Wolf

Wolves are new mobs introduced in Beta 1.4. Notch had confirmed the addition of these animals upon having breakfast with Peter Molyneux. On March 18th, 2011, a video was posted showing a preview of wolves, which were being made by Jeb. Another video was posted by a player after the 1.4 update was released, demonstrating the features of the new addition. Also, a video was posted showing how to tame them. Wolves will spawn in forest and taiga biomes. Wolves may also be considered the "pet dogs" as previously mentioned by Notch. Wild wolves are usually neutral. As of now, they are not known to drop anything, nor is it known how much health they have. At the moment you can also have as many wolves as you want until Mojang comes up with a way to limit the amount you can have tamed.

Taming
They are said to be rather rare, but they will not despawn once tamed. To tame a wolf, you have to give it bones until a puff of heart particles appears and it gains a red collar, which indicates that the wolf has been tamed. The number of bones required is random. You can tame more than one wolf.

Wolves do spawn in "Peaceful" Mode and will attack if provoked. When changing the difficulty to "Peaceful," tamed wolves are not removed from the game.

Once given enough bones, they will become friendly. They will now protect you, follow you around, and will attack mobs that you have attacked in melee. Tamed wolves will not attack mobs that you hit with arrows, nor will they attack creepers. Wolves will also not attack mobs if they are sitting. In their current developmental state, mobs will not attack your wolves (Subject to change). A wolf's tail will rise and lower depending on its health, and it can be restored with raw pork (which can also be used for luring them) and other foods. They will be unable to climb ladders, but will teleport to you if you create a large distance between yourself and them as long as they are not sitting.

Behavior

 * When you hit an untamed wolf, its eyes turn red and will attack player with its pack.
 * Wolves turn their head to the side and beg if the player is holding a raw pork or a bone.
 * When you right-click on them they will sit and stay put. If sitting they will not attack any mobs that you have attacked in melee.
 * Wolves can swim, and will shake water droplets off of their bodies when exiting water.
 * When a wolf is tamed, their eyes will change from 1 white pixel and one black pixel to 2 white pixels and 1 black pixel. This change is meant to highlight a wolf's aggression when untamed.
 * Wolves will NOT attack you once tamed, making them somewhat passive.
 * When untamed, Wolves will wander aimlessly and sometimes attack animals, mainly sheep.
 * Wild Wolves will randomly attack passive mobs.
 * Tamed wolves have a small red band around their neck, resembling a collar. They also have a friendlier facial expression.
 * Wolves will not travel through inactive portals on server, but can be pushed through them. Furthermore, they do not appear to be able to travel to the Nether. When arriving through a portal back to the world, a wolf will still eventually teleport near the player.
 * Wolves will teleport to you if they get too far behind if not right clicked.
 * Wolves will not attack what you attack if they are already attacking something.
 * Wolves can't dive.
 * Wolves will attack any mob except Creepers when the player hits the mob with their hand.
 * If another player on your PC enters your world, the tamed wolves wont listen to them. Offline to online accounts also count.
 * If a wolf is put behind a wall and a mob is punched on the other side, the wolf will attempt to walk though the wall to the mob.
 * Tamed wolves will whimper if they are low on health.
 * A wolf's health status may be determined by checking its tail; a tail in the air indicates high or full health while a tail pointing towards the ground means lower health.
 * A wolf will not sit if it is in water.
 * Wolves fed bread will lose health.

History

 * Wolves were released in Beta 1.4, on March 31st, 2011.

Trivia

 * Wolves are the first tameable mob in Minecraft.
 * Jeb has said that wolves may have color variations, but he "would have to run that through notch".
 * Wolves, along with spiders(Starting in 1.4), will not trample crops. They will also not make step sounds, or make quieter ones than default.
 * There's a glitch where if your Minecraft crashes and you have 2 tamed wolves, at least 3 more will appear
 * If a wolf is swimming, Minecraft will sometimes play the "shaking" sound.
 * If a wolf is sitting and pushed into water, it will automatically stand up.
 * Wolves appear to be the only NPCs with idle animations.