WOLVES

WOLF

Wolves are mobs that can be allied with the player once tamed by being fed bones with the "use" key(However, in SSP they will turn neutral again every session). They will shake themselves dry when they reach land after a swim or if drenched by rain, or otherwise come in contact with water. Wolves are 1 block in height, 2 in length, and 1 in width (1 x 2 x 1).

Appearance

As wild wolves, they have white fur, their eyes consist of one white pixel, black pupils, and a drooping tail. As hostile wolves, they have red eyes, a contrast level of the fur increases, revealing dark patches of bristling hair and a mouth line raised in a slight snarl. As tamed they will listen to you and they will have a dyeable collar around them.

Spawning

Wolves will spawn in all difficulty levels and only in forest, taiga, and tundra biomes. Wolves can also be spawned in Creative mode with a Wolf Spawn Egg.

Behavior

A tame wolf begging the player.

Depending on if and how they are interacted with, wolves can be in one of three states: wild (untamed), hostile, or tamed. Tamed wolves can be bred to create a baby wolf.

All wolves will appear to 'scare' an Ocelot, but it's actually the normal "coming too close" behavior they display with players. Tamed wolves do not appear to scare, or fight with, tamed Ocelots (cats).

• Wild wolves are neutral towards the player and spawn untamed in packs of 1-8, occasionally attacking nearby Sheep while roaming around. Randomly dropped blocks of Wool (especially in a Pine Forest biome) can be good indicator of their presence. Untamed wolves will tilt their head to the side to indicate their interest in a bone or meat held by a nearby player. Untamed wolves will become hostile toward the player if the player attacks them.

• Hostile wolves will coordinate their attacks on a target (sheep or a player that has injured a wild wolf in the pack) and will not revert from this state once aggravated, unless you die and respawn. If a wolf is hit and becomes hostile, but then takes fall damage, it will stay hostile, but not attack. Tamed wolves cannot become aggravated. Aggravated wolves will attack any and all players in range. These wolves can be distinguished from their constant growling and appearance:the tail becomes straight, the eyes become red and the contrast level of the fur increases, revealing dark patches of bristling hair and a mouth line raised in a slight snarl.

• Tame wolves (often called dogs) can be distinguished from wild or hostile wolves from their eyes as they change to look less aggressive (two white pixels and one black pixel), as well as a red collar-like line around their neck. Friendly wolves will also bark occasionally at any nearby players. When standing, these wolves will engage any mob the player hits with melee attacks (the notable exception being Creepers). If a player attacks wild wolves, tame wolves will kill the wild ones. However, occasionally the tame wolves following the player will growl like wild attacking wolves, although they won't advance. Sitting wolves will idly observe their surroundings and will not attack anything unless the player is hit, in which case they will engage the player's attacker in defense. Like their wild counterparts, tamed wolves will tilt their head to beg for a meat held by a nearby player. A tamed wolf will even eat rotten flesh. If a tamed wolf's health is low, it will whine in a plea for food. Tamed wolves will sit when you right click them. They will remain sitting unless you click them again or are attacked by a non-environmental entity.

Puppies

A puppy sitting.

• Puppies are bred by feeding two tamed wolves any type of meat (except fish), such as Chicken (RawCooked), Porkchops (Raw or Cooked), Beef (Raw or Cooked), and Rotten Flesh. Their behavior is the same as tamed wolves, with few exceptions. They sit when right-clicked on, follow you around, teleport if you move around, and defend you when you are attacking mobs or players. They do not attack as well as wolves due to their size. Their appearance is the same, except that their body is shrunken (not their head). This is the same for all baby animals except for the Ocelot kittens and baby Villagers. They also have a red collar. Their bark (could also be considered as a whine) is high pitched. Puppies cannot be wild or hostile. Puppies spawn at a low health but have the same maximum health as a normal wolf. When two different player's dogs are bred together the owner of the puppy is selected at random. or

Taming

For a more thorough tutorial about taming wolves, go to: Tutorials/Wolves.

Lots of sitting tamed wolves.

First, find an untamed wolf or wolf pack. Each individual wolf can be tamed by feeding (right-clicking) it bones. Usually, feeding the wolf will cause a puff of hearts. If the wolf is also tamed, it will get a red collar and (if not swimming) the wolf will sit down. Each bone has a 1 in 3 chance of taming the wolf.

Once tamed, a wolf will not accept any more bones. Note that the number of bones required is random - some wolves respond to a single bone while others may require 9 or more to tame.^[1] At the moment, there is no limit^[2] on the number of wolves the player can tame.

Benefits

When told to sit (right-clicking), tamed wolves will remain in place while the player is free to move around. Sitting wolves will never despawn,^[3] no matter how far away the player wanders, and not if the player leaves the game or goes to sleep. They also will resume following the player when he/she returns and tells them to stand up again.

Tamed wolves (when standing) always follow the player around the Overworld, teleporting to him/her if they become too distant. They will attack any non-environmental entities that injure the player - even idle sitting wolves will stand up and descend upon an attacker to defend the player when he/she is hit by someone else or a hostile mob. When the player hits a mob or another player with melee attacks (non-arrow),^[4] tamed wolves will engage in combat with it, focusing on one target at a time and switching to another only when the first has been killed. Huge armies of wolves are so strong, the player might not even need a sword. Note that if a tamed wolf kills a mob, it will drop experience orbs for the player to take, as any mob killed by the player.

The notable exception to the rule is the Creeper. Tamed wolves will never engage a creeper even if the player hits the creeper.

[edit] Hazards

Like other pets, they can block your movement in tight quarters and can activate pressure plates (a hazard if your structures' doors are operated by pressure plates as hostile mobs can then enter). Also, they will frequently bump into you, and may even push you over ledges. Make them sit before approaching any steep drops.

Care and feeding

A bunch of begging wolves.

A wolf's tail will rise and lower depending on its health. The exact health of an individual wolf can be determined by measuring the angle between its hind legs and tail. The angle indicates the percentage of health the wolf has (100 degrees for 100%, or 10 hearts; 90 degrees for 90%, etc.). Health can be restored by right-clicking a wolf with any type of meat. Rotten flesh will not induce the "hunger" potion effect (Food poisoning) on a wolf.

As of Beta 1.9 Pre-release 4, Splash Potions of healing or regeneration can be thrown at wolves to heal them.

Since wild wolves have a maximum health of 4 hearts, their tails will always remain significantly lower than those of tamed wolves, which gain 100% health (10 hearts) instantly upon being successfully tamed. Puppies will not gain 100% health when born. They must be fed in order to achieve max health.

Attempting to feed a tamed wolf when its health is full will start the "love mode" animation instead.

Also, as of Snapshot 12w03a, Wolves may be bred with one another through the use of meat if tamed and at full health. (Chicken (Raw or Cooked), Porkchops (Raw or Cooked), Steak/Beef, and Rotten Flesh)

[edit] Movement

In general, tame wolves follow the player in a wandering manner (as opposed to walking directly towards him/her) to avoid falling, but will continue to jump and move around even if the player stands still.

• Wolves (Wild, Hostile, and Tamed) now have AI, so they can find paths to their targets if attacking, even in craters. They will also navigate along the edges of cliffs in the same sense, or if they are following you. However, they can still take damage from gradual descents.
• Wolves will stand up and follow the player if pushed into water or injured while sitting.
• Wolves can navigate and turn around in 1 x 1 horizontal tunnels.
• Tamed wolves can be put on a "leash" by right-clicking with a fishing rod. (1.8.6)
• They are not sufficiently wary of lava or flame, and are prone to set themselves afire by wandering too close.

] Teleportation

Tamed wolves will teleport to the player if a large enough gap (roughly a 20 x 20 x 10 block area) is created between them and the player with a few exceptions.

• Teleporting resets the focus of a tamed wolf, so if a wolf is attacking a mob and teleports beside a player, it will resume following the player.
• It is possible for tamed wolves to teleport to an inaccessible location (e.g. under ice) and be injured or die of suffocation as a result.

A wolf will not teleport:

• If the wolf has been ordered to sit^[5]
  • Exception: The wolf is likely to teleport if it is injured while sitting (it will no longer be sitting after it teleports). A dramatic example is if a wolf sitting outside is struck by lightning, in which case they will be on fire when they appear.
• If the wolf is in a minecart
• If the player is swimming/boating in deep water (but they will teleport as the player approaches land or shallow one block deep water)
• If the player is standing on ice (but it will teleport as the player approaches land)
• If the player enters a portal and travels to the Nether or the End, instead remaining in the Overworld until the player returns
• From unloaded chunks(if you move far enough from the wolf or travel into a different dimension)
• If the player is flying a certain distance above the land