Hiking safely with dogs in wolf country

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2017/jul/27/video-hiking-safely-dogs-wolf-country/

Video

"What could have been a tense encounter recently with two wolves during a hike in North Idaho turned out to be a pleasant experience for me and my Brittany, Ranger, for several reasons:

The dog was close by when I ran into wolves along the trail.
Ranger came to my call immediately when I spotted a wolf off the trail.
I had a leash to keep Ranger close as the wolves approached to investigate.
I had bear spray handy for peace of mind even though I didn't need to use it to defend my dog."

Congratulations to the person in the video ... a dog owner with a well-trained, well-disciplined dog. So there was a good outcome.

But if the dog was not well trained, and this went into a dog-wolf knockdown fight, it could have been a huge mess, with everyone getting injured (or worse).

I would not recommend that a person take dogs into wolf country. Why do this at all?

Just my 0.02 cents.

In this case the wolves have increased in number in the NW Rocky Mtns to the point they occupy all rural areas. If you want to take your dog on a hike outside of town, there are likely wolves (and mtn lion) about.

You could always protect your dog from the wolves like this, if they don't mind running around dressed up as a punk rock stegosaurus.

https://www.coyotevest.com/