Mauling a dog won’t count against a northeast Washington wolf pack after wildlife managers classified the dog as a “pet,” a label the owner says overlooks the protection it gives the family’s horses, chickens and children.

Stevens County resident Luke Davis said Waylon, a 10-year-old blue heeler, a breed also known as an Australian cattle dog, had tangled with bobcats and cougars, but never a wolf until May 12.

Waylon, who survived the attack, was probably injured by the Onion Creek wolf pack, the Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded. The pack killed calves in February and April. Two more attacks and the department will consider lethal control.

The department counts attacks on livestock and dogs that protect or herd livestock, but not pets. Fish and Wildlife maintains Davis told investigators that Waylon was a pet.

In a written statement to the sheriff’s office and in an interview Wednesday, Davis said that’s not so. “I never told them Waylon is just a pet,” he said.

From now on, Waylon, injured and battered, will be kept indoors or in a fenced yard, Davis said. “But before the attack, I would never have said Waylon was a quote-unquote ‘pet,’” he said.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Lehman said the department does not plan to reconsider classifying Waylon. “We have confidence in our staff,” he said.

Stevens County Sheriff Brad Manke said it shouldn’t matter whether Waylon was a pet or working dog. Fish and Wildlife should change its policy and count attacks on pets, he said.

“Especially if it’s on private property,” Manke said. “A person’s personal property is a person’s personal property.”

Wolf packs saturate the county. The sheriff’s office is exploring its legal options in controlling wolves, Manke said.

“I want to keep a positive working relationship with Fish and Wildlife, but I have different goals and a different mission for my constituents than they have,” he said.

The Davises live 40 miles northeast of Colville, the county’s largest city. The family has a small horse ranch, chickens and three children, ages 10 to 3. Waylon is trained to corral and protect the horses, Davis said.

The family has three other dogs. “We know we live in cougar, wolf and bear country,” Davis said.

Aggressive barking awakened Davis and his wife, Alex, early May 12, he said. “We knew it wasn’t shooing-away-the-deer barks.”

Alex Davis looked out and saw a wolf charging toward the house. Davis said he grabbed a rifle, but his wife was the first to fire from the porch — a pistol shot in the air.

The wolf ran away. Waylon, a hind leg bleeding, went to the veterinarian, where puncture wounds were also found around his neck. The vet bill came to more than $800, Davis said.

While the Davises were at the vet, a Fish and Wildlife biologist visited the scene, but didn’t see any wolf signs. Davis later sent to the department photos of tracks he found. Lehman said the department couldn’t tell from the photos whether it was wolf tracks.

Davis said he also found tufts of wolf fur, suggesting a fight with Waylon.

The department listed the attack as “probable.” It would still have counted as a predation for the purpose of moving closer to considering lethal control, if the department didn’t classify Waylon as a pet.

The American Kennel Club describes blue heelers as “sturdy hard-muscled herders of strength and agility.”

Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association President Scott Nielsen said common sense says Waylon was a working dog.

“Only WDFW could come to the conclusion a heeler on a farm or ranch is not a herd dog or guard dog,” he said.