POCATELLO — When Brandi DeCosta walks down Fourth Avenue and around the streets of Idaho State University’s campus, she attracts more than a few stares.

The fact that she’s walking her two 90-pound German shepherds, Tank and Gunnar, along with her 130-pound wolfdog hybrid named Thor, might have something to do with it.

“I get weird looks sometimes,” said DeCosta, who moved to Pocatello in the fall of 2020 with her fiancé. “People are like, ‘Is that a wolf she’s walking? What the heck?’”

DeCosta and her canine entourage often frequent the streets surrounding Fourth Avenue, dipping into several cafes and bakeries to catch some lunch while out on walks. But during these outdoor adventures it’s a common occurrence to have people react toward her dogs, especially 2-year-old Thor, who is about 60 percent part timber or gray wolf or both, and then a mix of shepherd and malamute.

“He’s a pretty boy,” DeCosta said, referring to the color of his fur — gray with red tints. “He’s just big and he scares people because he intimidates them. But he’s like the friendliest guy, and every time you walk him he’ll go up to people and sniff them and they’re always like, ‘Whoa, he’s big!’”

When DeCosta, who is 5’4”, stands beside Thor when he’s on all four feet, he reaches her chest. But when he stands on two feet, which he does to greet her whenever she returns home from work, he stretches to about 7 feet tall.

“It’s funny because he doesn’t know how big he is,” she said. “When we come home, he’ll greet us by putting his paws on our shoulders and nuzzling our neck. … He’s like, ‘Hello!’ and usually he’ll knock me over. We’re trying to teach him not to do that because not many people like dogs jumping on them, but he’s so gentle when he climbs up.”

Due to the amount of care and attention wolfdog hybrids need, as well as their rarity, not many people keep them as pets.

But for DeCosta, the decision to adopt one was only a matter of when she’d get to bring one into her home. Her previous experience with several hybrids in her childhood taught her what it takes to care for one and also developed her love of the breed at an early age.

“My dad used to have two wolfdogs when I was young,” she said. “One was named Heidi, and my dad also had one named Zeke. He was tall and black, with these bright yellow eyes. He was about 150 pounds, maybe bigger, and 7 feet tall on two legs. He was the most docile dog ever. … When I was a little girl, I used to ride him and he would never, ever, ever hurt me. He was just so sweet.”

She said she got to bring Thor into her home in February of 2021 after avidly browsing wolfdog hybrid rescue groups on Facebook and discovering him. From there, she jumped at the opportunity.

“I wanted to rescue one,” she said. “A lot of times wolfdogs will get put to sleep because you can’t home them with just anybody. You have to home them with someone who has wolfdog experience. It’s a huge responsibility.”

Thor had been residing in Alabama with a family that was unable to give him the attention they knew he needed, so they put him up on a Facebook page to reach hopeful wolfdog hybrid owners.

“I took a road trip down to Alabama and took Gunnar,” she said. “It was a 35-hour car drive and we got stuck in a blizzard in Colorado … and we couldn’t see anything in front of us and the roads were slick with ice. But we went down there, met the family, they really liked Gunnar, I really liked them, they really liked me, and then they were like, ‘You can have (Thor).’”

She continued, “I was like, ‘Wait, that’s it? I have money. Would you like me to pay for him?’ And they said they really just wanted him to find a new home and were just worried about him going to the wrong home and being put to sleep. (They said) they love him but just don’t have enough time for him and it’s really just not fair to him.”

DeCosta and the family split the cost to have him shipped to Pocatello a few days later, since DeCosta’s car couldn’t hold such a large dog crate. But the transition to a new environment was overwhelming for Thor, who was incredibly fearful and shy, she said.

And while he’s still timid regarding new situations and surroundings, over the months she’s been able to ease him into his new life and get him comfortable.

This timid behavior is something common with hybrids, she explained. Instead of negative reinforcement, hybrids must be taught positive reinforcement due to their inclination to be frightened of people and unfamiliar environments.

“Oftentimes if the wolfdog has negative behavior you have to curb it and make it a positive thing,” she said. “So for instance, because Thor is so young … he doesn’t understand that he’s 130 pounds and has great bite strength. So when he plays with my two shepherds, he’s very rough and there’s times where he’ll play a little too rough. So when he does this, I’ll get a treat out and tell him to lay down and distract him and curb the behavior. This is the same with social interaction. You don’t want to push them too much because that can make them fearful of being out in the public.”

This slow process of introducing Thor to outside stimulation such as busy streets and cafes where there are people has helped him ease into being around new environments. DeCosta will walk him around ISU’s campus with her other two dogs because he realizes he’s safe with his pack and feels more comfortable. The same tactic works when they visit cafes.

“So we make it a thing every weekend to walk him down here to Mocha Madness and bring the other dogs,” she said. “And Tank and Gunnar are already socialized, so he kind of learns from that because he’ll be like, They’re not threatened or scared, so I can be calm, too’.”

Pocatello residents have responded to her three dogs more positively than back in California, she said, where she used to live with her fiancé, Courtney Quinton, before they moved to Pocatello.

Most people were afraid of her two German shepherds due to the breed’s affiliation with the police, and they definitely were more fearful of Thor, she explained.

“We just love it here,” she said. “People are genuinely nice here, where in California you don’t even leave anything in your car. So we wanted to get away from that. … Here everyone is so nice to them. We have people coming up to say, ‘Oh your dogs are so cute,’ or ‘Oh, I saw you walking here the other day.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah that’s just me with my pack of dogs.’ Everyone around town probably thinks I’m a professional dog walker for Wag.”

When it comes to meal time, Thor does get spoiled, she said.

Each day he’ll get four to five chicken leg quarters, chicken liver, fish oil, two to three scoops of kibble and a couple of raw eggs. She’ll also vary it up, and some days he’ll get to chow on rice, peas or carrots and even steaks on occasion.

She hand-feeds him his meals to help train him against becoming food aggressive, especially to prepare him in cases where young children might be involved.

“He’s not food aggressive in the slightest,” she said. “My cats will steal food from him … and my cats are little kittens, and yet he submits and he’ll roll over to them and they will eat his food, and I’m just like, ‘You guys are little jerks.’”

One thing about wolfdogs, she explained, is that they don’t bark and instead will howl.

“Wolfdogs go through hormonal changes like humans do, so he’s in his angry teen phase where he gives us lip all the time,” she said. “He’ll give us attitude and when we ask him to get off the bed, he’ll groan or he’ll talk to you (and grumble). He will also howl. When he hears sirens … he’ll howl.”

“It’s so cute,” she added. “The neighbor kids, we have I think seven kids that live behind us and then five kids that live next door, and they all love Thor. They’ll come over and play with him and so whenever he howls in the backyard they’ll all howl with him … and my shepherds howl too because they want to be like him and it’s so funny because I’m like, ‘You guys aren’t wolves!’ So now all three will howl together. … It’s the cutest thing.”

In addition to her two kittens and three dogs, DeCosta also has two pet chickens — Independence, who was born on the Fourth of July, and BBQ Nugget.

Independence, she explained, is extremely friendly and will follow her around the house while she’s cleaning her cage, and that she will also ride Thor and loves to be groomed by the dogs. Independence also loves Shania Twain and will bob her head to the music.

“And I would take her to the grocery store and push her in the cart and I got the weirdest looks,” she said. “People were like, ‘What in the world is that?’”

She continued, “All my animals think they’re dogs. They’re all just so spoiled. And everyone is like, ‘You were meant to live in Idaho with all your animals.’”

Currently, DeCosta works at Portneuf Medical Center and enjoys dog training as a hobby, but she loves caring for all her animals, especially her three canines.

“I’ve been obsessed with dogs since I was a little girl and shepherds and wolfdogs are my two favorite dog breeds because shepherds are really easy to train and easy to please,” she said. “Wolfdogs … kinda give you a bit of a hard time and they’re more of a challenge and you have to build trust with them … and what I like about Thor is that when most dogs are scared they’ll exhibit aggression. He’s not like that. The worst thing he’ll do is pee on you. He’s come a long, long way.”

For those curious about following the adventures of DeCosta’s many animals, she has an Instagram page called TheQuintonPack where she posts pictures of her furry children.