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UK BAN ON CZECH WOLFDOG - PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION


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Guest Anonymous

Hi,

I hope that you do not mind me contacting you, but wolfdog lovers in the United Kingdom really need your help to get the breed accepted here!

A United Kingdom breeder has recently tried to get the Czechoslovakian wolfdog registered in the UK with the Kennel Club.

Unfortunately, DEFRA (Agriculture Department) and the United Kingdom Kennel Club have now backed out of their agreement with the breeder and are trying to list the breed as dangerous, requiring a Dangerous Animal Licence in order to keep them.

This pretty much effectively bans the breed in the UK.

As you can understand, we prospective owners are pretty horrified at this outcome! The owners of the puppies bred in the UK last year have had to give their dogs back to the breeder, and they do not know when they will have their dogs back, if ever!

We need your help to make the Kennel Club and DEFRA see sense. So we are begging you, as Czechoslovakian owners, breeders, enthusiasts or simply admirers, to support our attempts to get DEFRA and the Kennel Club to rethink their decision.

Please use the link below and sign the petition. We really need and appreciate your help!

[url]http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/279438817[/url]

Thanks for your support

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Being a member of the KC in the UK, I've been aware of this case for a while now, but all the petitions in the world will not persuade the KC to register the Saarloos or Czech Wolfdog. They live in a time warp and are very reluctant to take new actions or register new breeds, especially those breeds which have appeared in the past 20 years from cross-breeding wolf hybrids. Additionally there is not nearly a substantial number of Saarloos or Czechs in the UK to even contemplate starting a KC register.

Its a sad situation, but thats what the KC in the UK are like. In one respect I would like to see these breeds registered several years down the line, but in another respect I wouldn't. Having seen so many idiots go to "breeders" in France, Germany, and the Netherlands and bringing back a pup which turns into an out of control adult dog that they can't handle, the breed would become another listed dangerous dog breed and banned, like the American bulldog, Pitbull terrier, Johnson bulldog, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso etc etc.

Most of my experiences with wolfdogs have been through treating behavioural problems and owners who get in over their heads who resort to having to either give up their dog or have their pet put to sleep. Unfortunately in N.Ireland there are no wild animal licenses and people can have wolves as pets, which is certainly not recommended judging by what I've seen. Consequently the wolfdog "breeds" who exhibit similar behavioural traits I fear would end up as another statistic on the banned breed list.

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I'm sorry, but this is the one time I must disagree on trying to save a breed. Wolves and dogs may be the same genus, but are still very much two different species, and should not be mixed. It's a genetic crapshoot at best, and having had worked with several of them over the years, hybrids can be unruly and untrainable at best, dangerous to the family that owns it at worst.

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Czeck wolfdogs and the Saarloos can't be registered because they came from wolf crossbreedings?? What morons, the German Shepherd came from wolf crossbreedings. ALL dogs came from wolves anyway. Besides, the Czech and Saarloos are so far removed that they are basically just dogs now. Any "wolf blood" should be long gone at this point.

"Wolves and dogs may be the same genus, but are still very much two different species, and should not be mixed. It's a genetic crapshoot at best, and having had worked with several of them over the years, hybrids can be unruly and untrainable at best, dangerous to the family that owns it at worst."

Actually, the dog IS a subspecies of wolf. The only thing that is REALLY different about the two is the intensity of their behavior. Wolves' behavior is much more intense than that of the average dog. As for them being unruly, it is only because of their tendency to be very independant animals. Their sometimes high energy and short attention span also makes them hard to train, but they are far from being untrainable. Also, ANY dog can be dangerous to its family, not just wolfdogs, ESPECIALLY when the owners cannot properly 'read' their canine. There is no evidence ,however, to prove that wolfdogs are more dangerous to their family than 'normal' dogs. I will say though, that many wolfdogs do inherit the intense wolf behavior of pack structure. Without knowing how to handle a wolfdog with such behaviors, an owner could very well end up with a wolfdog who has much more of a potential to be dangerous. Just to remind you, wolfdogs are mutts. They are mixbreeds. It is virtually impossible to describe them as being one way or another and having that description fit all wolfdogs. Ones with more wolf might act ore like a wolf, ones with more husky might act more like a husky, ones with more german shepherd might act more like a germen shepherd... Then again, it is possible to have one with more wolf but acts more like a dog, or one that has more german shepherd, but has inherited more of the intense wolf behavior.

~Seij

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[quote]Actually, the dog IS a subspecies of wolf[/quote]
What part of the word genus do you not understand :-? ?
If you're going to refute my post, please do your homework, the following information is supplied from several controll studies. [i]Nobody[/i] is quite sure of the origins of the dog, period. It's ongoing research, and a definitive answer may never be found.

[quote]The prominent reason that the direct ancestor of Canis Familiaris is unknown is the above - described variation.Such variation in function,form and behaviour makes it difficult for remains and fossils to be interpreted using morphological and physiological methods.The advent of molecular genetic technologies has increased the number of available techniques used to investigate evolutionary lineages at a molecular level.These techniques combat the problem of variant and diverse forms.However,research pertaining to the domestic dogs evolution has not been investigated particularly thoroughly as yet.Until further molecular research is undertaken numerous theories and hypothesis regarding the evolution of the domestic dog cannot be disproved.

Who is the Direct Ancestor of The Domestic Dog?

The origin of the domestic dog is somewhat unknown .Various hypotheses are given through evolutionary literature.Labelling the ancestor of the domestic dog is difficult not only due to the variation within the species and the unnatural associated domestication,but also the unusual interfamily breeding ability species within the family Canidae attain.The species of Canidae that can interbreed include the jackal,wolf,dingo and coyote,all of which are associated with different theories relating to the evolution of the domestic dog.

The phenotypically diverse nature of the domestic dog led Charles Darwin {1868} to believe that the species had originated from more than one wild population and from more than one species of wild canid.Along the same notion were the hypotheses of Austrian Behaviouist Konrod Lorenz.Lorenz suggested that the behaviour of domestic dogs could be associated and compared with the behaviour of both the wolf and the jackal.These suggestions have since been reviewed and to a certain point rejected.The advent of molecular technologies has ascertained that the jackal is distantly related to the domestic dog.

Interestingly a concensus is emerging throughout literature with the introduction of mor molecular papers.More researchers are implying that the wolf was in fact the predecessor of the domestic dog.In particular ,two research papers investigate and compare the mitochondrial DNA of domestic dogs,wolves,jackals and coyotes.Results conclude that variation exists in all sequences,interspecies included.Variation within the domestic dog was significant however breed could not be determined..From the results deviations of mitochondrial DNA sequence were least between the domestic dog with the jackal and the coyote.Therefore conclusions were made that the domestic dog arose from founding wolf populations.

Although conclusions were made from the molecular papers that the wolf is the closest relative of the domestic dog -limitations regarding this research are numerous.Mitochondrial DNA was used to examine the relationship between the canids.However mitochondrial DNA is passed on from the mother to the next generation therefore this molecular analyses would not have found the effects of siring by coyotes or jackals.As well as this,the dingo was not included in any of the studies.Although it is thought the dingo originated from the domestic dog,the dingos closest ancestor and its relationship with other canids is strongly debated.One author debates that all domestic dogs in fact originated from the dingo,not the other way around.Another ,fault of the molecular papers is the fact that the grey wolf and red wolf are the only types of wolves used in the analyses.Clutton Brook[1984] suggest that the closest ancestor of the domestic dog is neither the red wolf or the grey wolf but in fact the Indian wolf.Where as Olsen[1977]believe the domestic dogs originated from the Indian Wolf and Mathews[1971] stated that various races of wolves are the progenitors of the domestic dog.

As has been detailed,numerous hypotheses have been given explaining the origin of the domestic dog.molecular evidence suggest that the greay wolf and the red wolf ar the closest relative of the domestic dog.However such studies are deficient regarding the number of canids analysed.Behaviouists suggest domestic dogs could have derived from jackals and some biologists suggest coyotes.As well as this,another author states that the breeds of domestic dog originated from the dingo.This example of disagreement is rife throughout the literature.

Overall the phenotypic variation evident in the species Canis Familiaris makes it difficult to behaviourally or morphologically determine the origin of the domestic dog.Therefore molecular research is the most reliable technique in determining the predecessor.However,thorough molecular studies are presently unavailable.Further molecular research will undoubtedly determine the most recent ancestorof the domestic dog.However until such research is undertaken it is unwise to eliminate any species of canid.Although molecular technology will determine closest relative of Canis Familiaris ,it is unlikely that the exact time and place of speciation will be confirmed.Questions that may never be answered include;

1]Did the Domestic dog arise from one founding event or many ?

2]Has the occurrence of hybridization between domestic dogs and wild canids after the speciation event,contributed to the vast phenotypic variation evident in the domestic dog ?

Alissa Steinke 2001[/quote]

Hybrids are not mutts, they are a blend of two entirely different species, a mutt is a blend of the same species. Kind of like us 8) .

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[quote name='Seijun']Czeck wolfdogs and the Saarloos can't be registered because they came from wolf crossbreedings?? What morons, the German Shepherd came from wolf crossbreedings. ALL dogs came from wolves anyway. Besides, the Czech and Saarloos are so far removed that they are basically just dogs now. Any "wolf blood" should be long gone at this point.

"Wolves and dogs may be the same genus, but are still very much two different species, and should not be mixed. It's a genetic crapshoot at best, and having had worked with several of them over the years, hybrids can be unruly and untrainable at best, dangerous to the family that owns it at worst."

Actually, the dog IS a subspecies of wolf. The only thing that is REALLY different about the two is the intensity of their behavior. Wolves' behavior is much more intense than that of the average dog. As for them being unruly, it is only because of their tendency to be very independant animals. Their sometimes high energy and short attention span also makes them hard to train, but they are far from being untrainable. Also, ANY dog can be dangerous to its family, not just wolfdogs, ESPECIALLY when the owners cannot properly 'read' their canine. There is no evidence ,however, to prove that wolfdogs are more dangerous to their family than 'normal' dogs. I will say though, that many wolfdogs do inherit the intense wolf behavior of pack structure. Without knowing how to handle a wolfdog with such behaviors, an owner could very well end up with a wolfdog who has much more of a potential to be dangerous. Just to remind you, wolfdogs are mutts. They are mixbreeds. It is virtually impossible to describe them as being one way or another and having that description fit all wolfdogs. Ones with more wolf might act ore like a wolf, ones with more husky might act more like a husky, ones with more german shepherd might act more like a germen shepherd... Then again, it is possible to have one with more wolf but acts more like a dog, or one that has more german shepherd, but has inherited more of the intense wolf behavior.

~Seij[/quote]

I agree to a point. Yes, our dogs all originated from the wolf. But there are THOUSANDS of years of domestication in today's dog. It is not, IMO, a good idea for anyone who is not familiar with the wolf, his behavior and
"quirks", to own one. This is not the dog for everyone. Some of the pups, as mentioned, will come out behaving like dogs. Some will not. It really is a crapshoot. And wolves need more space, more training (serious obedience traiing, and a STRONG alpha hand to control them), this is an animal where, if they take the wolf characteristics, you can NEVER slide on the Alpha role. The average dog owner doesnt understand the Alpha role, much less is able to put it into practice.....

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Guest Mutts4Me

I'm sorry, I don't support the breeding of wolves and/or wolf hybrids, either.

[quote name='Kat'] the breed would become another listed dangerous dog breed and banned, like the American bulldog, Pitbull terrier, Johnson bulldog, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso etc etc. [/quote]

I was just curious... We have two lines of American Bulldog, the Johnson and the Scott American Bulldogs. The Scott types are more streamlined, and the Johnsons are bigger and bulkier, but they're both American Bulldogs. Is that different in the UK? Or is the Johnson Bulldog something entirely different?

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A few things to clarify very quickly before I go up to uni. The dog is not a sub species. The dog has been classified as [i]Canis familiaris [/i]and is a different species from the Grey wolf. I just completed a year long thesis on Canid social behaviour and evolution so believe me I have done a great deal of geneaological studies into the evolution of dogs arising from wolves, and they are most certainly a classified separate species. Dogs are effectively Grey wolves. They share the same diploid number of chromosomes as Grey wolves, but other evidence comes from mitochondrial DNA which is maternal DNA and has a high rate of amplification in determining evolutionary trends.. Chromosome number alone cannot consolidate the Grey wolves and domestic dogs as the Jackals, Grey wolves, Red wolves, African wild dogs (Cape hunting dogs), and Coyotes all have 78 chromosomes. Red wolves and Coyotes are thought to be the result of hybridistion but I don't have time to go into this factor now. What I will do is to post my literature review later on which I completed so that any confusion is cleared up.

Dogs have been domesticated for around at least 15,000 years, and indeed many behavioural traits still exist but those traits have been channelled into something that is beneficial for human use. e.g Border Collies herd, and this herding behaviour is a modification of the initial stages of hunting in wild canids, only it lacks the final lunge and kill.

I have worked and completed behavioural studies on wolf like breeds,. Indeed its a shame in my opinion why people are not content with the breeds that we have, and that yet again history is being repeated... only this time it is not accidental hybridisation when wild wolves are purposefully being bred when in many areas of the world they are threatened. The wolf "breeds" are beautiful and having a very special affinity to these animals I love their beauty and behaviour, but I would much rather be seeing wolves in the wild being left alone to support the ecosytems, and to avoid the endangerment and collapse of other animals through human ignorance, who don't understand the long-term effects of removing not only the wolf, but the other creatures that depend on the wolf in the complicated eco-web of life.

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Mutts in answer to your question, we have just started to see the Johnson bulldog in the past few years. These dogs cannot be kept, let alone be registered so in answer to your question the Johnson is the same as your Johnson. What they are calling the American bulldog here is like a cross between a staffordshire bull terrier and pit bull terrier but is nowhere near the size of the Johnsons that I have seen. I actually only came across the Johnson last year when I was involved in a confiscation case, and that dog was the most powerful animal I have ever seen, and the way that he was being brought up he had the potential to do some very serious damage. Idiots over here are experimenting dangerously with mixing the bull terrier and bull dog breeds and its getting out of control, so any that they claim here is a true breed, I disregard.

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[quote]I have worked and completed behavioural studies on wolf like breeds,. Indeed its a shame in my opinion why people are not content with the breeds that we have, and that yet again history is being repeated... only this time it is not accidental hybridisation when wild wolves are purposefully being bred when in many areas of the world they are threatened. The wolf "breeds" are beautiful and having a very special affinity to these animals I love their beauty and behaviour, but I would much rather be seeing wolves in the wild being left alone to support the ecosytems, and to avoid the endangerment and collapse of other animals through human ignorance, who don't understand the long-term effects of removing not only the wolf, but the other creatures that depend on the wolf in the complicated eco-web of life.[/quote]

I agree with this entirely. There are places here in the states where the wolf is being "brought back"....(not without a lot of controversy, of course)
not as a "pet" or as a domestic animal, but as a truly wild wolf. Left to it's own rules and defenses. Here in Illinois, a little bit of irony is happening. I live in an area of the state called "The Fox Valley", a series of towns and cities along the Fox River. It was named that over a hundred years ago, because this area was teaming with foxes. That was one of the big reasons it landed on the map, fox was hunted and sold widely here. Even Lewis and Clark hunted fox here. Since the growth of the area, the foxes disappeared. They have not been seen here in almost a hundred years. Until 5 years ago. They have been sited again, along the Fox River and in the woodlands around it, and the population is growing. This state spends a lot of money on preserving forest and woodlands, and waterlands.

With that, the coyotes came back as well. There is a general deer overpopulation here, since hunting is not allowed, and there is so much forest and grassland preserved. The deer brought the coyotes back, the foxes followed (foxes are great scavengers). All the other critters, the raccoons and skunks and possums and so on, never left. Now the problem with them is starting to dwindle as well, since there is a better balance of predator and prey again.

Of course, it frightens some people (it IS odd to see a Coyote run across the 4 lane hiway in town) but I for one like it.

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Loki I promise to post my lit review tomorrow. I will see if my boyfriend can host it on his server so that it can be read as a document then give you the link. I can't post up my actual thesis (Social behaviour of Border Collies) just yet, as it is currently in the hands of the invigilators, who will all hopefully like it and be nice and give me a good mark on it :lol: We were told though that its risky to show it in case someone steals it and uses their own name to have it published, so a few weeks and I shall enlighten you :wink:

My field is Zoology specialising in Canid social behaviour, and I'm hopefully graduating with a BSc. Honours degree in Zoology. 2 exams to go and I should know the outcome of my 4 years degree by the middle of June! :D Needless to say I can't wait to graduate! My ultimate aim is to study social behaviour of wild wolves, and hopefully if I get accepted for the TopMasters scholarship that I applied for, I will get a chance to go to Poland in year 2005/2006 to carry out my own research with wolves that are currently being tagged and observed over every few months for social hierarchical behaviour :D

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Ummm... I'm still not getting where you guys are coming from with this thing on dogs being a seperate species...

"In 1993, dogs were reclassified as a subspecies of wolf ([i]Canis lupus familiaris[/i]) by the Smithsonian Institute and the American Society of Mammalogists in the [i]Mammal Species of the World, A Taxonomical and Geographic Reference[/i].

In the last few years, as DNA research has advanced technologically, many studies have been conducted to indicate that the genetic relationship between wolves and dogs is so close that

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yes, the dog is genetically very close to the wolf. Most canids decended from common ancestors. However, dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. Wolves have not. You cannot raise a wolf, or mate it to a dog, and expect it to act like a dog! They dont. period. Most of the wild instincts of the wolf have been channeled into something beneficial to man, for thousands of years of breeding. Most dogs are much less territorial, much less aggressive, then the average wolf.

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Yes, I agree, and I did not say that dogs acted just like wolves, or that wolves acted just like dogs.

However, wolves are not more aggressive than dogs, at least in relationship to humans. They have more POTENTIAL to aggressive, but they are not MORE aggressive. There have been many more attacks by dogs on humans than wolves. With a wolf, the behavior is much more intense, and it will treat its 'owner' like another member of the pack, thus increasing the risk that dominance problems will occur (not a huge problem, if the owner can deal with such behavior and effectively maintain alpha position). If the owner has no idea how to handle a wolf, act around one, or understand their behavior, the risk of injury due to aggression is much higher.

While we are on the topic of domestication, have any of you by chance read up on the experiment with domesticating the fox? I am sure you have, but if not, it was an experiment where a scientist took wild foxes and bred them for tameness. He eventually ended up with tame foxes. The most interesting thing about these tame foxes was that they now came with short tails, curled tails, floppy ears, spots, etc. which you would never see on a wild fox. Even their breeding cycles changed to year 'round, just like in dogs. More can be found out about this experiment at [url]http://reactor-core.org/taming-foxes.html[/url]. I found this experiment highly interesting because it showed the relative ease with which one animal of a species can go from being one way, to being totally different, yet still being of the same species. Many people believe that dogs are in fact a domestic variant of the wolf, just like the tame fox in the experiment is a domestic variant of the wild fox.

~Seij

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seij, that was my whole point. The average dog owner doesnt know in most cases how to effectively train/control/Alpha their own dog. I would NOT want these people to own a wolf, or wolf hybrid. The dog, depending on breed, is much more likely to deal with a non alpha then a wolf, or wolf hybrid. I am talking the average owner. Some people could handle the dominance issues in a wolf hybrid. Most cannot. There is too much "wild" in a wolf to make it a safe pet for just anybody....


there are a number of people who cant handle their Shepherds, Chihauhau's, Dobies...because they dont know how to train them and never bothered to learn. Can you imagine these people with a WOLF????

doesnt bear thinking about, IMO.....

:o :o :o :o :o

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"there are a number of people who cant handle their Shepherds, Chihauhau's, Dobies...because they dont know how to train them and never bothered to learn. Can you imagine these people with a WOLF????

doesnt bear thinking about, IMO..... "

Sad thing is, I have seen the results of people getting wolves and not knowing a thing about handling them and never bothering to learn. Ever seen or heard of a place called WolfCountry USA?
[url]http://www.wolfcountryak.0catch.com/[/url]
[url]http://wolfcountry.0catch.com/[/url]
They sell wolf and very high content wolfdog puppies to anybody who has the money. They tell people they are just like dogs. I recently followed the rescue of a wolf named Sasha, up in Alaska. She had been kept tied to a tree her entire life. Here owners had wanted to breed her. It was discovered after the wolf was rescued that she had been sold to the family by WolfCountry. I imagine almost all the pups they sell end up dead when the owners dicover how hard they are to keep, or they just live their lives on a chain in the backyard like Sasha.

~Seij

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that's exactly why the average dog owner should not have a wolf/wolf hybrid. that place is a disgrace...they are doing nothing good for the benefit of these animals, but as usual, money wins out.

I owned a dog, part malamute (wolflike enough as it is), part border collie, part wolf (diagnosed by the vet. she almost refused to treat him) here in Illinois you cannot own a wild or partially wild animal without a special license. (and I thank God for that!) his wolf characteristics were so minimal, she agreed to classify him as a dog, and treat him. Minimal as they were, he was a major handful in the dominance department. I was afraid of him, truly. I studied pack rule training, because someone suggested it might help, and it made all the difference in the world. Prior to that, I seriously considered having him put down, his aggression was frightening. I didnt realize that *I* was causing his problems, by not being the strict alpha in his life. Most dogs can get by fine without that, this dog couldnt. Once I started pack rule training with him (and I had a capture stick for him, when he refused to listen and I had to force him) he almost immediatly (inside of three weeks) became a totally new "dog"...he now had an alpha he trusted and respected, and allowed himself to be demoted to "dog status"....he actually saved my sons life. It was because of my son that I wanted to put him down. As it was, I had to keep them seperate at all times, because until I had him demoted, I didnt trust him. In the end, he became one of the best dogs I have ever owned, and watched over my son like he was his own. In his elder years (around 8) he would let Kyle put a leash on him, and pull him around the block on his roller blades!!

THIS is why the average dog owner should NOT own one of these animals....

I took the time to learn, and work with him. Most people would not. Tying them up outside is NOT the solution...

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A lot of times its not the potential dominance problems which makes wolfdogs/wolves the WRONG choice of pet for someone who doesn't know anything about them. They have high prey drive (as do many dogs) and when a kid or another animal gets hurt, they jump on the animal saying it is all because it is part wolf, even though kids and other animals are injured every day by dogs. Also, when people get a wolf and someone gets hurt because of it, the people who are anti-wolf use that as another reason why wolves should be eliminated, even when it was probably the owners fault in the first place that the wolf hurt someone.

I have seen several people with mals who have dominance issues. They were originaly bred to pull sleds, and their behavior towards humans was not something that the breeders worried a lot about, thus mals often have issues with aggression (as it has been told to me, I have never researched any of this info to see if it is true). I am glad your vet allowed you to keep the mal mix as a dog though. Wolfdogs are illegal in IL.

I would love to see pics of of your malamute mix, if you have any. It is not uncommon for nordic breeds and mixes to be accused of being part wolf. In one case, a champion Malamute was put to sleep when neighbors accused it of being a wolf, and wolves were illegal in that area. In another case, a man's pure Siberian Husky was 'released' into the wild after it escaped, was captured by Animal Control, and identified by them as being a 'pure wolf'.

~Seij

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unfortunately, the only pics I have of him are photographs, and I dont have a scanner. His name was Jarvis, because with the black and white coat and markings, he looked rather like a butler in serving dress. Try to imagine a 100 lb dog, black with white markings (like a butler, border collie coloring) with the bushy tail and a BC type head. floppy ears.
wide head, big feet. lots of fur between the toes, long enough when not cut to cover the pads. The vet determined him to be a small part wolf because of his teeth. His mouth was huge, and his teeth enormous, and curved under. She did some blood work on him too, although what that was I'm not sure. She warned me that if there were any incidents with him, the odds were good he would be put down. So I was very afraid of his ever
misbehaving. He didnt in the 13 years I owned him, but it took a lot of training and discipline.

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With the floppy ears and black and white markings I doubt if there was really any wolf in him. I have seen only one *verified* wolfdog that was black and white (tan and white, actually) and it was several generations removed from a pure wolf. I don't know much about color genetics, but I do know that I have only seen the black and white coloring on dogs with very little or no wolf in them. Floppy ears are also something I see in dogs who have little or no wolf. The large curved teeth probably couldn't have proven much, since Alaskan Malamutes also have large teeth, with curved canines, much the same as in a wolf. I have also seen a lot of mals with very large feet, as big as a wolf's. As for blood tests, DNA can only prove if a wolf is pure wolf. It cannot prove whether or not a dog is part wolf.
If you go to Google, and do an image search on Alaskan Malamutes, it will show you HUNDREDS of malamute pictures. A lot of them look quite 'wolfish'.

It was wrong of your vet to try pushing to get your boy labled as a wolfdog and get you to confess that he might be 'dangerous'. I saw on tv once a little Yorkshire Terrier who belonged to a woman who never taught it that she was alpha. When the dog was in the woman's chair, and the woman approached it, the dog would bare its teeth, snarl, growl, and lunge at her. Had this yorkie been a WOLFdog, it would have been put to sleep for being 'viceous' and 'dangerous'. It's unfair really, that wolfdogs and other large dogs are treated so harshley for aggressive behavior that so often can be corrected, when little dogs can be aggressive yet be treated as though such behavior is normal and acceptable.

~Seij

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I cant exactly remeber where I read this but these dogs are shown and registered as dogs not wolves.

I can see what youre saying when not all people can have these dogs but isnt this the same situation as the pit bull? Not every person can handle a pit, nor can every person be trusted with them either. Does that mean we must ban them, no! I signed the petition because I believe these are dogs and wolf is only so much of their blood.

Now, bringing up what kind of people should own them thats completely a different debate. Certain breeds need extensive care and training and should be placed with the right person.

I honestly dont think any breed should be banned no matter what. I think all dogs deserve a chance and shouldnt be restricted from a place.

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"Now, bringing up what kind of people should own them thats completely a different debate. Certain breeds need extensive care and training and should be placed with the right person. "

Very good point. Not everyone is equiped to own a wolfdog, yet not everyone is equiped to own a poodle. I've known people who I wouldn't even trust to own a hamster!

~Seij

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although I have to agree, my fear is that these dogs would end up being destroyed, much as the Pit's are today. you are absolutely correct, some people should not be allowed to own certain types of dogs (IMO, some people shouldnt own dogs AT ALL...) but there are no laws in place to enforce that, and I am only thinking of the consequences to the dog.
There are already people that think that ALL wolves should be destroyed....Pit's at least are accepted as a breed of dog...you throw in the word "wolf" and people start panicking. There is already a huge debate going on here, as to whether the Coyote's that have returned should be driven out, or killed. I cant tell you how much politicking I have been doing to prevent that. They want to get rid of the Foxes, too, and this area of the state is know as the "Fox Valley"!!!!

You even mention a wild animal, and everyone panics. They have no idea how much these "wild animals" go out of their way to avoid us. they know better. And they dont want to hear, or learn....

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