<P> Wolves are less suitable than dogs for working . Swedish wolf biologist Erik Zimen once tried to form a dog sled team composed entirely of wolves . The experiment failed as the wolves ignored most commands and were far more prone to fighting than sled dogs . North American wolves and wolf hybrids were used as experimental attack dogs by the South African Defence Force in Apartheid South Africa in an attempt to breed animals capable of tracking guerrillas . Because the wolves would not follow even basic commands, the experiment was abandoned . However, their sense of smell can rival that of established scent hounds . According to reports published in 2006, ongoing research at the Perm Institute of Internal Troops in Russia demonstrated that wolf / dog cross-breeds took 15--20 seconds to track down a target in training sessions, whereas ordinary police dogs took 3--4 minutes . Their success has led to plans to use them as police dogs for the Russian police . </P> <P> American biologist, Stanley P. Young, described tame wolves as thus: </P> <P> Generally speaking, on the basis of their experience, tame wolves are strictly "one - man dogs". They may be confiding and playful with the man who raised them, or even with his whole family, if fed and cared for by them, but they are suspicious and timid in the presence of strangers . They invariably retain certain reactions of wolf nature, as for instance, an incorrigible desire to kill chickens or other small livestock whenever opportunity arises . </P> <P> Several hunters of the USFWS kept wolf pups as pets, with the best results occurring when they were caught just after their eyes began opening . In contrast, pups taken at 3--4 weeks of age proved unmanageable, with only one in 11 of such pups becoming tame, despite one month of eight hours per day of socialization with people . However, John James Audubon recorded an instance of a wolf being trained to hunt deer in Kentucky, and Henry Wharton Shoemaker published a similar account of settlers in western and central Pennsylvania using wolves as hunting dogs . Buffon wrote in his Natural History of tamed wolves in Persia being trained to perform dances and tricks . </P>

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