ETU
- Gender: male
- Birthdate: 04.05.2016
- Origin: Canada
- Meaning of his name (Native American): sun
... appearance
Etu has the typical timber wolf coloring, which is predominantly grey, with some brown accents and dark-colored markings on his back, neck, and face. He has a pretty impressive appearance with his big, massive figure and huge paws. His eyes, which were blue during his puppy time, are now a greenish yellow tone.
... character
Due to his appearance, especially people who do not know Etu so well, perceive him as pretty wolfish and majestic. Almost automatically one associates a powerful pack leader who guides and defends his pack with commitment and pride. Far from it! His nickname may already give a hint of how Etu really is. For us trainers he still seems to be the “little”, chubby and a bit clumsy baby, even though he is grown up now. In accordance with this, it might not be surprising that Maikan is in charge in the pack while Etu plays the second (respectively last) fiddle in terms of hierarchy. However, even though Maikan is the pack leader, Etu knows exactly how to get what he wants. His strategy is to be annoying in a submissive way, which is very successful. For example, during feeding, Etu often snatches up the first piece of food (or both pieces). His greed for food is insatiable and therefore he simply ignores hierarchy in such moments. Luckily, Maikan is a very confident and tolerant boss, so Etu usually gets what he wants to have. And to be honest, suppressing Etu would simply be too exhausting for Maikan. So, persistence pays off in this case.
Etu also tried to use his submissively annoying strategy in contact with his human partners. It is for this reason that he gets a special manners training. In this training, he learns to cultivate some self-control. However, one has to admit that the imposing wolf male is always highly motivated to work. He would never miss training. On the other hand, this over-motivation sometimes leads to destructive tendencies. This happens when Etu is confronted with a training or a test in which he does not immediately know what to do. Then he gets frustrated and vents his spleen on the expensive research equipment.
... in puppy age
As a puppy, Etu was as curious as he still is today. He often sat in front of the fence and simply watched the visitors who passed his enclosure. Furthermore, Etu has always chewed on everything, much to the chagrin of the puppy raisers. Blankets, mattresses, laptops, nothing was safe from him. Unfortunately, we sometimes underestimated his body size, respectively his jumping power. Accordingly, several things that were believed to be safe, fell victim to Etu.