Why do wolves have a lifetime partner, and dogs do not?
by 
wickedwillie
ANSWERS: 2
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Wolves have two parallel pack heirarchies -- a male one and a female one. Only the dominant wolves breed, or in good years where there is plenty of game the dominant pair and the next pair down, the beta wolves. This keeps the population relatively stable. The non-dominant wolves actually have both their fertility and desire for sex suppressed by the hormonal results of getting beat up on a lot. The dominant male pairs up with the dominant female, and the beta male pairs up with the beta female. These pair bonds can be stable for years, as long as status in the pack is maintained (and sometimes after; that seems to depend on the personality and inclination of the animals involved). Dogs have retained only the barest travesty of "pack mentality" compared to wolves, and their fertility has taken an entirely different course since they have been domesticated and split from their wolf ancestry.
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