On mobile, (not sure about pc) you can put helmets on them.

RIP to those spinos who saw my direwolf as a snack and only did 10 damage to it due to its 470.1 armour helmet xD

These creatures are beasts on ark mobile. 100% recommend getting one, even if its a low level.

One of my first direwolves (lvl 14) with terrible stats took down 2 sarcos (both lvl 20) and had only lost 300 of its health.

After a few imprints and a bit of stat breeding, my direwolves can take down spinos and rexes. They are only at lvl 35 as pups and have over 1100 health without mutations and levelling. It gets to 1500 with 70% imprint.

No saddle needed.

Getting a TLC patch in March 2018 to add howl that will initiate the pack bonus for 5 minutes, will be able to sniff out players or creatures with less than 50% health, and will be able to detect explorer notes.

They can sniiff out hidden animal and also can sniiff out explorer nots and artifact

Like if it helps

Vicious and lightning fast, the Dire Wolf is a great all-around mount for adventuring and attacking. I highly recommended to bring packs of Dire Wolves for any hostile situation. Whether it be kill Alphas, or raid bases, it's size, agility, and damage make for a deadly beast.

Very important early tame although it may be difficult, it doesn't require a saddle and it gathers lots of hide which is difficult to get early in game

Direwolves are easily my favorite tame on the island, they are extremely good battle creatures especially in packs. Breeding and imprinting (which I did) as well as leveling them up means you can take on nearly everything. It’s extreme mobility and small size means you can use it for most caves, as well as collecting tons of chitin and meat along the way. This is a 9/10 tame for me, due to its relatively easy taming process (bola then tranq) and its extremely versatile usage.

-Monkeyking100

You can put a cloth hat on them and they can be pirate dogs

✅You can take it with an argentavis