I was in the kitchen and I glanced over to see this threesome sprawled out on the floor.  The wolfies love to watch our little one and listen to her; they especially love it when she incorporates their names into one of her stories.  After awhile she got tired and decided to lay on Dakota, joining them in their rest.  She is starting to understand how special wolves are, and that they are NOT dogs.  She has inherited a gentleness and a way about her that will allow her to be comfortable and confident around animals all of her life.  Cheyenne and Dakota are her siblings, and I still think back to the baby bib I had made for her that reads, “Raised by wolves.”  That is not a bad thing.  Research has shown over and over that wolves are social and make strong emotional attachments.  Contrary to (sadly still popular) belief, wolves have an inherent aversion to fighting and will do much to avoid any aggressive encounters.  They are extremely intelligent, sensitive, affectionate, fearless, loving, and loyal.  People who have enjoyed the company of wolves have described them to be confident, tolerant, generous natural leaders, wild and playful, supportive, strong, kind, patient and dignified.  These are many of the traits I believe I have, which is why I have been drawn to wolves most of my life.  My little one already naturally displays some of these and it is my hope she will acquire more from them as she grows.  The American Newbery Medal-winning Jean Craighead George once wrote:

“Oh, those golden-yellow eyes of the wolf!  You can feel yourself being pulled in.  I knew I had been accepted – and that I had spoken to another species.”

That is how I felt the first time I looked into the eyes of my first mixed wolf cub, Nashoba.  My little one is fortunate to wake up every day and be able to look into not one, but two loving sets of wolf eyes.