Free ranging a wolf sends the wolf to the free range, where they stay for about 24 hours(or less, depending on the time they had been free ranged) before being sent to the heavens or before they get deleted permanently from the game.
Note:
Keep in mind that these wolves can't be added to your memorial garden at all, so if you wish a wolf to be memorialized before it's taken naturally then you'll need to retire it.
A handful of wolves from the free range are put into sanctuary the day following the day they were free ranged and people have a chance to bid on the sanctuary wolves. The ones not bid on either are moved to the heavens or are deleted after the sanctuary closes.
Note: if you don't want there to be a possibility of a wolf getting added to the sanctuary, you should retire it.
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Retiring a wolf sends the wolf directly to the heavens and gives you a bone that can be spent in bidoo's shop.
The wolf will stay in the heavens until it eventually is deleted permanently from the game(unless it's in your memorial garden, which basically protects it from being able to be deleted completely from WolfPlay as long as it remains in there)
You can also add these wolves to your memorial garden.
Note: it's best to be quick about adding them to your memorial, as if the wolf doesn't meet certain requirements they get deleted at midnight/rollover when the following day starts
Winter Month: 2 
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