Breeding GSD to wolves - Page 3

Shepherd11112:  Thank you for taking the time to post that very interesting and informative article.  I really enjoyed reading it.

My husband and I were just talking about the czech wolfdogs the other night and he was showing me pictures of them online.  Beautiful dogs and since I have a Pohranicni straze dog I was even more intriqued with the information.  After reading and looking at the pictures I can see a lot of similarities but I'd never want a wolf as a "pet".  I believe what's in the wild should stay in the wild and you just don't mess with mother nature.

If you think a lot of people believe GSD's have wolf blood,  you should own an Alaskan Malamute. Not only is the general public convinced that breed is half wolf, some owners I know of have have had their Malmautes confiscated by humane societies, declared wolf dogs by one of their "experts" and killed . One such case went to court, the 2 dogs were purebred Mals but not registered. There was an expert witness who said these dogs were not wolves, they were purebred Malamutes. This was a Mal breeder of 35 years, an AKC judge and the recipient of many awards for her Malamute's working accomplishments and show wins. The judge took the side of the humane society, delcared the dogs half wolf and sentenced them to death although they never harmed a human of other dogs. Their only sin was that they escaped from their fenced yard and were pick up by the dog catcher. In that community is was illegal to own a wolf hybird or a pure wolf.

DNA has proved that dogs and wolves share a common ancestry so it seems sensible to conclude that  all breeds of dogs originated from wolves. However with each generation those genes become less dominant and one wolf in the 5th generation is only contributing 6.25% of the genes to the current gene pool. In another 2 generations their influence is virtually zero. I don't know how many generations of purebred dogs there are in most GSD pedigrees, but I'd think a wolf would have very little genetic influence in the dogs we see today. However, there are breeds that have been selectively bred to retain many of the wolf characteristics - the prick ears, double coats, long slender muzzles are seen in many breeds including the GSD.  That explains their resemblance to a wolf. Other things like the long hocks, hare feet with long toes, and  acute shoulder layback are not desirable in most breeds so have not generally been selected for over the years.  In wolves they are survival characteristics and needed for the sudden surges of speed needed to bring down prey and surviving during the winter.