reccomend any wolf-dog or wolf looking dog breeders

[Aurora171989]

musky, I have educated myself very well, please don't get the thread locked

There is a guy in California that gets his wolf/husky mixes from Alaska. They are 3rd or 4th generation wolf/husky crosses. Something like 1/4 wolf (I think). He had a beautiful white coated, blue eyed one on the truck with him. *He's an long haul truck driver and has had the dog with him since it was a puppy.* The dog was very protective of the truck and barked at anyone that looked at him and started walking towards the truck. If the guy was around and he was friendly towards you, Baby *the dog's name*, was fine. He would walk up to you, grasp your arm/hand in his mouth and gently pull you where he wanted you to go. If you didn't move, he'd clamp down a tad tighter (never breaking the skin though) until you followed. It was either follow or be dragged around by the arm. He was nice, but very protective and assertive. When the guy "played" rough with him (grabbing around the muzzle and play fighting) the dog caught his hand in his mouth and broke the skin.

I believe they are beautiful animals, but I wouldn't recommend them.

[lakotasong]

Surprisingly, I got a quick response to my e-mail questioning what health testing the FL wolfdog breeder did.

I asked:

I was wondering what sort of health testing you do to assure that you aren't breeding animals with hip dysplasia, corneal dystrophy, cataracts, glaucoma, and other genetic illnesses that are seen in the breeds you mix with your wolves?

They responded:

First of all health testing does not assure that an animal will not come down with any of those problems but for the most part I just refuse to breed any animal that has had any health problems. I start with healthy stock and so far it has proved that healthy animals produce healthy animals. I do give a guarantee with all my pups for any genetic problems. So far after 25 yrs of breeding I have never produced any of the genetic defects you mentioned. Actually I have never known any hybrids to have any of the defects other than a few with hip problems and those particular animals were bred by people who did no research what so ever on the backgrounds of the animals and in most cases that I have heard of, they have bred with German shepherds from unregistered lines and pups from pets stores which often times are brother sister breeding and come from the Midwest puppy mills. We very seldom breed any pure dogs with our hybrids most are hybrids to hybrids.

First of all, I hate the "health testing isn't a 100% guarantee" excuse.

Responsible breeders utilize health testing to give their puppies the best possible chances of being healthy. They do not breed blindly!

One of my dogs, Haluna, was diagnosed with corneal dystrophy about four or five years ago. You couldn't tell by just looking at her. Now you can see that her eyes are a bit clouded, but it didn't visibly show until about a year and a half ago.

They've been breeding for 25 years, and from looking at their website they have a rather commercial breeding operation going. They can't possibly know the health status of every puppy they produced and sold.

They say they've never had a dog with a genetic problem, but they don't test - so they wouldn't know!!

[fillyone]

Originally Posted by Aurora171989

has anybody heard of this breeder?
http://www.longcoatgermanshepherds.c...Shepherds.html

As a GSD lover my advice is to stay away from anyone breeding outside of the GSD standard. Long coats are out of standard.
That said however, often long coat puppies will be born to stock coat adults. You see it more in the West German showlines but from time to time in working lines and American lines.

I also noticed the dogs are HUGE!
This is the standard:
German Shepherd Dog Height and Weight Standards
Males:
Height at the wither 60 cm to 65 cm (23.62 inches - 25.59 inches)
Weight 30 kg to 40 kg. (66.14 pounds - 88.18 pounds; Midrange = 77 pounds)
Females:
Height at the wither 55 cm to 60 cm (21.65 inches - 23.62 inches)
Weight 22 kg - 32 kg (48.5 pounds - 70.55 pounds; Midrange = 59.5 pounds)

So you can see her females at 100+ pounds are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of standard.
Here are a couple of my favorite sites that compare the different lines of GSDs and non-GSDs!
http://www.nwk9.com/type_comparison.htm
http://www.shawlein.com/The_Standard...eed_Types.html

And please, don’t get a GSD because they look like a wolf Get a GSD because you really want a GSD! They’re not for everyone.

[tempura tantrum]

Responsible breeders utilize health testing to give their puppies the best possible chances of being healthy. They do not breed blindly!

RIGHT ON. In other words...why WOULDN'T you health test? It's just one more thing you can do to ensure the safety of future generations.

One of my dogs, Haluna, was diagnosed with corneal dystrophy about four or five years ago. You couldn't tell by just looking at her.

And this is EXACTLY why "oh we've never SEEN any health problems in our lines before, so we don't need to test for them" is such a crock! Thank you for pointing this out Summitview. I too am flabbergasted by people who use this excuse.

Of course you're not going to see health problems if you're not LOOKING for them. And ESPECIALLY if you're selling your puppies at 5 and a half weeks of age. Sure...maybe your breeding stock LOOKS healthy, but how do you know they aren't both recessive carriers of some odd trait or health problem, one that will pop up in future generations (the generations you've just sold to unsuspecting puppy owners)?

This very scenario has played out time and time again in several breeds in the purebred dog fancy. Breeder "x" who's been in the breed longer than the rest of us have been breathing has bred 2 jillion champions, including BIS and BISS winners. It's a well-known fact they don't health-test half as much as they used to, but their current stud is #1 in breed and all breed, so every one rushes to use him. Besides, breeder "x" has informed everyone that "scary disease" doesn't run in her lines.

So imagine every one's shock when current stud's puppies start dropping dead at 3 years of age. Current stud is still going strong...but now how many of his COUNTLESS son's and daughters are affected? How many will die in the next year or so? How many are carriers? How many of THOSE dogs have been bred as well?

All it takes is ONE influential person to slack off and entire BREEDS can be devestated.

Look at some of the problems in Basenjis and you'll see what I'm talking about. I know some of the Australian Shepherd people are dealing with the same sort of problems as well.

While I recognize that we're talking about hybrids here, the major point is, that health testing is NOT optional for ANYBODY who breeds. No matter HOW healthy the animals appear.

[pitbulliest]

Aurora..you should consider rescuing. There are tons of husky and malamute rescues out there, especially up north. You'd be giving a dog in need a good home

[wolfsoul]

Originally Posted by musky hunter

each animal has it's own genetic's you cannot determine without examining DNA..each pup with the same parent's can have different charasteristics...Just stupid to say one has 55% and one 34%...

You absolutely can determine the percentage of wolf. You breed a dog to a wolf, it's 50% wolf (1/2 wolf). You breed one of the puppies to another pure dog, it's 25% (1/4) wolf. That's all the percentages are -- if you know the dog's pedigree, it's isn't hard to calculate the percentage of wolf a wolfdog carries.

I also completely disagree with breeding wolfdogs. There are people out there that shouldn't even have a dog, much less a wolfdog.

There are a ton of breeds out there that look like wolves. Just make sure you read about the temperments of each breed. I'm sure you'll find one that matches you well! People often ask me if my dogs are wolves (Belgian shepherds/sheepdogs).

Along with the other breeds mentioned there are the rarer Sarloos wolfhond and Czech wolfdog --- both very wolfy looking, but hard to find outside of Europe unfortunatly.

[Aurora171989]

thanks, I'll probably rescue or adopt a doggy from a shelter when i'm ready. I've seen all your opinions and advice and have made my decision.