Canis lupus hominis

Wolf/Central Asian Ovtcharka cross

November 2, 2012 by retrieverman

Source for image.

Posted in wolves, working dogs | Tagged Central Asian ovtcharka, woldog, Wolf, wolf hybrid | 15 Comments

15 Responses

1. on November 2, 2012 at 1:01 pm Anna

   This is not a cross I am comfortable with. To blend the shyness of a wolf with the sharpness & aggression of a Caucasian seems foolhardy in the extreme. It won’t be a better family guardian because it won’t have the nerve, has a high likelihood of developing severe fear aggression toward its own family, & only an idiot would put it in to guard livestock!

   It’s a beautiful animal, but the wolf has nothing good to offer the Caucasian Ovcharka.

   
   
   • on November 2, 2012 at 1:14 pm retrieverman

     I think the Beast of Gevaudan was actually some kind of molosser crossed with a wolf.

     This thing, whatever it was, killed hundreds of people in south-central France in the eighteenth century.

     Some say it was a hyena. Some say it was a serial killer.

     I think it was just a bizarre wolf hybrid.

     
     
     • on November 2, 2012 at 1:21 pm Anna

       That’s the story the movie Brotherhood of the Wolf is based on, right? Fabulous movie, which, incidentally, has all kinds of cool dogs in it.

       
       
   • on November 2, 2012 at 1:37 pm massugu

     It is a beautiful animal, but like you I would be leery of introducing it to livestock or small children. They may have lucked out in that the wolf parent may have had the temperament of a Romeo, but I wouldn’t want to chance it.

     
     
2. on November 2, 2012 at 1:01 pm Anna

   Oops, I meant Central Asian, not Caucasian.

   
   
3. on November 2, 2012 at 1:14 pm Kristina Sherling

   Agreed Anna. Crossbreeding a wolf with any domestic dog breed is stupid, dangerous and does not need to add to the overpopulation of canines! But people think this will make for the *ultimate* scary canine and show they know nothing about the wolf’s innate personality/characteristics nor the CAO (or any other domesticated canine breed).

   
   
   • on November 2, 2012 at 2:03 pm retrieverman

     I don’t have a carte blanche condemnation of breeding dogs to wolves. For example, in Russia, it’s a common practice to breed laikas– hunting spitz– to wolves, and the results are usually superior hunting dogs to the pure laika.

     There are accounts of people breeding wolves to dogs to produce better hunting dogs, and it usually has worked.

     But then we’re talking about people who lived in places like Siberia or the wilds of Pennsylvania, not in urban centers.

     And there are some wolves that actually behave more like dogs than the classical wolf temperament. Adolph Murie kept one named Wags that was essentially a golden retriever with an Alaskan wolf phenotype.

     So I do agree with you in principle, but this principle require finesse and nuance, and you really don’t get this discussion.

     Here are a host of posts I’ve written on the topic:

     1. http://retrieverman.net/2011/07/27/a-tame-wolf-named-wags/
     2. http://retrieverman.net/2011/10/11/wolves-as-working-and-hunting-dogs-in-pennsylvania/
     3. http://retrieverman.net/2011/10/11/the-wolf-that-was-part-of-a-french-hound-pack/
     4. http://retrieverman.net/2011/10/15/hunts-with-retrieving-wolf/
     5. http://retrieverman.net/2012/09/10/hunting-wolves-with-wolf-hybrid-hounds-in-brittany/
     6. http://retrieverman.net/2011/10/10/the-deer-hunters-wolf/

     I don’t think they’d give that much to a livestock guardian, but to say that breeding dogs to wolves is always an error is simply not backed by the evidence.

     But if you bred one of these dog-like wolves to a dog, there is a good chance you wouldn’t get the bad characteristics.

     But you could.

     Here are some West Siberian laikas with wolf blood: http://stephenbodio.blogspot.com/2006/12/working-wolf-dogs.html

     The temperament of this breed is very different from other Nordic breeds. It’s sort of a big game hunting spitz that is as biddable as a golden retriever and just about as friendly!

     
     
4. on November 2, 2012 at 5:15 pm bjarne

   Aparently there are some historial acounts of crosses between wolfs and LSG dogs in Turkey http://www.anatoliandog.org/isik-004.htm

   
   
   • on November 4, 2012 at 10:16 am massugu

     A fine example of how wolves became dogs, don’t you think?

     
     
     • on November 5, 2012 at 2:40 pm bjarne1

       Yes indeed!

       
       
5. on November 2, 2012 at 8:39 pm kittenz

   This photo reminds me of my wolf-dog, Blue, with its wary expression.

   
   
6. on November 4, 2012 at 9:37 am Cynthia Geremia

   Admittedly, that’s a nice looking animal, but do you really want to cross these two? Talk about a time bomb.

   
   
   • on November 5, 2012 at 3:42 pm Nara

     Crossing wolves with livestock guardians is actually suprisingly common in their native countries, wether or not it happens by accident or on purpose.

     
     
7. on November 6, 2012 at 12:18 pm chervilmeadow

   Neither loose nor on a slack lead and the expression in the eyes is scary, but what a great looking dog, though not a “hybrid” of course as they are the same species, we agree.

   
   
8. on May 30, 2013 at 9:25 am Central Asian Ovtcharka Dog Breed: Russian Livestock Guardian | New Dog World

   […] in wolves working dogs Tagged Central Asian ovtcharka woldog Wolf wolf hybrid 14 Comments This thing whatever it was killed hundreds of people in […]

   
   

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