Canis lupus canis
Wolves, it must be said,
Make a rubbish pet –
They’re far too wild and free.
So get a husky instead,
If you want to get
That echo of prehistory.
And the malamutes as well
Have the tundra feel,
And even alsatians at a squint –
Most laymen cannot tell
Which ones are real,
They’re built to the same blueprint.
But for all dogs look like wolves,
With their shaggy coats
In black and white and grey –
They’ll act like dogs, not wolves,
Won’t rip the throats
Of our toddlers when they play.
Our forbears spent many tens
Of thousands of years,
To breed-out the threat in the growl.
To be our deceptive friends
With the upright ears,
Who will never bite, but can still howl.
Note that a husky is no more closely related to a wolf than is a pekanese or a dachshund. It’s true that huskies can still interbreed with wolves, but again this is true of all dogs (logistics notwithstanding…).
Rhyming Couplets 