Ingo is well and remains in good health. As of 2/25/2000, Ingo weighs approximately 85 pounds. He has been a wonderful, interesting and amazing addition to our wolf family. He is always good for a laugh and we have to wonder if he will be a perpetual puppy in his actions. With his arrival, we have witnessed many new (in our observations, but not in wolves) behaviors between all three wolves. Ingo is learning how to be an adult wolf - with the help of Nira. The ritualistic displays brought on Ingo by Nira and to a lesser degree by Keeley, were especially noticeable during howl sessions and the recently passed breeding season. We would start howling and the wolves would start whining and join together. It would be at this point that Nira would start guarding Keeley from Ingo. Nira would growl and snap at Ingo as well as exhibit agonistic puckering. If Ingo did not submit, Nira would pin him to the ground and proceed to stand over him, asserting his dominance over Ingo. After a few of these sessions, Ingo learned to keep his distance from the other two during howl time, especially Nira. Ingo also no longer receives puppy privileges over food. Ingo now must wait his turn while Nira and Keeley eat. Ingo seems to encourage human contact. He will walk up to us and lean his body weight against our legs. This is usually an invitation for us humans to scratch him, and he does not care where. He will roll his head from side to side, making sure that the human who is scratching him alleviates all those itchy spots especially around his ears, belly and rump. In fact, Ingo displays a quite comical facial expression when his rump is scratched. He will yawn, wiggle his rear and form his mouth as if he were saying, "oh, that feels so good". Ingo tends to especially seek out human contact after he has tried to invite "a game of chase" from the other wolves and they rebuff his attempts. Sometimes, Ingo will just sideswipe us humans as he is jaunting aimlessly by. The Christmas season arrived with gifts for the wolves. Ruetenik Christmas Tree Farm generously donated leftover trees. We took these into the enclosure and hid the treats that the volunteers had brought out among the branches. Ingo enjoyed poking his nose among the branches, trying to get as many biscuits as possible. On Christmas day each wolf received a 2-½ pound roast, pig ears and various "canine treats". The image that Ingo may portray is that of a "tough guy", but when his true colors come through he is not so tough. Ingo tends to be a typical wolf in being leery of new objects. If a new item is brought into the enclosure, Ingo will jump back a few feet. Once he approaches the object it is with caution and at a slow pace. With Ingo being so cautious it can prove to be a difficult task doing certain things with him. However, Ingo is not that cautious around humans visiting or new volunteers entering the enclosure for the first time. Ingo at times seems to be fueled with some form of "high octaine food". This is evident by his seemingly endless energy level. He reminds us of the Energizer Bunny battery commercial. No matter what, Ingo seems to keep "bouncing on". However, we also think that this same energy was partially responsible for an injury he received on the evening of December 18th, 1999. Nicolette Popa and Michelle Huth were present. Below is an excerpt from Nicolette`s notes: "Michelle and I stood outside and started to howl to gather the wolves. When Ingo came prancing over we noticed an obvious limp. Ingo was favoring his front left leg. Ted Huth then came out so that we could enter the enclosure with the wolves. Nira and Keeley were put into the holding pen and Ingo was inspected. No further signs of injury were noticed. Upon manipulation of Ingo's left front leg, he did show signs of discomfort at his wrist. We then let the other wolves back into the enclosure. Nira and Keeley proceeded to inspect Ingo; obviously picking up that something was not normal. Nira started pawing at him. Ingo sat with his back against a tree and his eyes going back and forth between Nira and Keeley. Ingo knew he would not be able to defend himself much because of his ailment. Keeley then took advantage of the situation and pounced on him. It was then decided to place Keeley in the holding pen for the rest of the night. We kept Nira and Ingo together and no further problems developed. The next morning, Ingo was no longer favoring that leg and it has not knowingly caused a problem since. We did give Ingo some pain medication to help alleviate the discomfort he was displaying." Ingo is learning and adapting quickly to life at Wolf Timbers. He sits and lies for treats, walks up our slanted hickory log, rolls over for tummy rubs and many other behaviors that Nira and Keeley have been doing for two years. An interesting behavior that Ingo exhibits is that he will "mock" what Nira is doing and try to perform those same behaviors. This can be funny at times but at other times, it is pure "peskiness". An example would be when Nira lunges at us, Ingo will follow suite. We are happy that Ingo is here and look forward to see him grow into an adult, although we hope that he does not retain his mischievous actions.