Questions & Answers about Это не волчий, а собачий след.
Why use the adjectives волчий and собачий instead of just the genitive case (след волка or след собаки)?
Both are grammatically correct, but possessive adjectives like волчий and собачий are the most natural choice when talking about intrinsic physical traits or parts of an animal, such as footprints (след), ears, or tails. The genitive is understood more literally as "a track belonging to a specific dog".
What case and gender are волчий and собачий in this sentence?
They are in the masculine nominative singular because they describe the masculine noun след (track). Note that the first adjective, волчий, agrees with след even though the noun is placed at the very end of the phrase.
Are these animal possessive adjectives declined like standard adjectives ending in -ий, such as русский or хороший?
No, they follow a special pattern. In the masculine nominative singular, they look like standard adjectives (ending in -ий). But in almost all other forms, they add a soft sign (ь) before the ending. For example, if the word were feminine (лапа - paw), it would be волчья, not волчая.
Why does the sentence use а for "but" instead of но?