Czechoslovakian Wolfdog

The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is a breed of wolfdog that grew out of an experiment begun in Czechoslovakia in 1955. It was created by crossing Carpathian gray wolves with German Shepherds.

History

In 1955 Colonel Karel Hartl, working with the cynologist Heiri Machat, began to consider crossing a Carpathian gray wolf with a German Shepherd as a scientific experiment in the Czechoslovak military kennels. The first hybrids were born on 26 May 1958 in Libějovice, in what is now the Czech Republic. Their mother was a wolf named Brita and their father a sable German Shepherd named Cézar z Březového háje.

The breed was called the Czech Wolfdog until 1982, the year it is said to have been recognised as a national breed in Czechoslovakia. The FCI gave it definitive acceptance in 1999 and places it in its group of sheepdogs and cattle dogs. The American Kennel Club published a breed standard in 2024.

In 2012, 168 females and 170 males were officially registered in the Czech Republic.

A DNA study in 2015 compared the breed with German Shepherds and Carpathian wolves. It found only two maternal and two paternal lineages in the breed. Both maternal lineages and one paternal lineage came from German Shepherds, the result of breeding the hybrids back to dogs, and the other paternal lineage was unique to the breed. The study concluded that only a limited share of wolf genes remains within a largely canine genome.

Appearance

The standard sets minimums rather than ranges. Males stand at least 65 cm at the withers and weigh at least 26 kg; females are at least 60 cm and 20 kg.

The coat is straight and close-fitting. It is very thick in winter and thinner in summer. The color runs from silver gray to yellow gray, always with a light mask and light hair on the chest and under the neck. Dark gray with the same light mask is also seen.

Use

Some of these dogs have been used for search-and-rescue work in the United Kingdom.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.