How I found the wolf mask
By Jennifer Stoeckl, MAT - Dire Wolf Project CEO, April 1, 2024
I pray your spring has been a renewal of energy and hope.
Last week, one of our Inner Circle email subscribers asked me a follow-up question to the email I sent out on why I stubbornly defy our founder, Lois Schwarz, in a few specific instances.
“Can you please go into more detail on how you found the hidden wolf mask? I found this fascinating!”
I love talking about genetics, so it is my pleasure to reveal how I was finally able to find the wolf mask in the breed in 2022.
When I first began breeding in 2006, no one had any idea how the wolf mask was inherited.
And when I say no one, I mean no one.
No dog breeder, nor wolf expert, nor geneticist.
Genetics had not advanced to the point of identifying the differences between the subtleties of the canine’s muzzle coloring.
(Note: “Mask” is defined as the coloring on a dog’s muzzle, which may also include its face. It does not refer to the “goggles” around the eyes.)
(Note #2: The “wolf mask” is sometimes also described as “normal extension”, “no mask”, or “self mask”. They all mean the same thing.)
(Note #3: The “white mask” is sometimes also described as “northern domino”, or “ancient”.)
At the time, most breeders believed that the white mask (like the Alaskan Malamute) was the trait involved in producing a mask that mimicked the wolf’s classic muzzle.
Many breeders thought that concentrating on increasing the color on the face and restricting the white portion to only the bottom of the muzzle would produce the wolf mask.
Lois, however, knew that newborn wolf cubs are born with deep black muzzles, black skin, and dark fur… almost completely black, in fact.
As wolf pups grow, their face and body lighten up considerably, some even attaining an almost completely white appearance despite being born almost black.
Furthermore, Lois also knew that the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky’s white facial coloring was present at birth with bright pink skin, not at all like the wild wolf cubs needing to protect themselves from opportunistic predators in the darkness of an underground den if their mother happened to be away.
Once again, Lois did not follow the crowd, but bred with her own ideas in the forefront.
So… Lois went in search of this “lightening” gene that changed the wolf’s coat from almost black at birth to very light as an adult. (including the muzzle/mask)
Along with other reasons, Lois brought in the Irish Wolfhound in order to capitalize on that breed’s ability to lighten as it ages.
Her hope was that this gene that lightens the coat over time, which she called the “lightening gene” that is now called the “graying gene”, would also lighten the muzzle and create the wolf mask.
I also adhered Lois’s thinking on this for a time, but grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress of obtaining the muzzle that lightened in a few months after birth, like the wolf’s muzzle did.
To my knowledge, I was the first to propose a different inheritance between the white mask (which Lois called “white spotting”), the black mask, and the wolf mask.
I even created a graphic in 2014 (below) using our breed’s puppies to illustrate my suspicion that a different, elusive, and “as yet unidentified” gene was involved.
(Note: the graphic above links to the original Facebook post, if you want to read the many comments, and answers, that ensued.)
As with everyone else, I did not know how the wolf mask (aka: no mask) was inherited, but I did know for certain that the black mask was dominant over the others.
Therefore, I reasoned, that curtailing the presence of the black mask as much as possible would allow me the ability to “see” (by breeding) what, if any, other masking traits were present in the breed.
I made sure that most of my stock had both the black mask (Em) and the white mask (eA) so that when bred, I would see both black masks and white masks in each litter.
I wasn’t sure, but I felt that deliberately breeding the recessive trait of the white mask would eventually allow me to locate and isolate the wolf mask.
When Lois surprised me by allowing me to co-own the third puppy in the graphic above (Huck), I was THRILLED!!!
I literally couldn’t sleep for days!
I had just won the lottery of dog breeding and genetics!
I don’t even think Lois knew why I was so excited about this breeding. haha!
After all, she continued to believe that the black mask with the graying gene was the key to unlocking the wolf mask within the breed.
I kept two males for rebreeding from that breeding with Huck. They were both born with black noses (which Lois insisted on), but one had a golden undertone to its muzzle while the other had a whiter undertone.
Unfortunately for the breed, the male on the right was one of the only dogs within the breed to be diagnosed with hip dysplasia, so he couldn’t be used for breeding.
And the male in the middle never successfully bred.
(The third one in the back was sold.)
In order to continue the line, the only puppy I ended up breeding from this litter was a female with a black mask.
She was less than ideal, but sometimes life throws you curve balls.
That was the only time I truly felt like I was going to be able to capture the wolf mask in the breed.
UNTIL…
Anastasia (Boss/Vegas) had a female puppy named Crystal with a black muzzle at birth that lightened up in the first few weeks of life.
I wanted to keep that puppy so badly.
She had bright yellow eyes, too.
But her temperament was not ideal.
There was a much more calm and collected pup with a keen awareness of my emotional presence. He was super attentive to me and sought me out every chance he got, just to sit next to me and be near.
He was never pushy or energetic, like Crystal was.
So, out of a pureness toward adhering to our founder’s ideals to always breed for temperament over looks, I sold Crystal and opted for her black-masked brother Tsar, instead.
I had lots of white masks all throughout this time, but the wolf mask continued to elude me until recently when it crept up unannounced once again in the breed.
This time, a brother and a sister, Cookie Monster and Clementine, from the Sesame Street litter (Essex/Meriwether) showed the dark mask at birth that lightened within weeks.
(Reminder: The black mask takes years to lighten up. The white mask is there at birth.)
After being assured of their superior temperament, I was elated to finally be able to keep the wolf mask for breeding.
I even rebred Essex and Meriwether because it was such a great pairing.
That is when I also found Maggie, our golden wolf masked beauty.
It wasn’t until someone told me a few months ago that Wisdom Panel DNA testing now genetically identifies the wolf mask (E) through DNA that I knew I was right.
According to DNA evidence, the black mask (Em) is indeed dominant over every other muzzle type.
The white mask (eA) turns out to be recessive to every other muzzle type.
And the wolf mask (E) lies between the two. (dominant over the white mask, recessive to the black mask)
When I was searching through various DNA traits of different breeds of interest on Embark’s website (because I’m pathologically addicted to this stuff), I was surprised to find that the Labrador Retriever not only carried both the dominant black coloring of the black wolf (Stanley’s coloring), but also the wolf mask (E)!
In fact, ALL of the Labrador Retriever DNA that I researched was homozygous for the wolf mask. (In other words, every Labrador Retriever ONLY carried the wolf mask gene.)
So, when I found Black Opal (Lab/Shepherd), our most recent crossbreed, I knew she would carry the wolf mask.
After DNA testing, I found Opal DID carry the wolf mask gene, just as I had predicted. And lucky for the breed, both of Opal’s offspring that I kept for breeding, Chisel and Galena (Monstro/Opal), carry the wolf mask (E) in their genetics, too.
Therefore, FIVE DireWolf Dogs kept for breeding now carry the wolf mask gene!
We are currently working to eliminate both the dominant black mask and the recessive white mask from the breed.
It will take many more generations to complete this shift throughout the entire breed, but it is finally within reach after all these years of diligently searching.
Here’s a picture of Maggie’s “wolf mask” muzzle type. Notice the gradual lightening of the hair on the muzzle from top to bottom.
She was born with a completely black muzzle at birth that lightened up within a few weeks, just like the wild wolf!
Thanks for being fascinated with canine coat color genetics, just like me!
If you have a hankering to delve into the very complex world of canine coat color genetics, this is the best website I’ve found for learning all about it:
But… don’t say I didn’t warn you.
…
In this Monday’s video, I show you the difference between one week old and two week old puppies.
Here is the link:
P.S. We share MANY shorter videos throughout the week.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see them all when they are uploaded.
P.P.S. Jay leaves today on the DireWolf Express. Follow his journey all around the country on the free PolarSteps app.
- Download the PolarSteps app,
- Then follow: Jay Stoeckl
Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.
Maggie and the Wolf Mask
I even created a graphic in 2014 (below) using our breed’s puppies to illustrate my suspicion that a different, elusive, and “as yet unidentified” gene was involved.