My dog is NOT a wolf hybrid!!

[draggar]

Why is it when people her wolfhound they think "Oh, it's a real breed of dog" (Irish Wolfhound, Russian Wolfhound, etc.) but when you say wolfdog they start screaming in panic "OH MY GOD!! IT'S A WILD WOLF HYBRID!! RUN RUN RUN!IT'LL KILL US ALL!!!!" or they go into how we're doing a disservise to everything you can think of to wild wolves trying to domesticate wild wolves.

The vlcak (the breed of dog we got) - while also called a wolfdog it is (that's what vlcak translates to from the Czech language), in itself, a fully recognized (FCI and UKC) as well as Foiundtion Stock Service breed with the AKC.

The breed has existed since the mid 1960 - there hasn't been a wolf used in the breed since then (probably before then for a generation or two).

Besides - the Czechoslovakian government used 5 Carpathian wolves and 48 working line (hard core) German shepherds to make the breed (made to help with border patrol - they wanted the trainability, pack mentality, and loyality to humans of the German shepherd with the physical build, strength, and tamina of the Carpathian wolf).

Of course, some people still think it is a wolf hybrid.

Gee, where do they think ALL dogs came from? Either WOLVES or a former / common wolf ancestor that is now extinct. Our dogs today would not exist if it wasn't for us.

[MaggieTheCat]

Probably the same kinds of people who assume all pit bulls are vicious fighting dogs. I knew a woman once who had "rescued" a pit bull. Her and her husband had it for several years and they claimed they loved it and that it was a good dog. Then she got pregnant, and guess what they did with the dog? They had it put down, because she was afraid the dog would attack her baby.

[elsporko]

That lady is an idiot. Because they are fighting dogs pit bulls are less likely to attack humans. After all if you're handling an injured dog you want something that won't attack you. Plus they have a high tolerance for pain so they can stand little kids wacking on them and what not.

[Boozy]

Pits have extraordinarily powerful jaws, which is why we hear of pit bull attacks seriously injuring or killing humans. A pit gone bad is more dangerous than a small dog gone bad, but they are no more likely to go off on someone than any other breed.

I've been bitten by two chihuahuas and a shih tzu, but because they're small and weak, no real damage was done. If it had a been a pit, I would have been headed to the hospital, and it might have made the news.

People, especially those with children, need to be sure that their dogs are obedient and predictable, regardless of the breed.

Wolfhounds are lovely dogs with great temperaments. There are a few that go to the local dog park, and my pugs absolutely adore them. They're so gentle with my little guys when they're playing.

[Shangri-laschild]

Yeah, my friend was researching the idea of actually getting a wolf hybrid for a while there and there certainly is a lot of freak out about wolves and hybrids. I'm not saying there isn't some reason behind it, but so long and you train properly, and know what you can and can't do with a dog...

[draggar]

Yeah, my friend was researching the idea of actually getting a wolf hybrid for a while there and there certainly is a lot of freak out about wolves and hybrids. I'm not saying there isn't some reason behind it, but so long and you train properly, and know what you can and can't do with a dog...

The issue with true wolf-hybrids is that most breeders are only breeding to meet a demand. They'll genrally use show line German shepherds (to try to get a GSD temperament) or huskies (to keep the look) as the "dog" part. Temperament, hip, CERF, and other important geneti factors are rarely considered in these breedig programs. In a nutshell, they're designer mutts like laberdoodles, puggles, cockerpoo, etc..

There are three wolddog (established) breeds, though:

Vlcak - hard core working line German shepherd temperament, not for the inexperienced. Soviet bloc nations developed the hardest working dogs (including the temperament) in existance. (The former DDR and Czech Republic still breed some of the best WORKING GSDs). This breed is very hard-headed and confident. The breed is also very primitave in temperament (very much like the Finnish spitz).

Saarloos - I think these dogs are more "family" oriented and much softer. They used the same wolf as the vlcak (Carpathian (a.k.a. Eurasian) wolf) but used western European German shepherds - no where nearly as "hard core" as the vlcak. This breed is more skitzy and wouldn't be good for protection work but would be better for a family.

Lupo Italiano - this breed is the most like working German shepherds we see today. Not the hard temperament that the vlcaks have but harder than the saarloos. They mainly look like a GSD but may have the coloring and/or snout of a wolf. They can also be skitzy like the Saarloos but are trainable and can be better deterrent / alarm dogs as they may back off if the proteciton aspect is needed.

[Lace Neil Singer]

This guy who regularly visits the petrol station has a husky. She's just the cutest, so I can't stop myself from going outside to give her a pat. XD

As far as dangerous dog goes; any breed has the potential to become dangerous if the owner is stupid or abusive towards it. There isn't really a specific dangerous dog. Round my way, when I used to have a dog, there was this guy who had a vicious Jack Russel. He'd let it out to exercise itself, and it was awful. It once went for my dog, and I had to beat the horrible thing off her with a stick. After that, it avoided us, but it was nasty. I think that was due to no training whatsoever rather than breed type. The dog eventually was run over.

[Cat]

Honestly, if I heard "wolfdog," I might have thought a wolf/dog hybrid, merely because I have never heard of the breed. I wouldn't have thought any ill of you, though. Now I want to look up this breed

Oh, and I adore Pits, they might be my favorite breed of pup (and I am a 100% cat person)

Ok, just looked up vlcak, what a lovely dog!! Want to pet!!

[elsporko]

Pits have extraordinarily powerful jaws, which is why we hear of pit bull attacks seriously injuring or killing humans. A pit gone bad is more dangerous than a small dog gone bad, but they are no more likely to go off on someone than any other breed.

I've been bitten by two chihuahuas and a shih tzu, but because they're small and weak, no real damage was done. If it had a been a pit, I would have been headed to the hospital, and it might have made the news.

People, especially those with children, need to be sure that their dogs are obedient and predictable, regardless of the breed.

Wolfhounds are lovely dogs with great temperaments. There are a few that go to the local dog park, and my pugs absolutely adore them. They're so gentle with my little guys when they're playing.

According to this site http://www.atts.org/stats1.html Pit Bulls have a better temperment and are less likely to go wild then other dogs. Often small dogs attack more then other breeds because they are small and don't get as much training to not be aggessive (people don't think it matters because they can't cause harm)

[draggar]

According to this site http://www.atts.org/stats1.html Pit Bulls have a better temperment and are less likely to go wild then other dogs. Often small dogs attack more then other breeds because they are small and don't get as much training to not be aggessive (people don't think it matters because they can't cause harm)

Not only that when a smaller dog bits someone it rarely goes reported since it is usually not bad.

Even a play bite from a larger breed can do considerable damage.

You should see the crap that ownes / handlers of smaller breeds let their dogs get away with at dog shows - I'm surprised there aren't more larger dogs getting fed up with the attitude.