Thanks for all of the insight :cheesy:. I appologize that it took so long for me to respond. Another question I have is; how large do CZW become? I am having trouble converting the measurements that I've seen to pounds and inches. :?

Males - average: 68-69 cm and 40-45 kg
Females - average: 64-65 cm and 30 kg.

So, does 69 cm and 45 kg translate to 26.5 in. and 99 lbs. or something close to that? :? Again, I am trying to translate the measurements into inches and pounds. 8)

Thanks again for all of the replies! :D

Males - average: 26.8-27.2 in. and 88.2-99 lbs.
Females - average: 25.2-25.6 in. and 66 lbs.
:mrgreen:

Height of CSW
 

Hi all.
there is an interesting 3d on italian forum for which maybe it could be nice to read from "non italian" owners experts.
It's about the height of dogs.
In brief: there is no maximium height for CSW.
-Was there a maximum in the past (it seems from some replies No)
-Shouldn't there be a limit in order to avoid getting "camel"-like dogs?

Some people a replying that the important thing is to respect proportions indicated in standard (height 55%, length 105% etc), without limitations of height.
Others (I am amongst them) say that the basic thing to respect is that a dog should look harmonic, elegant, but at the same time strong.
This shouldn't be limited in height because you can get such dog (for males) at 64cm just as at 73cm.
why is maybe the "best hight" in between these values(68 for example)? maybe because it's easier to maintain proportions on an average hight dog without the risk of having a heavy head with loose lip and big chest (too high) or having short legs and weak bones (too short).

-Further question: if you manage to find a strong, tall, well proportioned, with a light movement male of 72cm, would you rather use him in breeding or a 65cm very light male with a wonderful looking wolfish head although not so elegant?
OR would you simply use them both in the same way according to the "right" female?

What do you think??

massimo

Hello Massimo,
it is too long answer for my bad english :o) . So, I write you my personal meaning.
65,5cm high dog is good. 73cm high harmonic dog is good too. Is not different in using them for females. But: how much people want puppies from 65,5cm high dog? More people want puppies from higher dogs. For 64cm high females are good both males 66cm and 73cm high too.
So, high is not important.
But I want know more opinions from other breeders.

But I'm also interested to know from you and others if it is "less" advisable to allow the average hight of CSW increase or not.
Should breeders tend to select more compact/smaller/wolfish csws?
Should breeders tend to select more tall/elegant/powerful csws?
From your reply it's clear that maybe for people the second is preferrable.
I suppose we both have a "similar" preferance, considering the males we own... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


But I'm curious to know what others think, czechs AND slovaks too....
Massimo

The breed standart says in short terms that the CSW should look like a European wolf. A male European wolf can have a high of over 70 cm. So for me it is elegant/powerful/wolfish.
I don´t mind if a male is small or tall as long as he is of that type. I don´t have to be afraid that the puppies will be too small because I know that even my smallest bitch allways has puppies of good height. Therefor I only look for a male that fits my female. And I wouldn´t take a male with too short legs, that is too heavy build, with an untypical head, untypical movements, a bad back line or a bad character.
The experience in other breeds show that you get problems if you breed for very tall dogs or heavy dogs. I think we don´t need to have a heightlimit as long as we don´t prefer dogs just because they are tall and nothing else.

Ina

Hello Massimo,
you write two posiibility:
Should breeders tend to select more compact/smaller/wolfish csws?
Should breeders tend to select more tall/elegant/powerful csws?
But no exist theese two possibilty, only. I know much combination of this . Smaller can be elegant and compact can be powerfull :o
Of course, nobody prefer high, heavy dogs. But high elegant dog with beautifull movement......
And my opinions are: from normal high dogs 62 and 68 cm parents can be very small puppies. It is nature.
In the Italy is breeding very easy. You have only one stanpoint: beauty. You can choose parents only from beauty or high (?).Where is character of working breed? Where is health? And have you got certitude-the parents in pedigree are parents really? I think, in some kennels-NO. A lot of "breeders" use dogs without RTG, without bonitation. It is bigger problem than high. Sorry, it is simplificatied view from Czech to Italin . Yes, you have much beautiful dogs, but without breed value for BREEDING.Not for "breeding". Because we need for breeding dogs with RTG results, with bonitations, not only products from some "wolfdogs". How much breeders openly tell about it in Italy?
Oh Massimo, I see I don´t write about high :o) Sorry.
Yes, high, elegant wolfdog with very good and strong character and with longer coat and HIP Dysplasia free - it is my ideal. I want have full garden of theese wolfdogs. But it is dream, only.

For me is not only the exterior important :mrgreen:
A stable dog with a good and strong character is for me also very importent! (unfortunaly there are also frightened and scary CsW's in some country's)

When I am looking for stud dogs, yes I first look for exterior of a male that fits with my female :wink:
And for a CsW is for me important: wolfish/powerfull/elegant/strong but light moving

When I have made a first selection I look to HD results, bonitation (if they have) and wright's coefficient

I also visit several males (long time before a female is in heat :mrgreen: )to get an impression how they are and what their character is.

So only the height of a stud dog is less important for me

We mostly do the same. What I really care about too is the HDresults of the dogs offspring if there already is some, not only his own results.

Ina

Hi mijke,
thanks for your comments but maybe I wasn't clear enough and brought you slightly out of thread.
I didn't ask "what do you look for as most important in a CSW".
I personally have a special feeling for a male I know personally which is maybe the most wolfish CSW around...BUT because of his character i wouldn't ever want one of his sons...
For me health and Character are MORE important that looks, no doubt.
I was concentrating on "large/tall" or "small/short".
However you mentioned something for me very important:
LIGHT MOVING
isn't it so difficult to find "large" csw but LIGHT MOVING??
Perfect proportions allow a dog to have light movement, just like wolves. If you ever saw wolves in real life or on documentaries, they seem to float on the ground, swiftly and magically, and prey can't even detect them from very near.
A dog with a large chest or too long body looks clumsy when he walks and is far away from being elegant...
massimo

First of all Hanka I really thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with us.
it's not so common for a person like you to write so openly and freely on internet.
In Italian forum, in those "rare" cases when people are not fighting like "chicken"... :roll: :oops: :shock: ....sometimes some threads are interesting and we have the luck to read comments from interesting/experienced breeders like Sarka Matrasova (ariminnum) or Andrea Pecharova (Foresta Incantata).
However the argument you mention, although not really on thread, is really interesting and deserves a small comment.
I am new in the wolfdog world and surely have less experience than you , but i'm lucky to live in the country with the most number of wolfdogs and I see so many of them in shows, meetings, training camps, bonitations etc.
I agree with you that in Italy there is no limit, no power from breeding committe as in Cz or Sk and therefore some dogs which should NEVER mate do it and nobody can stop owners from making puppies.
I personally would really like it if it was compulsary to make bonitation, I even would never give a dog a pedigree if he doesn't have bonitation/morphological selection.
But I wouldn't say A lot of "breeders" use dogs without RTG, without bonitation.
The first bonitation made in italy was in 2003 and our club has become officialy recognised only since 2 and a half years
Since then a lot of improvement has been made in italy, already 6 bonitations have been made.
Of course it is not controlled and we still have breeders mating brothers and sisters regardless of the side effects, but a lot of information is running and the "most important" breeders are ever more pushing in the right direction.
I do not agree with you when you say in italy most breeders look at beauty disregarding health and character.
It is really difficult or almost impossible to find a breeder which mates wolfdogs with HDC in Italy. The most used studs are generally all bonitated.
Characters are improving really a lot and I rarely see in shows dogs with tails under their stomach.
Our club is starting to organize training meetings and exams.
We are still not at the CZ level of course but improvement is visible.
It's true, a breeding comittee allows a certain level of control, but the possibility however to mate "wrong" dogs always exists!
It mainly depends on the consciousness of the breeder...but it also can happen in CZ or in SK! :mrgreen:
If the owner of a dog measures his own csw during bonitation and "casually" it is just 0,5cm above minimum....
A very colleric or shy dog can be "trained" to pass bonitation....hoping in those 2-3 minutes of "apparent" calmness...
A dog with more than one displasic brother or sisters and with "doubtful" xrays can be allowed to mate....
I've personally seen more than one bonitation in CZ and SK, and the character test in one occasion was COMPLETELY different from the other in terms of power put by the figurante...
Another thing that surprises me is that owners of males from CZ or SK, with such strict breeding rules, but allow their dog to cover bitches in different countries without bonitation...isn't that a nonsense?
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
This can happen everyware there are unhonest people...Luckily there is the possibility to do the Paternity Test!!!
:mrgreen: :wink: :cheesy: :D :D
massimo

Hi at all!
Massimo, what I see, the Italians breeders is flowers if you compare with the french breeders, that more seems a childrens fight for saw who have the best toy, you can see some kid atitudes comes from french breeders in relaction at others breeders of the same countrie, if you read the french forum will see till breeders say that will "broken the face" of the other breeder, this is alone one little exemple for show the point that have arrive.
Still in the french you can see one breeder say that make one improvement of the breed in the country breeding females that arrive at 72cm high. :roll: the problem is that this breeders forgoth the wolfish appearence and have make Tervuerens with the CzW pedigree. :mrgreen:

I think that not have moctive for breeding for up the high of the breed, why move in winner team!?

Your cannot forgoth that CzWs aren't Borzois :mrgreen: , they are working "enduraced" dogs, up the high of the breed in my opinion is alone for have more problems with the displasy and others problems, one much high dog at little will lost the agility, and this alone will open the eyes for "breeders" that alone see the appearence.

About the stud dogs of the origine country that mating eith out-country females non-bonitated, I tink that this will depend on what country and what breeder you talk, still not exist one country with the excuse for have dogs non bonitated used in the breeding because all is in the europe, at my view point, isn't longer for the breeders come one time per year in the origine country bonitate the breeding dogs and pupies, and other, they go for the origine country for buy pupies, isn't different the way for comes and bonitate the dog, why they not make this? fear the result of one super-show-winner receive a P14 in bonitation because of the temperamento non-sociabilizated??
I tink that this can be one trying for help to improve the breed in out-countries :? well, I know that I dream so much :mrgreen: .

Well, is my opinion, I alone saw ( better, reading) all this from far :|

Paula

Hello Massimo, I love you :o, we must speak together in the future :o
Yes, good breeding is not easy, is somebody want do it GOOD.

then love is returned surely!! :oops:
and in particular I like czech women! :grosscool

Ok, here is an official and public appointment: when MONA/ALI puppies are ready we can go and get OUR superpuppies at the same time.
What do you think?
as you see, I appreciate good breeding so much that...I look for quality! :cheesy:
massimo

This discussion points out that breeding for dog-shows and show-titles is more or less a detriment for a breed. The requirements for breeding in the countries of origin of this breed (bonitations and functional testing) are very important factors for the development of a healthy, functional and harmonious dog.
But when it comes to size I think special attention must be kept on this factor to prevent loss of size through the generations. For some reason that I dont really understand, it seems that a decrease in size often occur when inbreeding or linebreeding. Last time I saw a group of Checkoslovakian wolfdogs they looked smaller than some years earlier. A similar tendency is seen among Saarlooswolfdogs.

This i like a lot!!
thanks fenris.
but...i've seen around in cz and italy and haven't noticed a reduction in size at all, on the contrary, people are asking themselves if there aren't a bit too many "larger" dogs.
in sk maybe there is a tendency to reduction? maybe.
Maybe it's due to the very small number of csw?
or maybe that not many studs from abroad with different blood are being used?? could be a good argument for discussion (no polemics please, just plain minded thoughts)

isn't that scientifically proven?
massimo

Hello Massimo,
Mona must have I think 10puppies, all want puppies from this litter :D
About date of pick up: I will see, we can write about it later.

I heard that historical there was maximum size for CLT: 70 cm for male and 65 cm for female before. I heard that F. Rosik from Slovakia told about one of the Italian males (during a dog show in Nitra) that the male is too BIG (maybe it was because the male was looking so DIFFERENT from other dogs in the youth class - light coloured, very long, with different body build). And even now many breeders in origin countries are ashamed if their females are bigger then 65cm. The reasons is: there MUST be VISIBLE difference between female and male. Huge females get very often worser notes and text "too masculine".

But there IS the maximum written in the breed standard. :) It is hidden in the 'cynological' speak but it is there... Look in the "GENERAL APPEARANCE:". You can find there words "Above average size". No words about "LARGE size". Average size are breeds where males have max 65cm. Most of the breeds which are described as "large size"" start already at 70 cm... By CzW there is written "above average size" (no words like "a medium to large size" which would mean that big dogs are also 'welcome'). So according to the standard Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs should be 65-70cm... "Camels" are not "typical" CzW... ;)

The same info you can find in the bonitation card. Look on the codes for sizes:
An - height under 65 cm for males and 60 cm for females
As - 65-70cm for males and 60-65 cm for females
Av - over 70cm for males and 65 cm for females

What mean the abbreviations? 'n' = "nízký", means low/small. 's' = střední, means middle, and 'v' = vysoký, means large/high.
And it means that a male of 68 cm has AVERAGE (MIDDLE) size. And female of 68cm is not typical but LARGE. The same with males over 70cm....



Even the wolves are not so HUGE. I know many people look on the Canadian and American Wolves in the movies or TV (and their height of even 90cm) but CLT should look like EUROPEAN Wolves which are red coloured and not so big. Here you have some examples:
** adult wolf and adult CLT (69) - as you can see the wolf is smaller
http://www.wolfdog.org/pol/gallery/pic23381.html
*** here you see other adult (and pretty large) european wolves and adult CLT male (70cm) - as you can see the CLT is much higher as the wolves
http://www.wolfdog.org/pol/gallery/pic27961.html
This photos were taken in Czech Republic but we have similar photos with European Wolves from Poland, Slovakian and Hungary... And it is really not true that wolves are huge...

European Wolves have about 70cm (males). The average size of adult CzW is about 67,54. So you can see the difference is only about 2.5 cm... But more important is the weight - the European Wolves have 70 cm but weight about 41kg (females about 32kg). It is MUCH less than by most CzW where you can see 67 cm high CzW with 65 kg... Simply said - many CzWs are TOO fat (too heavy) -> NO MORE TYPICAL, NO MORE WOLFISH. Expecially when you look on the large CzW (over 70cm) you will see that most of them look more like South Asian Ovtscharkas than Wolves... ;) And it is the main problem... I know breeders of large dogs say their dog move light, that wolves are also large and, and, and... They are simple totally sure only their Wolfdogs are right. But when you look on their dogs you ask yourself - HE? THIS LARGE SHEPHERD IS CALLED A WOLFDOG?

I'm not a big friend of CzW which are on the minimum size... A nice wolfish male with 68, 69 or 70cm looks ALWAYS better than nice wolfish male with 65 cm... ;) But I know the reality and it is almost not possible to find "nice wolfish male" which is over 70 cm... So it is the reason why I use for my females dogs of average size but TYPICAL... I will never use a male only because the male is BIG. The size is for me one of the last things which count for me when I'm choosing a stud dog...

Yes - it is the most common reason.... 99.999% of the "wolfish" CzWs are not higher than 70 cm ;) Why? Because in the most cases when you look in the pedigrees of the HUGE CzWs you will see that not the genes of a Wolf but the genes of a German Shepherd Dogs are responsible for such huge size.... The biggest and heaviest CzW have a lot of GSD blood in their veins - comming mainly from the last crossing (Kazan z PS and his offspring which were not Wolfdogs but HUGE BLACK GERMAN SHEPHERD DOGS) - it is the reason why you can meet heaviest and largest CzW almost only in Czech Republic by the "old lines".

What do you mean with "light movement"? Even bulldogs can move "light" - compared to other dogs of their breed... ;) But there is other problem - you wrote about italian forum and it fits very well because I saw some large dogs from Italy which are at the same time VERY long (with the index of format much higher than 111). Such dogs move LIGHT but not like WOLFDOGS. I know some breeders like to breed so long dogs because the judges (all-rounders) like such movement (long trot) but it is not the typical CzW movement described in the breed standard.
The second problem is visibiel not only in Italy but also in other countries - many owners of large dog say "my dog is huge but moves light" but it is also not what we mean with "harmonious, light footed, ground covering trot". Why? Because their dogs are build like GSD - have large and broad chests, strong angulation of the legs, longer bodies. Such dogs also seem to move "light" but like light "old German Shepherd Dogs"... ;)

Simply said - in the most cases when the owners of large CzWs say their Wolfdogs move "light" the dogs really have light movement but not light movement of Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.... ;) In Poland we have even Wolfdogs which look like perfect GSDs (the only difference is they have white mask and are not black but also their owners will even swear also their dogs move light... ;) So I never believe whan someone says a CzW moves light until I have not seen this dog with my own eyes... ;)

...BUT...

if we really have the case that I must choose between large, well proportioned CzW with light movement and a not so elegant male with wolfish head I will take the first one. Why? Because the head can be changed pretty fast with the right selection. But it is VERY hard to "repair" wrong proportions and unharmonious body build...you need GENERATIONS to make it right....

First problem is - many breeders make mistake and are not able to distinguish between HEAVY Wolfdogs and WELL BONED Wolfdogs... So a "wolfish" CzW can be at the same time also "powerful". "Small" can be also "elegant" (as I already wrote in the most cases wolfdog of the average size are more elegant than the tall ;)). So the breeders should breed Wolfdogs which are:
compact/elegant/wolfish/powerful... :)

"Improvement"???? Sorry, but I know breeders which were hidding the information that their females are higher that 65cm... Because it is nothing to be proud of it... ;)
Our friends have female which ist ("only" ;)) 67.5 and they heard already more times that an expert judge said "Sorry, but male were already judged"... Or - "who are the parents of this male..."
Sure - there are also females which are 62 cm and look "heavy" and masculine like CzW males. But there are almost no large females which still look typical and feminine... And I still writing about females with the size 67-68 and not 72(!)cm....

I would also not say it - the Wolfdogs are not getting smaller but bigger. And there is HUGE difference when you compare the look of the Wolfdogs bred 10 years ago and now - in the most cases "new" CzW are much more "wolfish". But the judges do not preffer small dogs but too large (I mean heavy) - they really do not look how typical a dog is. The judge according the rule: "the heavier the better".

=================

But back to the main topic: there are much more important reasons why people do not want to breed very huge CLT:

1) I would say about 99% of the CLT males which are bigger than 70 cm do not have the typical body and look. In the most cases such CLTs are too heavy and look more like huge GSD or Molosses and are no more 'wolfish'...

2) Huge (-> heavy) dogs have much often problem with the hips - with HD and even ED

3) Huge dogs are no more resilient and are not able to run long distances (which is one of the most typical features of this breed)... We saw that in the most cases large CLT have even problems to run 20 km. And are not able to pass 40km runs...

4) The best working CLT are of average size. Large dogs are too heavy and too lazy to get any better results in training. You will see that the best working males (with the most passed exams) are: 68, 67, 68, 68, 68, 67 cm. And females: 61.5, 64, 64, 63, 61, 64, 62.5 cm. As you can see all of them are of average or small size. The only big dog with nice exams is Hero od Uhoste but he is also very slim and typical looking (not one of the Moloss type CLT). I know of course two CLTs with many exams - one is 71cm and second 70.5 but the owners stopped to make exams with them because they were so heavy so they get HUGE problems with their hips and it was not possible to work with them anymore...

So it is the reason why none of the important breeders has as goal to breed huge dogs... They care for the typical wolfish look, for the right character, for the right indexes. But not for the size... The only important thing is: the CLT should not be too small. If a dog is over the 70 cm it is not a problem but ONLY if the dog is typical...

I am a bit surprised about this. I am myself owner of two very large females (well above the minimal height), and I never felt ashamed of their size. On the contrary, I am happy about their size. Yet I do not think, they´d look masculine or heavy at all.

Yes, it happened to me too, at dog shows, that the judge thought my females were too big, or even said about one that she was having masculine look. The main problem was usually in fact, that there were no "masculine" looking males at the dog show, and scary enough, my females were bigger than most of males present!

Next to a "jackal" looking male, my females will always look more heavy and "masculine", because they look like real dogs.
On the other side, compared to normal masculine looking male (see picture), there is no doubt who is female and who is male. And that even when the male is actually almost on the height limit.

http://vlcisen.wolfdog.cz/images/sto...holky_bard.jpg

My larger female has better movement, than many smaller females or males that I´ve recently met. She can run 20 km, or more, without being tired (but I do!). And she looks like a wolf when trotting, opposite to smaller dogs, that look like jackal hopping .. :shock:

And with such large female, logically smaller sized males (65, 66 or 67 cm) can be used without worries, that the pups will not achieve the minimal height. Which can easily happen, if mating males and females both closely to the height limit.

Therefore, I do not think the problem again is the size of the dog. Yes, 72cm is maybe too much for a female, after all, we breed dogs and not horses.

But what really matters, is the way the dog is built. If the female is 68cm, moves lightly and looks like female (next to normal looking males), then there is no problem. Maybe the bigger problem we have, is that there starts to appear a lot of males, that are not having typical masculine head and body built. And if the male is not looking like a male, it is fault against the standard. But it cannot be solved by eliminating larger females, so that the males "look masculine" next to them. :(

interesting mirka
I wonder if a breeder should be ashamed more if his female is too "big" or "heavy" or if he should be ashamed if his male is too "small" and "feminine"?
Personally I have a very small female and although she has got Hip displasia even if she didn't I'm not sure if I would have used her. I wonder how many others have the same "criteria".
Not many I think.
I'm not speaking "only" about Height but of Masculine looks and bones.

I remember so much critisism about using Cutt who was too short (64,5cm), but he didn't give the majority of "short" sons.
I agree with the critisism that he was used too much, this I agree surely.
But Cutt is a Male, strong male, looks and behaves like a male.
I've seen some breeders use males who really looked not masculin at all (and they were "just" over the limit!).

"Maybe" what's important are the results: if a breeder done well or bad we can only now it after, not before.
Otherwise many many breeders shouldn't be allowed to breed, and I'm not only speaking about Italy of course....
massimo

Mirka - it is a I wrote - I do not say ALL dogs which are bigger must be untypical. I say ALMOST ALL are untypical.
You show your dogs in the countries of "jackals".... :mrgreen: Every typical female will be bigger and stronger than "jackal" males.... :mrgreen:

When I write about 'masculine females' I do not mean the case when one judge which do not have any idea about this breed wrote such words in the show card... ;) I mean females which are bigger and STRONGER that strong build Czech males... :mrgreen: I say about females which have very bad contact with the males of this breed because the males are mislead by their look - even the males think it is a male and are growling on them because they do not recognize it is a female.... 8)

And in the most cases the untypical look is connected with the size. The same is with males. Sure they are very nice and very typical males which are bigger than 70cm but the majority of the males which are bigger than 70 cm is untypical: too heavy, too molosoid.

You right - the endurance runs are one of the best ways to make proper selection. I know CzWs which are almost on the minimum of the size which were not able to pass the exams because of their wrong body build. But most of the dogs which are not able to pass it are HUGE and HEAVY.
It is the reason why I think the endurance run should be taken into consideration during the bonitation results. If we will decide that ONLY dogs which passed the endurance exams (SVP1 would be enough) with excellent note would get the P1 we would have no more too heavy, untypical dogs which get the perfect code but which are not able to run even 20km. The test would be the best criterion to say which dog is typical and which is not. Because the "typical" look is not connected with the size but with the body proportions. Such step will finish the old story with the size - it would be simple:
PEOPLE CAN BREED LARGE (AND EVEN HEAVY) WOLFDOGS OR SMALLER AND LIGHTER - BUT THEY CAN BREED ONLY DOGS WHICH CAN PASS THE BASIC TEST WITH THE NOTE EXCELLENT.
Because we all know dogs which are called "perfect", P1, "great" and "typical" by their owners but were almost tired to death after the 20 km run.... :twisted: :wink:

No - the story with the size is much more complicated... We already saw that the size of the parents is not so important as their "genes"... Just look on your female - she is over the average size but her parents are almost on the minimum size. And she is "Slovak line" ;) it means "supposedly" the small one... :mrgreen: If you get different males (with the same height) for the same female you will get puppies which have different size...

At the moment I will say there is no more problem with the dogs which do not reach the minimum size in the origin countries. I heard from different breeders about one line where the dogs do not reach the minimun because of their "genes" but the dogs are very INBREEDED and not from SK or CZ. I heard rumors about the same problem in some French kennels but I didn't saw the dogs so far and because the bonitation results are missing I can not confirm it...

EXACTLY :D

And here is the difference - what you write is right when we speak about "your" countries (NL, FR, LU, BE)... :wink: You have there problem with males which have too light bones, too small, which have too narrow heads with feminine look. The females are OK.
But here the story is different - we have more females which are too masculine, too huge, too heavy.
I can tell you - on one summer camp I saw WONDERFUL male. I was prepared to use this male to cover my female. The male was great - beautiful dry head, large size, great body.... Jolly from the begining was crazy about him - she really liked him... But this male had no tescticle.... :twisted: I was shocked when I asked the owner for name of this dog and I heard it was ... a FEMALE.... I'm really not a begginer which is not able to distinguish CzW male from CzW female.... :mrgreen: And I'm talking about such cases like this... :)

Again, I am sorry but I have to disagree. I was not speaking about "my" countries at all. Or maybe I was, because I consider "my" countries to be Czech Republic and Slovakia. And this summer, in both of these countries I´ve seen males, that were not able to match my females. I had Czech owner running towards me happily with his tiny female, telling her on the way:"Woo, let´s go see these two gorgeous males..". When I stopped him in time explaining they were females, he was totally shocked and then sad about size and look of his own female. :|

This summer, I´ve met many dogs in Lazne Belohrad, that were males and did not look like males at all. If I have to bend and look down everytime I meet a wolfdog to figure, if it is female or male, then there is something wrong. The sex of the male or female should be clear for the first sight.

So what is worrying me, is not the size of our dogs, but the raising amount of "unisex" looking dogs with light bones and light heads. This summer in CR (and SR) I saw, the jackals reached the East countries, too. :(

HAHAHAHAHA!!!
and the "few" male looking males, your female behaved with them in such way to make them seem like puppies...
massmio

:cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy: You will never forget to Cira, that she can beat Oliver any time, will you ;) But she is very special, you see. :mrgreen:

Hello everyone. my name is Esther and I am the proud owner of one of Hanka's dogs, O'Taro od Uhoste. My wolfdog is a male and he is just 65 cm tall. The fact is that he looks small compared to Italian big males, but he looks much more wolfish and agile. The truth is I prefer a limited height, i.e. not more than 70-72cm. Greetings specially to hanka

Hello Taro. I see that youre from Barcelona. Last year when I visited Barcelona I also had the opportunity to see the 2 or 3 iberian wolves (canis lupus signatus) in the central zoo in Barcelona. Have you seen them? The sex differences are huge. The female was small and fox-like while the male was large and gave the impression of a wolfdog. They were very different from our Scandinavian wolves. My guess is that the female stood only approximately 60 - 64 cm while the male must have reached some 70 - 75. Also the proportions of the body was quite different.

Hola Taro
You should be proud of your dog IN ANY CASE.
My Lunatica is below standard (58 approx) and Hd D, but I wouldn't change her or give her away for ANY MONEY AT ALL!!!
But I believe my male is more in type than her because of height and structure and bones.
I assure you that SHE is much much more wolfish than him!
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ca3_resize.jpg
65cm is 7cm less than 72cm, so it's obvious that he looks smaller.
But it doesn't mean he looks worst. :cheesy: :wink:
He would also look smaller than Hanka's Ali...(as many other wolfdogs would...)

As already others mentioned, other things are more important than height: character, health, proportions, these are things to be proud about!
massimo

Hello i was just wondering why the breed standard weight is lower than what you wrote.

In ther breed standard is written only the MINIMUM weight. I wrote about the average weight... :p

oh ok thank you for explaining :D

8 months
 

Hello,

Can somebody tell me how tall and how many kilos should a female of 8 months should have? I am worried that my dog is too thin..

Thanks a lot,
Ioana - Romania

You should be able to feel the rips without having to push your fingers through a layer of fat. Wolfdogs that are growing are very often looking a little bit skinny, that is normal and much better than too fat.

Ina

thanks!
 

Dear Ina,

Thanks a lot for your info.. I probably am a little bit paranoid...

Ioana

On the other hand, if you see more than the last pairs of ribs, then the dog is too thin... But be careful, in this age the growing is already slower and if you feed too much the dog can get fat in just a few weeks.

hi
 

Dear Saschia,

I don't actualy see the ribs, but I can feel them..
I feed my dog mostly raw chicken meat and bones, boiled hart and cow liver, cow meat. I let her eat as much as she wants. She refuses to eat dog food, but I do give her vitamines.. I probably get worried because she often eats only one time a day . Is that ok you think?

Thanks a lot,
Ioana

Hi Iolana, this seems OK. Eating once a day in this age - depend on the dog. I fed my twice a day until 18 months, but changed from 3 to 2 portions in day already in 3.5 months, because in the hot weather my dog didn't want to eat lunch. If she doesn't want to eat more often, that's fine.
I would advise you to feed the heart and especially liver raw. You need to compensate for it by bones, but liver contains many vitamins, so it is pity to spoil it by cooking.
You also should measure how much she eats now, and not offer her more.
Also, I remember that around 9 months my wolfdog stopped growing that fast and with the same amount of food and excercise as before she got a bit fatter than ideal... So watch out.

thanks
 

Dear Saschia,

Thanks a lot for your post, I am really very new at this..

Also, it seams that I have a very unlucky wolf.. yesterday she broke a tooth!! One of her canines. Does somebody know if that can be reconstructed in some way?

Thanks,

Ioana

Yes, it can be reconstructed with resine or ceramic ( white normal tooth) or using a "metal protesis" ( metallic tooth).

If you want to learn more about feeding your dog raw food than you should read the books:
Give your dog a bone , Ian Billinghurst
Grow your dog with Bones , Ian Billinghurst
The barf diet , Ian Billinghurst
or

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and cats, the ultimate diet, Kymothy R. Schultze.

The last 2 books are relatively small books and easy to read.

If she broke a Canine tooth than you should get her to a dentist-veterinarian as soon as possible!! to seal the Canine so that it won't become inflammated. Dont wait to long otherwise she wil definately loose this one and it wil get inflammated.

If it her baby Canine that this should be removed to prevent hurting her lasting Canine

good luck with your dog.

greetings Judith

thanks
 

Hello to everybody and thanks for your comments Judith.

We went to a vet yesterday and repaired the canine. It looks ok, though it is about half the other one's size. With this occasion we also haved her x-rayed! Unfortunately she has HD state 2 to 3..

It seams the discussion about the quality of Crying Wolf offsprings that I saw on this forum was not without reason, I am sorry to say..
We will try to do the best for Krala as we really adore her, but we will not let her breed.

There it is!

Lots of thanks again for all your advice!

ioana

It´s quite early, ioana. You should wait another year.

regards
Angelika

Hi Iona,

I agree with Angelika that it is too soon for the x-rays to make. A good vet should only make x-rays from young dog IF there are problems. And I personally would see that a specialist would make those pictures.

What you can do is give her extra Vit. C , this can help develop her hips and other joints and you should not give her to much excersise. Also she should be a lean dog when growing up.. not to much fat.

You said that you are feeding her raw things, can you tel what you are feeding her exactly ?
I only want to help you.

Good to hear that her Canine is already repaird :) , she won't look in a mirror and other dogs won't laugh to her that her Canines aren't the same size ;-)

csw's repaired tooth lasts almost one or two days...the best thing to do with broken thoot is...do nothing ;-)
May be orrible metallic capsule will last longer, but is not so sure and costs too much to try and to install it the doctor must weak the tooth.

Only take care and clean daily the mouth.

hi Navarre,

I think the only thing that was done is seal the rooth canal, That is very wise to do, because the root canal from a young dog is very wide . You prevent that the Canine rooth canal is getting imflammated and wil cause more problems.

This is something else than Canines from adult dog that become shorter due to biting on stones/benches/tennis balls, in those cases the rooth canal wil naturally become shorter so that an open rooth canal is prevented.

greetings Judith

hi
 

Hello all!

Yes, the vet took out the nerv of the tooth and just shaped it so that she won't hurt her tong with it, it was broken pretty badly. It looks ok now and she is happy again. I could not do nothing, I could see that she was hurting, she would not bite and the nerv was obvious..

About the HD, I'm so glad to see that people are optimistic!! The idea was that we could see that there is something wrong with her back legg, so I decided to take the xray together with the tooth repair, just to avoid another anesthesy.. I am no specialist, but I saw the xray and it is quitte clear unfortunately..

Judith, about the diet : raw chicken meat, raw cow meat, boiled cow organs. Boiled because she gets dyarrhea if she gets them raw.. And everything that we eat she gets to try, she likes fish for instance...

Thanks a lot for your commets, they are most welcome!!

Ioana

Hi Iona,

If the above is the only thing she is getting than I would definately suggest you to read some more about feeding your dog raw. What I mis is the calcium in the way of raw bones like chicken bones carcasses.

http://k9joy.com/RawFoodForDogs/ this is a book that you can download about feeding your dog raw food, I haven't read it but there are a lot of people that think this is a good book also.

I copy pasted some links from the dutch www.Barfplaats.nl site , so that you can read more about feeding your dog raw.

http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/barfprocon (een Engelstalige email groep waar voor en nadelen van BARF worden besproken)
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/rawfeeding (een Engelstalige email groep waar men probeert te voeren zoals een wolf eet)
http://www.touchmoon.com/dotters/raw/rawprep.html (leuke site met veel foto's over hoe je barf maaltijden kunt klaarmaken)
http://www.gesundehunde.com (Met duits forum over o.a. rauwvleesvoeding)
http://www.barfers.de/barf/index.htm (Duitse infosite over barf en o.a. hele duidelijke foto's van alle vleessoorten met alle waardes erbij !(onder photogallerie en dan futtermittel mit werte)
http://www.k9rawdiet.com/rawlinks.htm#The%20Pro-BARF%20Literature (voor allerlei artikelen over barf)
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/rawpetfood.html (voor een studie over barf vs brokken)
http://www.geocities.com/husky_in_nood/voeding.html
http://bonsah.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/barfing-border-terriers
http://www.coeurcanin.com/ (Franstalig)
http://www.germanshepherds.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB66 (Amerikaanse Herder BARF site)
http://www.barf.dk/ (Deense BARF site)
http://www.nordichundfoder.com/ (Noorse BARF site)
http://www.prizechoice.co.uk/ (Engelse BARF site)
http://mascotasmexico.com/perros/cuidados/barf (Spaanstalige BARF site)
http://mascotasmexico.com/foros/viewtopic.php?p=1769 (Spaanstalig BARF forum)
http://www.weim.net/sanpan/ACBA/ (Spaanstalig)
http://www.elistas.net/grupo/acba (Spaanstalige mailinglist)
http://www.maxschmatz.at/Page1315.html (Oostenrijkse website)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawdiet4dals/ (Engelstalig voor Dalmatians)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutrition (Engelstalig)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawdiet/ (Engelstalig)



I hope you have some time to read it :)

greetings Judith

p.s I personally don't give my dogs BARF but i am very interested in it. My dogs get a copple of time a week a complete fresh food out of the freezer. The rest of the week a good brand of kibble.

Hi, does she also get diarrhea when you feed bones with the raw organs? Because the blood in the organs is causing soft stool but is should be compensated for by bones. Raw chicken bones are good, also big bones from cow - but these are mor for fun than part of meal... But this should be in another thread...

It is sorry to read on your problems. I hope breeders will stop to breed dogs with so big problems by puppies. Now i see many only want to hide truth. I see Wolfdog.org people are also in it because removed from database all bad results of Crying wolf dogs and now you see only good one. :roll: But i see no good breeders use Crying wolf dogs - only crazy country is france now making more puppies and crossing dysplatic dogs with dysplatic dogs.... :roll:

I am not a veterinarian but i think if puppy have dysplasia it will be with dysplasia later. For it has no cure... :roll:

No, now you see only the official ones, that was sended together with a scan of the official pappers, proofing the result.
Normally the first result isn't the official yet, it's only for know if is all right with the dog or not, if is all right so people do the official one at right age, that's why is more common find good results than bad.

Dear Lupis
i invite you to write only things you can prove as it is very easy to throw shit on somebody's face but it's much more difficult to clean up.
I have a dysplasic Crying wolf dog (with official results!) and i wouldn't change her for anything else in the world... and she surely jumps, runs, enjoys her life much more than many other CSW in the world.
kennel who's dogs are xrayed and "some" are dysplasic is information.
Some kennels have NO dogs xrayes for for what YOU can be concerned ALL their dogs can be dysplasic.
And, again, no info on WD doesn't mean no info, WD doesn't always have complete information if owners and breeders don't collaborate.
It's a pity because it would be a very useful tool... but as usual politics are much stronger than real love for the breed.

You write breeder make official and not official result and write only good? But I see you removed all bad result Crying wolf dogs and only good are here. You mean breeder send you only official result of good hips and not send bad results and you removed them?

I write not only on Crying wolf but i see more breeders crossing dysplasic parents. You know breeder from france breed female Star Bright. Parents HD-B and HD-E. For you crossing parents HD-B and HD-C like Crying wolf and HD-B and HD-E is ok? I not write dogs are not nice and I like your Laguna but for me such crossing are not ok.

For me ANY dog with Dysplasia should not be used in reproduction, so it makes no sense to speak about Crying wolf or any other Breeder name.
But if you speak about Crying wolf I do not see any mateings between dogs with dysplasia.
HD-C and HD-B are risky but not forbidden and could be tried in extreem cases of Excellent dogs (I wouldn't try but I don't condemn it)
By the way... I don't own Laguna but Lunatica.... and they come from both HDA parents.
Massimo

No, you don't understand me.
normally everyone makes 2 exams of his dog, one so called pre-exam and the official one, these 2 are made in different ages.
Where I live the pre-examination is made with 18 months, the official result is made with 24 months.
So, the breeder/owner make the pre-exam at 18 months, if the dog is displasic he can castrate the dog and start the treatment or wait for make the official one when the dog have 24 months.
Normally, if the dog is already high displasic at the pre-exam with 18 months, the owner/breeder not do the official one, because have no need.
So, at the database only official results are showed, that's why have more good results than bads, normally people when receive a bad result at the pre-examination don't do the official.

HD
 

Hi everybody!

It is great to see people interested in this subject. I certainly love my dog and would not change her for any other. And because I love her so much, it makes my heart brake when I see her falling down when she runs or tries to turn. And this is why I am so mad on these irresponsible breeders. They have all the information they need, there is no excuse. Is there nothing we can do to stop these bad crossings??

Ioana

Hello Ioana,
what you write makes MY heart brake.
The dog you are speaking about is ULKA?
Do you know if Chester and Xenia have HD results?
Unfortunately NOBODY can oblige breeders to breed responsibly.... OWNERS can FORCE them to make quality, to work in the best direction.
If the parents have no HD results, then I would NOT buy a dog from a Breeder knowing that this dog could have some problems.
I'm not blaming you of course, but only by sharing information like this, on this forum, it is possible to reduce risk.
I could make many examples and unfortunately I could hurt many friends.
I can tell you what I did!
I made HD results for my dog, she was dysplasic and I made the results OFFICIAL, so everybody can see.
So, people, if they look for information, they will see that the parents of my dog have made dysplasic dogs...it's not something mathematical unfortunately (dysplasy is not perfectly genetical) but it could help.
Only OWNERS can oblige BREEDERS to work better by NOT BUYING dogs from them.
Massimo

Chapeuax bas, Massimo, chapeuax bas Mirka, Margo, Przemek, and all, who care to share information concerning their own dogs' health with other breeders and potential owners of CSVs!!! :klatsch
Rona

Didn't want to make a new topic, so I hope my question will suit here.
Could anyone please explain me the meanings of Height Index and Format Index?.. What are the "right" numbers and how are they counted? I didn't find anything about it o CsW standart...

Thanks in advance.

Index of height is a proportion between the length of front legs and height in withers (length of leg*100/height). As wolfdogs should be long-legged, and the standard says that the length of front legs should be 55% of heigt of the dog, this index should be between 54-55 for P1 dog.

Index of format say if the dog is of right format. The standard says it should be around 9:10 (height:length). It is counted as height in withers*100/length of the dog (measured from the front of breast to the end of pelvic bone below tail). The correct number should be between 109-111, longer dog cannot be P1, but smaller numbers do not decrease the evaluation as much as the index of height.

There is a new index, which the slovak club introduced this summer, and that is index of head. The standard says that the proportion between the muzzle and skull should be 1:1.5. We are now planning to evaluate this index in the already measured dogs to find out what numbers should be acceptable.

Thanks for your explanation. It is clear now :)

standard size
 

I have been reading the standard and there is something I don't understand.

Some of you said that af CwZ could have a weight that says 40 kg, but in the standard it says 26 kilo gram for males and 20 kilo gram for females. Is there something I don't understand?

I now that the standard is not always how it really is, but there is a 20 kilo gram difference here.

How about the height is that wrong to? it says 65 centimeters for males and 60 centimeters for females.

At least = minimum

I'm not sure why the standard says they're so small... I've often wondered about that as well haha. No CsV that I've met is so small...
My 5 year old male is 100lb (45 kilogram) and 27inches (68 centimeter) at the shoulder and is in perfect shape (not an ounce of fat on him!)
I know females are quite a bit smaller than the males but still a large breed of dog!!
I know it's just the minimum requirements, but I don't know how you COULD breed a GSD and a wolf together and get that small of a dog.. ;-)

but GSD is smaller than CSV ;)

Yes..... I know that.... But breed a GSD and a wolf and you get a dog bigger than a GSD right???
My GSD bitch was 24 inches (60 centimeters) and about 75 pounds (34 kg)
Maybe as with most breeds when they come over, they're bigger in the US?? Like goldfish?? :roll:

XXX-size
 

Hmmmm..... you must not forget that in USA nearly everything has the tendency to grow a little bigger than in Europe...

For example the streets , cars, sky-scrapers , the depts and credits:lol:
and sometimes also the people -

and the people´s belly and bum too...;-):lol: (only a joke, don´t misunderstand!)

Why Csw should be an exception ?

Hahaha totally! And don't worry, no offense taken!! :lol:

A few of statistic datas:
Youth presentation: 2008 -average height of males was 66,9 cm
average height of females was 62 cm
Bonitation: 2008 -average height of males was 67,9 cm (total 17 males)
average height of females was 63,6 cm (total 26 fem.)

Youth presentation: 2009 - average height of males was 67,7 cm
average height of females was 61,7 cm
Bonitation: 2009 - average height of males was 68,5 cm (total 32 males)
average height of females was 62,6 cm (total 37 fem.)

These datas are only from Czech republic!!!!

As I can see the males ae growing bigger and the females are getting smaller.

It's the same with the amstaff it's getting bigger to, but not only the males also the females. And since the judge will have them bigger they keep getting bigger.

But it is only 2008 and 2009 ;). I have not here datas from history. But i think it is always + - the same.....

elf made a nice statistics about height distribution, it is here: http://www.wolfdog.org/forum/showpos...0&postcount=46

I want to make 3-D graphs from these data (as that would show the development of height distribution in time), but had no time for that, unfortunately...

I do not know the perfect weight for a male at 68cm, but I think it is about 35kg. 38kg might be a OK weight for a older not training CsV that is 68cm ? but not 45kg.

My boy is about 72cm and has now a weight on 36,5kg that is a bit to slim, I’m trying to get him to about 37,5-38,5kg. But he runs it all off all the time :lol:

I think whit any healthy average age CsV you are to be able to run 40km, you can not do that whit a CsV that is 68cm and has a weight on 45kg.

He might not look fat, but he is definitely not in perfect shape. (Standard shape)

Best regards / Mikael

you're right, my dog is over 70 cm and when he passed the exam SVP1 his weight was 42 kg. Only muscles:) remember what is important:a body-building (strong bones-or delicate). But I agree: 68 cm and 45 kg are not good proportions.

I think what they trying to say is that a female at 60cm are not allowed to weigh under 20kg, and a male at 65cm are not allowed to weigh under 26kg. But it is not optimal weight, it is minimum weight as Rona already did say...

Now the kg go up fast with every cm, I think a big male at 70-72cm can get up to 40kg it depends on he’s body type...

Best regards / Mikael

I think that proportion height/weight mostly depends on index of hight (dog with perfect Xv55 weight less than dog Xv50) and chest (dog with perfect chest weight less than dog with deep and wild chest)

I made simple graph of CSV height:

http://a.imageshack.us/img198/820/wzrost.png

I use period 5 years to make it transparent. But I don't now how to put period of time on graph, so 1995 means dogs bonitated in orgin countries in years 1990-1995, 2000 means 1995-2000 etc. As we can see CSV grows :lol:

You didn't put the standard errors or deviations, so I might be wrong, but this trend doesn't seem too large for me. I wouldn't expect it to be significant...

To be honest, I was surprised when the vet told me his weight the other day (he just said 100 pounds so I don't know if it was a little more or less he didn't say exactly.) And actually I just started cutting down his food intake a little bit since I got him neutered and don't want him to gain any weight.
But he IS in great shape, we go on hikes and long runs together and he has a large yard to play in all day and he ALWAYS has energy!! (I think I've only tired him out once!) I can still feel his hips and ribs so I know he's not overweight. I have a lot of experience with dogs and I HATE when owners let their dogs get obese, it's one of my 'pet peeves.'
Here is a photo of him, I know you can't tell by a photo alone, but he is in great (though maybe not standard) shape. ;)
http://wolfdog.org/forum/picture.php...pictureid=7152

I know that feeling :lol: I did put my new female that I did pick up in Cz 1,5 week ago on the scales and she was 30,5kg :shock: And she is only 62cm :roll:

I did see that she was over weight, but I did think she was only about 27kg,
Now she is on her way down to 25kg at least... I think perfect shape for a 62cm female is 22,5-23,5kg But she is soon to be 7 so I think 25 might be a OK weight for her ??? But I’m all ears, please tell me if I’m wrong any one :|

Very best regards / Mikael

Gerda z Rofa: 61 cm, 27 kg in younger years, now as a great-grandmother 28 kg. http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/de/gallery/pic/66987/
Amy Zlatá Palz: 64 cm, 30 kg
http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/de/gallery/pic/66973/
Falin Zlatá Palz: 63,5 cm, 30 Kg
http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/de/gallery/pic/70152/
Baschka Zlatá Palz: 65,5 cm, 33 kg
http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/de/gallery/pic/17729/
Lorenz Farouk Arimminum: 70 cm, 40 kg
http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/de/gallery/pic/66999/
Monty Crying Wolf: 68 cm, 33,2 kg (not fully grown)
http://www.wolfdog.org/deu/dbase/d12393.html
in all of them you can feel the rips without any pressuring but you only can see the contures of the last two rips, what is the optimal shape for me. Monty is a little bit thinner because he is still growing.
All of them are of the lighter type, except Baschka who is a little bit heavier build. 22 kg for a fully grown 62 cm female is too thin, except maybe for a dog in full marathon-type training that is very lightly build.

Ina

Thanks :)

Than I will try to get her down to 27kg as a start and see how she feels about it, but right now from above it looks like she ate a bucket :lol:

Best regards / Mikael

weight of Rasty
 

......send you pn

Thanks for the PM :)

Best regards / Mikael

Hm. Bascha looks really good in this photo, so I wonder - Brukne (Walkiria) is 66cm, kind of a muscular type, but when she weights 30 kg she still seems a little bit... well, not so graceful :) What is it? Light bones or me, who see things in a wrong way (really possible)? :roll:
Ah, and here she is when wheitinh 30kg :http://www.wolfdog.org/drupal/en/gallery/pic/128908/ No ribs seen :D

;-) Well, Baschka is not exactly the light bone type.

just measured and weighed my boy..... 36/7 cm (to the withers) and 36.6kg ...does that sound about right? (i can feel his ribs):lol:

Hi, i don't think you are measuring the withers properly.
My Jasna weighs 24Kg and is 61cm to the withers
Oliver is around 40Kg and 72cm to the withers (more or less)
Believe me, it is normal, if you are unexperienced, not to be able to measure the withers properly. Even experts make wrong measurements by a few centimetres.

By the way... is there a way to have a list of the highest CzW alive?

The most high standing (male) Csw i know from here on wolfdog.org is

Bonifác Testamonium diaboli with 75 (!) cm in bonitation code

and his half- brothers ( a little smaller )

Adónis Testamonium diaboli with 73,5 cm and

Afis Testamonium diaboli with 72 cm

Also the two sisters Artemis and Afaia are very high and long- legged for
bitches.

Artemis is looking almost like a greyhound in my eyes and she´s very untypical for a Csw. Adonis and Artemis have also very bad HD results.

Greetings , Silvester