Wolfdog these dogs are now often in the limelight, some good points but mostly bad, so what is a wolfdog? It is a cross between a wolf and a domesticated dog, the first crossing is called an F1, the next generation bred down is an F2 etc etc, It is true then to say that wolfdogs with high percentage of wolf in them will obviously be harder to train and manage than those with a lesser percentage, It is also true that they are potentially more dangerous. Are the wolf and dog closely related? They are very close, in fact in DNA terms they are practically identical and all dog breeds are sub species of the wolf. In my personal opinion after working with wolves and high percent wolfdogs these are and should be classified as Dangerous Wild Animals. I have worked with and owned Czechoslovakian wolfdogs for many years, I have studied them from new born pups to adults, I have seen and handled hundreds of these wolfdogs, they are many generation from the wolf and they are a recognised breed of domesticated dog in their country of origin and recognised by the FCI. They compete at national, international and world dog shows. The Czechoslovakian wolfdog has been selectively bred for many years, It must never be classed or mistaken for a high percentage wolfdog, The Czechoslovakian wolfdog in Europe is doing well but there is a percentage of these wolfdogs that are inbred { same dog or bitch repeated in pedigree} this if allowed to continue will no doubt cause health problems in the breed.
There are two domesticated breeds of wolfdog that originated from Europe, The Czechoslovakian wolfdog and the Saarloos wolfhound, they are both recognised breeds in there country of origin and are also classified as breeds of dogs by the FCI. The Czechoslovakian is the younger of the two breeds and is the breed I prefer to work with, they are a working dog that has lots of spirit and character, they are alert and loyal, they are used in lots of different ways, the border patrol use them, they are used in search and rescue, sniffer dogs, agility, security and even personal protection.
The saarloos was also founded in Europe and is a wolfdog, The Saarloos is a breed I like but after the death of Mr Saarloos it was unsure what was to become of it. It was owners from Holland that formed a breed club and over the years have preseved the breed and kept it true, dogs outside of the breed club have now become mixed with other breeds, infact some dont even resemble the Saarloos at all by cross breeding. The Saarloos bred outside of the breed club they have become riddled with health problems such as P.R.A, epilepsy, heart problems, skin disorders and even dwarfism. The Saarloos is harder to train, they are shy towards strangers and definately not for the novice.
There are now in the U.K many animals that we have come to hear about with many names such as the Inuit, Utonagon, Tamaskan, they are so called wolf look alikes, bred from many different breeds of dogs by people trying to create dogs that look like or resemble the wolf. Many have been about for years now, these dogs are bred by people all over the U.K, they have breed clubs, they have their own pedigrees which the breed club issues, and breed standards. But they are not yet a classified breed of dog by a long shot, many of these dogs from the ones named do not have type, they may have pedigrees and be registered by their breed clubs but that does nothing if been told by the breeders they are up for recognition by the kennel club, this is not the case and a phone call to the kennel club will confirm this. Some facts that may have been over looked by the breeders of such dogs, all breeds of dogs have there own health problems, so when you cross breed you can increase or double up on some of these health issues, when using 3-5 different breeds then you increase it even more. Most of the above mentioned dogs are as we know tested for hip and eye defects, but this is not the main problems that have been noted with these dogs, bad hips, eye problems, cateracts, glaucoma, skin disorders, patella, undershot jaw, overshot jaw, heart disorders, bowl disorders, epilepsy and dwarfism, these are some that i have witnessed first hand in these dogs. I know some breeders who have now because of the health problems stopped breeding altogether.
ALL OUR WOLFDOGS ARE WITHIN THE LEGAL REQUIRMENTS IN THE UK
