Neal Bunderson, a freshman majoring in wildlife science. “He’s very submissive. A lot of people don’t know what to do with him because he’s so big. He’s a really fun dog to be around. He’s just happy.”
According to Kraus, Damu’s father was a British Columbian black phase bred with a malamute. She said two of Damu’s brothers were used in the Chronicles of Narnia series.
Damu eats three to four pounds of meat per day. Kimmi provides him with a diet of raw meat and bones and many different types of fruits and vegetables. Kraus said the raw diet helps to clean Damu’s teeth, reduce stool and lessen shedding.
“A wolf’s bite pressure is a little under 1500 pounds per square inch,” said Kraus. “Imagine a wolf just crunching through the femur of an elk or a deer. They have an intense bite pressure. The bone is actually pretty good for them because it has all the vitamins and they love the marrow. Having that bone is so pivotal – you can’t just give them boneless meat. They need to have all that natural nutrition.”
Kraus is no stranger to exotic animals, having worked with them since the age of twelve. She has experience with horses, tigers and grizzlies. She has been involved with wolves and wolfdogs for approximately two years and has also worked with Lockwood Animal Rescue Center. She said she worked with Wolf Mountain in Lucerne Valley, where she said the animators from Twilight went and gained their inspiration for their wolves.
A native of Trabuco Canyon in Southern California, Kraus studied at BYU-Idaho before coming to USU, where she earned her bachelors’ degree in illustration with emphases on creative writing and publishing. After graduating, she worked for Blizzard Entertainment in the video game industry for two years but felt a need for a change of pace.
“I really wanted a change of scenery,” she said. “I didn’t want to contribute to an industry that was wasting peoples’ lives. It’s investing people in a virtual world when they’re missing out on the real world.”
Kraus said when she looked at USU and saw the impactful, well thought out and influential natural resources program, she knew it was where she wanted to go.
“It’s been a great area to have him in,” said Kraus. “I was pleasantly surprised with the hospitality of the people.
Kraus said the warmth of people in their reception of Damu has helped her to be more ambitious in her goal to eventually open an education and research facility. With this facility, she’d like to further study the relationship of wolves to wolfdogs, perform conservation work and bridge the interaction gap between humans and wolves.
“I’d love to open in Logan,” said Kraus. “It would be a great opportunity to provide volunteer and internship opportunities for both schools and individuals.”
Kraus and Damu have a very close relationship and have been together since he was a pup. Aside from Kraus’s time during classes, they spend nearly all day together, going on runs in the morning, roaming campus to help Damu socialize and even occasionally sleeping in the same bed, though Kraus said Damu usually prefers the couch.
“He teaches me more than I teach him,” said Kraus.
Kraus said Damu has helped her to gain confidence and overcome her naturally shy nature, as well as to practice principles of communication she can apply in many aspects of her life.
“I’ve learned to be more aware of my surroundings and interact with pe
ople,” she said. “I’m more willing to sit back and weigh things out before I approach situations. I also have more confidence and have learned to put myself out there more through having him.”
For those seeking to acquire a wolf-dog of their own, Kraus said she would recommend it, but advises the potential owners get educated on the subject prior to buying.
“I support wolfdog ownership,” she said. “You just really need to do your research on the breed.”
Raising Damu has not been easy for Kraus, though she said the benefits of seeing her dedication manifested in Damu’s transformation has been rewarding and far outweighs any negative experiences she has had in the process.
“You see what you’ve sown in training translated through the animal,” she said. “He can be a crazy little hellion at times, but it makes your bond stronger and it’s a team effort.”
An extensive network of wolfdog owners can be found on Facebook, which Kraus said has been a vital support system for her.
“It’s not always rainbows, butterflies and puppy clouds,” she said. “I could not have done it without my network and the experiences of others.”
– calewp@gmail.com
Twitter: @Calewp