Customer Reviews

Wolves at Our Door : The Extraordinary Story of the Couple Who Lived with Wolves

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Let me clear the air up front. I can't claim that this review is totally unbiased, seeing as how my kid brother assisted the Dutchers with this effort. Just ask him: I'm very hard to please. Well, he doesn't have to worry this time out.

Weighing in at a mere 300 pages, the lucid, evocative writing makes it seem half as long. I came home from work to find my copy waiting for me. I immediately took it to my... um, "private reading room", with the intention of looking at the glorious, full color photographs and rejoining my family. But then I decided to just read the introduction. Next thing I knew, I was 100 pages into it and didn't want to stop.

The book is at once a heartwarming story of two people, their relationship with each other, and their struggle to bring a dream of filming a pack of "wild" wolves to fruition, and a real life drama of the lives (and occasionally deaths) of the members of that pack.

I can't recommend this book enough. Dog lovers will gain insights into the behavior of their beloved companions; wolf and nature lovers will see a magnificent animal in all its glory; and everyone else will find an eye-opening study of a misunderstood and wrongfully persecuted creature. All wrapped with a perfect blend of humor and suffering.

Do yourself a favor and let the Dutchers and their beloved wolves into your life. It will be richer for the addition.

Wildlife documentarian Jim Dutcher and his wife Jamie Dutcher describe their six-year project designed to capture the natural interactions of a typical pack of wolves. While they couldn't fully replicate a natural wolf setting, they come as close as can be imagined by fencing off several square miles of varied terrain in the Sawtooth Mountains, and living within a small wired-off enclosure within the larger area. The wolves they raise from puppies so that they can interact with them safely, and observe them without interrupting their natural behavior. Over the course of six years, Dutcher describes the wolf behavior he observes in great detail, and he also highlights the more interesting technical aspects and logistical obstacles in filming a wildlife documentary. We get a more general, and less honest, view of his relationship with his wife Jamie, and his relationship with others involved in the project, others with whom he becomes increasingly contentious. There is almost no insight into the financial end of a project like this.

First, the bad. Dutcher falls into the common trap of inserting himself into the story when unnecessary; or, to be more precise, inserting his opinions into the story. On the one hand, the author should be able to express his ideas; he's the author, after all. But on the other hand, he's disparaging a group of colleagues who share responsibility for the wolves, and he's not making enough of an effort to give their side of things fair play, in my opinion. He does articulate their position on wolf welfare in general terms at times, but only to give him a vague idea to refute in detail. Also, every time he mentions his wife, I can practically hear her breathing as she reads over his shoulder. I don't mind that he's talking about his experiences with her as they pertain to the story at hand, but I do object to flights of romantic fancy when describing in detail the first meeting. Let's be honest here, it comes off as bald-faced pandering.

Dutcher's tendency to defend each action he takes, and his obvious omission of certain things, leads me to speculate on his overall honesty, and to take everything with a grain of salt. It also leads to incomplete storytelling, which has the deleterious side effect of fragmenting the story a bit. This isn't a horrible problem, but it's a real one. The basic disagreement between Jim and WERC, the organization he founds but which eventually throws him out, seems to be on whether the wolves should be managed by people, or whether they should live largely without human contact. Some of Jim's management steps are so humanitarian that the "natural" alternative is just clearly barbaric, and would result in needless suffering. But he muddies his case when he implies that being taken away from the pack results in pack dysfunction, leading ultimately to some of the wolves killing each other as they battle for dominance. It's not fair, in my opinion, to speculate in such a roundabout manner on his ability to make harmony an ongoing element of the pack relations.

On the good side, Jim includes lots of great information about wolf interactions, some of which seem to be recorded for the first time because of the unique situation. He also articulates in detail real arguments about the use of non-wild footage to supplement the footage of a wildlife documentary. There is some great behind-the-scenes information about camera angles and the like that was pretty interesting. He devotes a chapter to each wolf, which was a smart move, I think, because it gave me such a sense of the broad range of personalities and characteristics that each individual could possess.

The writing itself was very good; it was clear and generally concise, and very accessible to the reader.

What I learned:
I read once before that wolves aren't necessarily locked into their social hierarchy at all times. One wolf might assume alpha status during hunting, and another during feeding, for example. But this book refutes that claim, and shows that an alpha wolf is always very much in charge; even though he might allow another wolf to take a prominent role in an activity, there is always an understanding that the alpha is dominant, and the omega is submissive. Most of the fighting occurs among the mid-ranking wolves, who are not secure in their status and thus must assert themselves violently over the omega and each other frequently. Another interesting fact was that Lakota, the omega male in this pack, was one of the biggest, most physically powerful wolves, hinting that fighting prowess might be less important than personality or other undefined factors in determining status.

This book is a wonderful view on the lives inside a wild wolf pack. Even though the Dutchers raised all but two of the original pack from 10 day old pups, the wolves still behave as they would in the wild with the exception of allowing humans to glimpse their lives. These wolves were kept in an enclosed area near the Sawthooth Mountains for six years otherwise this book and the film by the same title would not have been possible if these were wolves born in the wild their fear of humans would never have given us the glimpse of compassion, love and loyalty that is the wolf. As you read this book you will come to understand that wolves are not born killers. Please read this book for the sake of the wolf and the wilderness they represent, it may help in restoring them to the wild, for knowledge and understanding go hand in hand with preservation.

One other reviewer mentioned that some of Jim Dutcher's remarks in the book were extremely biased, and I would like to take this opportunity to agree with that remark and set some of the record straight.

First of all, there is a rift between WERC and Jim Dutcher. Each side has its own version of what has happened and what is happening, and, obviously, if you listen only to Jim, you're going to have a very one-sided piece of information. If you have never been to WERC, then don't criticize its care of the wolves.

I had the opportunity to work at WERC as a summer intern after my sophomore year of college. The relationships between the handlers and the wolves was unbelievable. These people care so much about the wolves there, and from what the current handlers have told me, so did the past caretakers. I can assure that there was no "abandonment" of the wolves by the caretakers. If they were being fed over the fence (and I have no idea whether or not this is true), then at least they were being fed. And the only thing I can think of that would result in a short period of severely limited socialization would be a policy change of the board of directors, which, I can assure you, would be backed with plenty of justification and probably very much disliked by the caretakers (believe me, they WANT to be with the wolves).

Jim, on the other hand, did abandon the wolves. I disagree with the whole notion of purchasing wolf pups, for whatever project, as this encourages the captive breeding of wolves for pets or hybridization or other purposes. He knew this project wasn't going to last forever, and surely he had to know the complexity of the relationships he was forming with the wolves, and yet he continued with the project anyway. Granted his work has increased knowledge of wolves and has probably furthered conservation efforts, but the individual wolves - Motomo, Amani, Kamots, Chemukh, and all the rest - had to pay the price. Furthermore, since Jim left the wolves at WERC, he has visited them only once or twice.

Please, before you go making rash judgements about WERC (or about IDFG, even), please consider ALL the facts. WERC is probably one of the most beneficial institutions in the country as far as raising wolf awareness. People may have justified problems with the employees and board of directors at a personal level, as they do in any organization, but I assure you, the wolves are being cared for in a most satisfactory manner.

This book was easy and entertaining to read. It is a great description of wolf behavior under the very specific and controlled conditions created by the Dutchers. The pictures are touching. But I would say that this book definitely does not describe wolves in the wild. The reader should be very aware that the wolf pack featured in the book was created "artificially"--that is to say, the wolves were hand-reared from pups and then grouped into a pack. They were, to a certain degree, domesticated. There was a great amount of human interaction, so I think it would be accurate to say that the Dutchers became part of the pack. For example, the Dutchers intervened in the wolves' lives when one wolf endangered another or could not fit into the pack. This would not happen in the wild. When the Dutchers transferred the pack to management by the Nez Pierce Indians, apparently the pack had some problems and eventually disintegrated. Maybe this was because two pivotal pack members--the Dutchers, the stabilizing humans--were removed. While I think that books like these are helpful in creating an understanding and respect for animals, one should not assume that the animals in the wild are exactly like the Dutchers observed. Whenever humans interact (or interfere) with the wild, the wild will no longer be the same. I was also a little uncomfortable with the fact that after 6 years, the Dutchers left the pack to others. They were the "mom and pop" of the pack, even though they may not believe it. The pack was created for a photo study, not a scientific one, nevertheless responsibility for their care beyond the filming project remained. Our culture tends to "throw animals away" when we are done with them. But if we've interfered with their lives, or kept them as pets, our care and relationship with them should continue through the animals' life span, because they've been compromised in their ability to lead their lives without us.

I found myself in the midst of a book that I was unable to put down. It was compelling and humbling to learn about the wolves. The work of Jim and Jamie was invaluable. Their arrogance is inexcusable. Jim admits he wanted to make a film to expose people to a side of the wolf they may not know. His efforts to carry out this mission were noble and successful. His abandonment of the wolves in the end was selfish and perpetuates the arrogance of our species. The project should not have been undertaken without his commitment to seeing it through. He abandoned the very lives who trusted him most. So it's cold and lonely in the Sawtooth Mountains. Whatever. His commitment should have been until the pack died out, under his care and stewardship.

I'm just around 12 nearly 13. This book is GREAT it made me feel as if i was there experiencing everything that happened through Jim and Jamie's eyes. I've always wanted to be with wolves in such a way and they made that dream come true, i hope that someday i can do the same, and i might make it even better (i doubt that though) Its so touching to hear these tales of what happen about the place, my favorite wolven is Matsi the kind and gentle. His name is perfect for him. I hope that you love this book as much as i and many others did, be greatful that we have them on this earth and get to do such things with them. Truely wolves are endangered, hopefully they will stay with us for years to come.

This... This book is beyond my dictionary of words, but I'll try to describe it as best I can.

First of all, I am a great fan of wolves, and I was introduced by seeing the end of a nameless movie I believe was "Wolves at our Door". My best friend bought me the book for my birthday, and I read a chapter here, and a chapter there, busy with school. As I began to progress, I got more and more into the book.

This book showed, from what I believe the true personality of a wolf, even though they were raised with human hands. Instinct took over, and Jim and Jamie didn't try or succeed in domesticating the wolves. This book showed the connection between wolves and humans that was broken once humans decided to classify wolves as inferior and not equals.

My heart was ripped out of my chest when I learned how the wolves were treated once Jim and Jamie could no longer care for the wolves. (Stupid permits!!) The two did the best they could to supply a pair of good new caretakers, slowly introducing them. But since the company sponsering the wolves was too busy with their finances, the wolves were abandoned 5 weeks at a time and volunteers fed them from over the fence. Jim and Jamie could do nothing about it, as they no longer were legal workers on the project and lived too far away.

Hope, is restored as in a fresh wolf paw print is seen in mud where the old pack used to dwell, renewing hope that the wolf has not yet diappeared yet.

A value cannot be put on the information gained by Jim and Jamie Dutcher during the Sawtooth Project. This story exposes the reader to an animal that, until recently, little was known about. This book dispells myths and presents the wolf in a whole new, positive light. The observations made by Jim and Jamie Dutcher regarding the pack's behavior, as a whole and individually, are priceless. This book reveals the complexity and unbelievable intelligence of these magnificent animals.

To those who have criticized the Dutchers for "abandoning" the pack after the project was over, allow me to point out that although captive, these wolves were and are WILD ANIMALS. They are not pets and were never treated that way. The Dutchers did not abandon the animals, but left them in the captive care of the Nez Perce tribe, on enclosed land similar in size and backdrop of the Sawtooth enclosure. Jim Dutcher made it a priority in the beginning to make sure the pack had a safe place to go after the project ended. Because of his effort, the Sawtooth pack will never have to worry about hunters and will always have human caretakers. They have it much better than most captive wild animals. So quiet your critism, or at least devote it to something worth criticizing, like the people who keep wild animals captive as pets!

The Sawtooth Project has had a huge impact in changing the public's minds about wolves. We owe Jim and Jamie Dutcher a deep debt of gratitude for that.

A well written story but what a shame the pack were not cared for for by the Dutchers for the rest of the wolves natural lives. Captive packs can not lead the truly wild lifestyle they were intended to lead. And to abandon them to the care of others after finishing the documentary showed just how man can use an animal for his own financial gain them walk away from them. At the very least this couple should have committed their lives to a pack they formed for personal financial gain. A good well written story but the last chapters are heartbreaking and show man at his worst.