Wolfdog?

So I got a few questions and mail about my last post. To answer them all here...

Nothing really has changed in the overall amount or type of requests I get from overseas, or what I'm seeing through the internet, pictures, and in dog shows. THIS is exactly what I'm a bit worried about. When the only feedback people getting interested in the breed, owner, and even breeders, are getting is from people who know nothing about the breed this will create a problem. I think even unconsciously it will affect what breeders breed toward. In the worst scenario I think people breeding for profit or solely to produce pets will produce what the majority of their customers want. It's been a few years now, but other than getting some diversity overseas, it just seems to me that with a few exceptions, the quality of pups produced drops off after a generation or two.

People generally seem to love the wolf-like appearance of the breed (the black sesame coloration), and while saying they've done their research, still want a dog that does well with other dogs, can go everywhere with them, is super friendly etc.

We can have the argument here that a breed that is difficult for the average person to own will have trouble being 'preserved'. I get that. I also understand that a lot of breeders will want to produce dogs that are easy to sell. With my post I'm just trying to tip the scale in the other direction a bit. Hopefully the people that are interested in keeping type, understanding more about the different lines in the breed, and the different type they have, the history and temperament of the breed etc, will read this and move in a different direction. Let the others create a pet version of the breed that comes with a list of BIS BOB CH HDA.

That's something I guess, but there's more to the breed than that. NIPPO members are actually preserving a piece of the past, possibly a breed that no longer really fits into the average person's lifestyle, but that's what they've chosen to do. There doesn't seem to be too many overseas that understand that.

Comments

  1. I admit that the sesame and black sesame allure doesn't resonate with me. You can find those colors in other breeds like German Shepherds...

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  2. I'm in many wolfdog groups and know many friends locally with wolfdogs - I find them pretty useful for my Kishu Ken, to be honest. They have a lot of great ideas for containing their animals in a safe environment and making sure there are no backyard escapes, which my Kishu are very, very good at when they have the right motivator (a cat, a squirrel, a rabbit, etc, on the other side of the fence.)

    I sometimes post my dogs and find it really interesting that they think that the Shikoku is more wolflike (when I think the Kishu is probably a little more so - but the Kishu doesn't "look like a wolf", so they aren't as popular among these people). I hear every day how wolfy my Shikoku is on the street, but I just never saw it that way - and I think the people who think they look wolflike probably have never seen an actual wolf in person or really paid attention to what they look like (or act like).

    It's in my Shikoku's head shape - the little stop, the smallish, rounded ears compared to Western breeds, and, of course, the color - but to me, the Shikoku looks nothing like a wolf and really, frankly, doesn't act half as "wild" as my Kishu. He's older, though, and just physically not capable of the same things as the Kishu are...

    But yeah, it's something I always find funny. Especially when black sesame was the last color on my list of likes (and I'd still love a red sesame, if I ever had another Shikoku in my life...)

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