Few people can resist the allure of an adorable little puppy.
So when someone offers to give you a precious pup for free, it's basically impossible to say "no."
However, one man from Arizona recently found out not all free puppies turn out to be the typical family dog you bargained for.
Yep, the man quickly noticed his new puppy, named Neo, has some quirky canine characteristics.
The mutt was extremely skittish, needed constant attention and had a hard time getting the whole house training thing down.
It didn't take this lil guy long to master the art of escape, either.
Neo constantly broke out of the backyard by digging under, jumping over or chewing through the fence, in order to play the with german shepherd who lived next door.
Whenever Neo was caught hanging out on their side of the fence, the dog acted pretty weird -- he wouldn't make eye contact with anyone or even respond to the promise of dog treats.
After a while, the neighbors started getting sick and tired of Neo's frequent visits and strange behaviors, so his owner took the peculiar pup to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.
This is when he discovered Neo wasn't a dog at all -- he was a wolf.
Maureen O'Nell, the former CEO of the animal shelter, told The Dodo,
I approached the couple and asked, 'You know that isn't a dog, right?' and they responded, 'We were wondering.'
Apparently, Neo is a "high content wolf dog."
This basically means he's a hybrid mix of the two species. However, his characteristics and behaviors closely resemble that of a wolf.
Neo's coarse fur and lanky limbs align with the physical traits of a wolf.
Plus, this canine has the instincts of a pack animal, which explains why he was always trying to break free from the backyard and find some canine companions.
Unfortunately, most states don't allow you to keep a wolf as a pet for obvious reasons.
So Neo's owner had to say goodbye to his furry friend and hand him over to Wolf Connection, a California-based wolf dog sanctuary that runs a youth empowerment program for at-risk youth.
Now that Neo is at Wolf Connection, he finally has a pack of fellow wolf dogs to call his own.
The shelter reports Neo has made lots of new furry friends, always partakes in the "night howl" with his canine crew and even rolls over for a belly rub every now and then.
Wolf Connection told Elite Daily that Neo is also "helping young adults learn to heal from their own trauma by hearing about his past, respecting his energy and anxieties, and learning how to give themselves the same patience and empathy that they can give to another being."
While there's no denying this wolf dog is downright adorable, these hybrid hounds don't make the best pets -- not to mention, owning a wolf dog is usually illegal.
So you might want to think twice before adopting a free puppy that looks like this lil' fella.
If you're looking to get involved in Wolf Connection's rescue mission, you can find ore information of their website.
Citations: A Man Adopted a Free Puppy and Later Found Out It Was Actually a Wolf (Cosmopolitan)
