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Originally Posted by Cyndi
First of all Mutaras look nothing like Utonagans.
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Maybe they do not look like Utonagans now because Canadian Wolves change their colour after some years (for example their mother Lupina was also brown when she was young and she is pure-white now). But they have similar 'roots'...
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Originally Posted by Cyndi
I don't know what site you guys have been looking at, but Mahtal Utonagans look a lot like wolves or wolf dogs.
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If I will look on Utonagans and take in consideration the look of American Wolves and Wolfdogs then: yes, Utonagans are relative wolfish. ...But if I will compare them with European Wolves or Czechoslovakian Wolves then: no, they do not look similar to a wolf. Not a little bit. It is enough to take a look on European Wolves:
http://www.wolfdog.org/eng/gallery/cat5.html (without last 4 links)
Expecially nice photos from Pistoia:
http://www.wolfdog.org/eng/gallery/cat1663.html
Sure some people in Europe know a lot of movies with white or black wolves from USA and they will believe Utonagans are wolfish. But is was also the reason why so many people in Europe buy Siberian Huskies as wolf substitution...
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Originally Posted by ligerwolve
I think wolves are beautiful, what is wrong with wanting a dog that looks like one but has the temperament of a GSD? wouldnt that mean less people taking on wolf hybrids and then distoying them because they couldnt handle its wildness?
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Although I would like it would be true what you wrote but I'm sorry I must disappoint you. Do you want an example? Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs. Created by the Czech army not because the people there were wolf fans but because they were looking for "better" GSD: more tough, more vigilant with better "nose" (smell). The best solution was to cross GSD with Wolves. And they achieved their goal: better working abilities as border guard dogs. Reason why CzWs look like wolves are not their creator's taste but down-to-earth reasons:
1) the exterier genes of wolf were dominant
2) the body of a wolf is simply perfect - wolves live almost all over the world and they can adapt to all conditions. Dogs with such body have similar characteristics.
The Czechoslovakian army made very strong selection (unimaginable today) for 20 years. And after it the same selection made private breeders also for over 20 years. And the result is a dog which we call today Czechoslovakian Wolfdog where "Wolfdog" has historical meaning pointing to the origin of this breed.
Sure CzWs are different than GSD because nobody of us want to achieve such characteristisc. And they are not dogs for beginners. But compared to other "normal" breed they are much less 'agressive' (for example compared to Belgian Shepherd Dogs), much less dominant (for example compared to Rottweilers), aso.
But because they are "Wolfdogs" the Little Red Riding Hood syndrome is still working what you can see in the problems of CzWs in UK, Norway or Sweden. The people there responsible for regulations don't care about getting info about this dogs, about their character. They do not rely on statistics or real knowledge. There are no accidents with CzWs behind it. They simply made new law basing on their own phobia.
If you want to make an experiment just convince Utonagan breeders to change the name to "Utonagan Wolfdog". What do you think - how long it will take the bureaucrats there to put also Utonagan on the ban list....?
