Aries joined the Big Pack in the Sky on August 14th, 2024.
He passed at 3 years old due to severe leukemia and lymphoma.
Aries was born on April 8, 2021, and arrived at Wild Spirit on December 31, 2022. In the beginning of December 2022, Wild Spirit was asked to make a miracle come true by taking in five high-content wolfdogs in need of urgent rescue after their owner passed away. At the time, we were beyond our maximum capacity, with not a single empty enclosure for new intakes. While we wanted nothing more than to save these animals’ lives, we weren’t sure it was possible with our limited resources…
Fortunately, we weren’t alone in wanting to see this rescue through, and in a matter of days an entire team of people from across the country had agreed to assist us in going to get the animals AND putting up five new enclosures once we got back home with them! Thanks to this massive show of support, we made plans to retrieve the animals, meeting up with half our team in Kansas while the other half stayed behind to work on constructing the new enclosures.
After arriving at the owner’s property and seeing the animals for the first time, it was clear they were all experiencing extremely high levels of stress following the loss of their owner, and as a result of our presence as well. As such, we quickly came up with a game plan for getting the animals out of their enclosures, vetted, and into the rescue van as quickly as possible. Thanks to the experience and teamwork of all involved, this process went off without a hitch, and within a matter of hours, all five wolfdogs had been seen by the vet and loaded for transport!
Before leaving the property we learned of three additional high-content wolfdogs also living on-site (one who has since passed), surprising everyone in our group as they hadn’t been mentioned in previous conversations. We decided to ask the owner’s wife whether they needed placement as well. She said they did but she hadn’t thought to ask due to their age, assuming we wouldn’t want them. We advised that while we didn’t have any empty enclosures at the moment, we would be willing to come back for them as soon as possible if placement was needed. She agreed, and we made plans to return for them as soon as we’re able.
Of the five Kansas rescues, Aries was the baby, and easily the most social of the group. Aries is also a relative of some of Wild Spirit’s former pack members including Dakota, Savannah, Forest, and Brutus, and he shared their same love of people once he fully settled in.
Personality
Aries was, plainly put, the bestest of boys. While he came to Wild Spirit from an unideal situation, that never stopped him from being a sweet, affectionate, and silly animal. Despite his less-than-ideal upbringing, Aries gave us his trust immediately, wanting nothing more than to love and be loved in return. So much so, in fact, that he would try to make himself as small as possible before awkwardly approaching for affection, submissive-peeing all the while. This behavior happened so often that he was affectionately nicknamed “Piddwes.”
Relationships
Aries has had two pairings during his life. The first was with the enigmatic Enya, who is notorious for failed relationships. Aries should be proud that he made a whole 6-months–much longer than anyone else–though eventually he, too, felt the wrath of Enya and was kicked out of the enclosure. Following his time with her, Aries was then paired with a playful gal named Haiku, who was a wonderful match for him!
He was also the great nephew to several of Wild Spirit’s past rescues including Forest, Dakota, Brutus, Savannah, and Sassy.
Likes & Dislikes
Aries loved hanging out with the rest of our Kansas rescues through their shared fence lines. He was especially fond of Fenris and Freya, both of whom he spent time living with as a puppy. He also adored his human Caretakers, as well as the handful of guests he was able to meet during his time with us. And of course, he was absolutely enamored with his companion, Haiku, who was a wonderful source of love and play. The only thing he may have loved more, was food.
Aries was so easy-going that there wasn’t much he disliked. However, his love of new, odd things often resulted in many attempts to steal shiny things and clothing from Caretakers. When he didn’t get his way or failed his robbery, the pouting would begin.
Fun Facts
While living as a pet in Kansas, Aries made friends with an adult raccoon who used to walk right up to his enclosure to steal handfuls of his dog food! Despite being one of nature’s top predators, Aries never minded sharing, and the two made a routine out of enjoying meals together. Even after Aries was brought to Wild Spirit, the raccoon continued showing up, looking for her meal (and her friend).
Please enjoy our photoshop re-imagining of their relationship.
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