The problem with saying dogs and wolves are cousins, is that implies that they are close. My mom’s sister’s daughter is my cousin. She is the same age as me. Dogs separated from the gray wolf’s ancestor over 35,000 years ago, and both evolved under very different circumstances. So saying they have wolf like tendencies, is like saying that people have primitive tendencies. I don’t really consider myself to be on the edge of behaving like my 35,000 year old cousin. Dogs share similarities with wolf behavior because they are canines. Just like your cat might share the same quirks as a tiger. It doesn’t mean they are some type of hybrid, it just means they are apart of the same canid family.
Reiterating: Dogs did not evolve from gray wolves, they evolved from the extinct species that the gray wolf also evolved from. They both spent 35,000 years evolving separately without one another. One having to be wild, and fend for themselves, and the other co-existing with humans, being fed everyday, and given belly rubs. The chances of them behaving like one another due to being relatives is less likely, while behaving like one another because they are both canines is more likely.