Wolf

 Wolves  are a type of mob that can be allied with the player once tamed by being fed bones (with the "use" key, so they don't attack you!). They are agile creatures, as they jump and run on land and swim in lakes and oceans. They will shake themselves dry when they reach the shore 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).

Like most mobs, wolves are vulnerable to drowning, suffocation, falling, contact with cacti or lava, and will take damage from being set on fire or coming in contact with attacking hostile mobs.

Spawning
Wolves will spawn in all difficulty levels (including peaceful), and only in Forest, Taiga, and Tundra biomes. Wolves can also be spawned in Creative Mode with the Wolf Spawn Egg.

Appearance
As wild wolves, they have white fur, their eyes consist of one white pixel, black eyes, 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 wolves, their eyes consist of two white pixels at a diagonal and one black pixel in the center, and a red collar surrounding their head.

Behavior
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 in Weekly Snapshot 12w03a 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. Dogs (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

 * Puppies were added in Weekly Snapshot 12w03a (1.2.5). They are bred by feeding two tamed wolves any type of meat, such as Chicken (Raw or Cooked), 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 (this also could be a glitch). Their appearance is the same, except that their body has been shrunken (not their head). This is the same for all baby animals except for the Ocelot kittens and baby Villagers (though Villagers could not reproduce until 12w07a.) They also appear with a red collar. Their bark (could also be considered as a whine) is high pitched. Puppies cannot be wild or hostile at the moment. Puppies spawn at a low health but have the same maximum HP as a normal wolf.

Taming
For a more thorough tutorial about taming wolves, go to: Tutorials/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. At the moment, there is no limit 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, 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), 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.

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. Please note that if you tame 2 wolves, the population may become bigger because of puppies, puppies also grow into a grown wolf.

Care and Feeding


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)

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
 * 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

History
Wolves were first introduced in Beta 1.4 on March 31, 2011.

Notch confirmed their addition after having breakfast with an idol of his (likely Peter Molyneux). Jeb posted a video preview of the wolves he was working on on March 18th, 2011.

Prior to Beta 1.5, wolves continuously made whimpering noises even when they were at full health in SMP because Jeb mistakenly used client-side health instead of synced health.

Prior to weekly snapshot 12w03a, the only way to breed a wolf was to cause a bug which made them sit forever.

In weekly snapshot 12w03a, Wolves can be bred through the use of any type of meat (Chicken (Raw or Cooked), Porkchops (Raw or Cooked), Steak/Beef, and Rotten Flesh) when tamed.

As of 1.1 release, possibly earlier, wolves only despawn when aggressive; passive and tamed wolves will not.

A glitch was encountered where if your wolf was not sitting when you logged off, it would become wild and you would have to tame it again. This problem was fixed a couple of updates after wolves were first introduced.

Bugs

 * Often in Survival, upon returning from the Nether, some or all of your sitting wolves will teleport to you
 * In Creative (tested in SP only), sometimes when the player lands after flying, a group of wolves will spawn around him. Although they are untamed, they will follow the player closely and thus block the player from building. When the player attempts to kill them (to rid the annoyances), more may spawn, and it often takes several minutes to get rid of all of the wolves.
 * Tamed wolves will often teleport to players even when sitting.
 * Wolves will spawn next to the player when in a supported biome, sometimes even while underground. Although they are untamed, they follow you until you kill them, an obvious bug that needs to be addressed.
 * A tamed wolf that falls far enough away from the player to teleport back may still take damage upon landing.
 * Wolves don't stand up if you are playing in offline mode if the game was saved while in online mode, as well as the reverse instance of saving while offline and playing online. However, doing the above may fix the problem. This happens because the player's username is set to "Player" when offline and the wolves' owner is the player's username, even in single player.
 * If Minecraft crashes, the number of tamed wolves you have may increase. However, some might also disappear. This can also happen upon returning from the Nether or End.
 * There is a glitch that when a tamed wolf is inside a minecart (standing), if you go too far away from your wolf, the wolf will teleport to you and it will immediately fly back into the minecart, this will happen repeatedly. This can be fixed by destroying the minecart.
 * If a wolf is swimming, Minecraft will sometimes play the "shaking" sound.
 * If you tame a wolf while it's in the middle of jumping, the wolf will go into a "sitting" pose, but continue to bounce up and down indefinitely. This can be fixed by making the wolf sit.
 * Wolves can push you out of your bed, but you will still sleep. (This applies to all mobs)
 * In multiplayer, a player who logs in will see all sitting wolves as standing until they are removed and put back into position.
 * Tamed wolves can teleport inside transparent blocks such as slabs. This can mean they can get stuck, or not follow you.
 * It is possible to push a wolf into a block and therefore suffocate it, done by having two wolves sit, and then pushing one wolf by the other into a solid block. Wolves lose health while in the block, so make sure to be careful!
 * If a tamed wolf attacks a mob and you right-click on the wolf, it jumps towards the mob in sitting position.
 * Tamed wolves count against the passive mob limit. In SMP, an individual player with an excessive number of tamed wolves can prevent ALL players on the server from encountering passive mobs regardless of type. (cows, chickens, pigs, etc.)
 * Sometimes, saving and quitting to the menu screen and then reloading the world immediately afterwards will cause some or all of your wolves to become wild again.
 * In SMP, a tamed Wolf will not beg when meat is held.
 * If a Sheep spawns under a tree and is unable to move because its head is in the leaves, Wolves will lock on but not attack. They may be aiming for the head which is in the leaves, and therefore appear to look at the sheep.
 * If an untamed Wolf is attacked by any mob, it will still attack the aggressor, but they won't switch to their hostile texture.
 * If a Wolf's owner shoots himself with an arrow, the Wolf will attack its owner.
 * Wolves will remain sitting, although untamed, if a player has logged out and back in again.
 * Tamed and untamed wolves will become black when in low light or rain.
 * Sometimes, if you are in a boat and a tamed Wolf is following you, it will teleport into the boat and instantly kill you.
 * Sometimes a tamed Wolf will despawn in SMP.
 * In SSP and SMP, shooting an arrow into the air and being hit by it will cause a tamed wolf to stand up for a brief moment. They can move around during this time.
 * In SSP and SMP, killing an untamed wolf with one hit (with an enchanted diamond sword) will not cause surrounding wolves to attack you.
 * Hostile wolves still tilt their heads like they are begging when the player holds a bone. (Only in SSP)
 * Tamed wolves will continue to attack hostile iron golems after the iron golems have turned passive towards the player. Requires a restart of the client to fix.
 * Wolves may stand but not move sometimes if you command it to sit.
 * A very recent bug, if a player tames and breeds wolves, there is a glitch where if the player were to kill another players wolf in SMP, their own wolves would start to attack them and growl as if they were hostile. - this seems to only happen when breeding.
 * Sometimes, when a sitting tamed wolf gets pushed into water, it will stand and swim out of the water. The wolf will seem to be standing even though it's sitting. It won't move until you exit the map and rejoin.
 * Wild wolves can still be put into love mode, but won't breed.
 * When you make your tamed wolf kill another wolf, they will growl but not attack you or turn hostile.
 * When you have an animal farm and hit or kill an animal the dog may continuously watch at the death point of the animal. A bug that can not be undone unless you kill the wolf.
 * When you attack a tamed wolf, it will growl but not turn hostile to you.
 * If a wolf somehow dies on land while still wet, it will shake itself as it goes through its death animation.
 * Feeding rotten flesh to a wolf can cause food poisoning to the player, even though they aren't eating the food themselves (sometimes the eating animation will appear briefly as though the player is "finishing off" the flesh it fed to the wolf). This can be avoided by having a full hunger meter before feeding. (Observed in multiplayer 1.2.5.)
 * A wolf in "love mode" has an insatiable appetite and will continue to feed if fed by the player so be careful not to deplete your food reserves when feeding a pack of wolves. (Observed in multiplayer 1.2.5.)
 * This is very rare, but also a big bug, tamed wolves sitting may not be able to get up, and if hit, all tamed wolves will turn on the owner, but they will look the same as tamed wolves. and will not stop and you have to kill the Wolves and tame new ones. (Confirmed in: 1.0.0, Beta 1.6.6, 1.2.5 and 1.3.1, (It appears to happen almost every time you update the game now). But unknown to Occur in other Versions). Confirmed to occur on the Xbox 360 version (Xbox MC 1.0, The equivalent Version of Beta 1.6.6.) of the game as well.
 * In Minecraft multiplayer, when some dogs (Wolves) are sitting and some standing, after killing another player with the standing wolves, accidentally attacking your own wolf, and the player attacked managing to kill at least one wolf, the wolves will growl either at the attacked player or owner, all dogs which were sitting in an enclosed section unable to attack the attacked player will stand and refuse to sit unless hit once (most likely because this action makes them stand to begin with) and only then will sit when right clicked. When the player goes far enough to save the chunk and comes back, all dogs will have vanished.
 * In SMP, if a player attacks a tamed wolf that they do not own, the wolf will remain hostile to the attacker until the wolf dies, and the wolf will sometimes not attack mobs that the owner attacks or defend the owner.
 * When a wild, untamed wolf is attacked and becomes hostile to you, and you escape the attack by outrunning the hostile wolf in fast enough means, such as by boat or minecart, and the hostile wolf is out of sight, when you return the wolf will still have the hostile texture and will make growling sounds but will not sttack the player. (Confirmed in 1.2.5)
 * If you attack a untamed wolf in creative, even your tamed wolves will jump at you and act like hostile wolves.

Trivia

 * Wolves appear to be based on the arctic wolf.
 * If you order a wolf to attack an untamed member of its own pack, it will kill it, but turn hostile towards you. However, it will not attack the player.
 * When a wolf attacks a big (2 ) slime, they simply push the slime around.
 * With 2.5 times the health and double the attack power, tamed wolves are 5 times stronger than wild ones, and can kill 4 one at a time without dying.
 * Wolves cannot go into The Nether or The End unless hacked in and behave no differently than if they were in the normal world.
 * Wolves are the first official tameable mob in Minecraft, the second being the ocelots.
 * Jeb has said that wolves may have color variations, but he said he would "have to run that through Notch". (as of 1.3 Pre, and earlier, there are no alternately colored wolf textures in the minecraft.jar.) Its Unknown if they will ever be added.
 * Wolves do not trample crops, and they do not make step sounds.
 * If you attack another player on SMP, even if PvP is off, a tamed wolf will attack the opposing player. They will continue to attack even if made to sit by the wolf's owner.
 * Similarly, if a player attacks a tamed wolf that isn't their own, then the wolf will attack.
 * If a wolf is in a downward water current, they will not float and, if not removed, will drown.
 * Wolves, Iron Golems and the Ender Dragon are the only mobs that can be hostile to the player on peaceful mode.
 * Hostile wolves respond similarly to zombie pigmen, as attacking one will make the whole pack attack you.
 * Wolves can teleport into transparent blocks. Therefore, it is not recommended to bring a wolf underground or near lava/fire.
 * Water brakes have no effect on wolves falling from high positions.
 * Wolves have sound files for howling (howl1.ogg and howl2.ogg), but as of 1.3.1 Pre, they still aren't currently used in the game. Its Unknown if they will ever be used.
 * Wolves, Silverfish, Ocelots and Villagers are currently the only four mobs that don't drop anything when killed.
 * Wolves will turn black when wet (rain, water etc.), they will return to normal when they shake.
 * Prior to Beta 1.6, hitting yourself with an arrow would cause all of your tamed wolves to attack you.
 * If you create a new world and tame a wolf, then log in under a different username, the wolf will not obey you.
 * Taming 5 wolves in Xbox 360 Edition will unlock Leader Of The Pack Achievement.
 * If you attack another player or mob while the wolf is in follow mode, even if it is enclosed then freed after, it will attack that mob or player. Whereas if it is sitting and you attack a mob or player, it won’t attack them, even if you let them start walking again.