Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Wolves in Minecraft: How to Tame a Dog and Every Variant
To tame a wolf, right-click it with bones: each bone has a 1 in 3 chance, and a red collar means it worked. A tamed wolf (dog) follows you, fights whatever you attack and has 40 HP instead of 8. Wolves come in 9 color variants by biome, and wolf armor made from armadillo scutes protects them.
How do you tame and look after a wolf?
- Tame: feed bones to a wild wolf until hearts appear and it gets a collar.
- Sit or follow: right-click it. A sitting wolf stays put; a standing one follows and teleports to you if you get more than 12 blocks away (16 while it is fighting).
- Heal: feed it meat. Raw chicken heals 4, steak 16 and rabbit stew 20, and rotten flesh does not poison it.
- Health: its tail drops lower as it gets hurt, and it whines at low health.
- Collar color: use any dye on your own wolf.
Two tamed wolves fed meat breed a puppy. More pets: taming pets and breeding animals.
Where do the 9 wolf variants spawn?
| Variant | Biome | Pack size |
|---|---|---|
| Pale (the classic wolf) | Taiga | 4 |
| Ashen | Snowy taiga | 4 |
| Black | Old growth pine taiga | 2-4 |
| Chestnut | Old growth spruce taiga | 2-4 |
| Rusty | Sparse jungle | 2-4 |
| Snowy | Grove | 1 |
| Spotted | Savanna plateau | 4-8 |
| Striped | Wooded badlands | 4-8 |
| Woods | Forest | 4 |
Packs near a biome border can mix looks. Wolves also have 7 sound variants (Big, Classic, Cute, Puglin, Angry, Grumpy and Sad) that only change their voice. Find these biomes in biomes.
How do wolves behave in a fight?
A wild wolf is neutral: hit one and its whole pack within a large area turns on you. Wild wolves hunt sheep, rabbits, foxes, baby turtles and skeletons, and skeletons run from them. A tamed wolf attacks any mob you hit and any mob that hits you, except creepers. Use a lead to bring dogs along safely; see name tags to keep track of them.
What does wolf armor do?
Wolf armor is crafted from 6 armadillo scutes and fits only on a tamed wolf. It soaks up damage until it breaks, can be dyed, and is repaired with scutes; shears take it off. Armadillos drop scutes when brushed. A wolf wearing armor always drops it when it dies.
Are there wolf mobs on ArtemisPvP?
Frequently asked questions
How many bones does it take to tame a wolf?
It is random: each bone has a 1 in 3 chance, so three on average.
Where do black wolves spawn?
In old growth pine taiga, in packs of 2-4.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.