"Dire Wolves Were Real. Now Someone Is Trying To Resurrect Them."

A breeder in southern Oregon is creating a new sort of dog that may look "just like the actual dire wolves that roamed the Americas during the last Ice Age, hunting bison and other megafauna, before going extinct."

"Game of Thrones viewers who were hoping to get another glimpse of direwolves were disappointed on Sunday night. The wolf Nymeria did not reconsider her rejection her former human companion, Arya Stark. Jon Snow’s journey to Dragonstone did not feature Ghost as a sidekick. Their absence will no doubt add to fan grumbling that the series has sidelined the computer-generated predators.

But take heart, viewers: Dire wolves are closer to a real-life resurrection.

Well, sort of. In southern Oregon, there is a breeder who has spent 30 years creating a new sort of dog she calls the American Alsatian. The puppies are astonishingly cute, and they grow up to be tall, broad, golden-eyed and quite wolfy-looking. And, Lois Schwarz hopes, they are on their way to looking just like the actual dire wolves that roamed the Americas during the last Ice Age, hunting bison and other megafauna, before going extinct."

Karin Brulliard reports for the Washington Post July 31, 2017.