Discussion split from NI and Utonagan owners thread Discussions

I am moving!!!! Xxxxxxxxx

From my very limited experience of this type of dog the main issue I find is with recall around potential prey like rabbits, squirrels, birds etc. Maybe I'm wrong but I see the sibe ancestory loud & clear at such times. They will chase until they lose scent, no matter how far that takes them. I'd say my two show more sibe than gsd traits though are very gsd-like in appearance.

I tend to tell people the worst about my dogs first and also the potential health concerns. I also tell them the history is dubious and that they'd be far better going for a recognised, long established breed from a well recommended breeder. As much as I love them I'm not blinkered.

good on you

I agree with this and do the same.

Very well said! Our dogs are our lives. Unfortunately I have to work very long hours during the week, so OH bears the brunt of the exercising, but at weekends they dominate my life for 2 days - and I have never regretted the excessively large level of commitment that these types of dogs need. The reason so many of them end up in rescue is because too many people fall in love with their looks, and will not or cannot accept the fact that they are "different" and can be very "difficult".

erm... whats so different about them? :?
i have an n.i and an n.i cross.. sibes a collie and a wolfdog!

Tupac beat me to it - What is so 'different' about these dogs? Can you clarify what you mean.
Yes N.I's and Utonagons and all the other 'wolfy dogs' are a type but they are not a breed and never will be. They are a 'type' made from crossbreeds (not that long ago) - so I think you can generalise a bit from experience.... but considering how different pedigrees can be, a cross breed is a 'box of chocolates'

Well, I've had dogs for well over 40 years, and huskies, mals, mixes of these, wolf crosses, they are all very different from your average labrador or spaniel. And anyone who says otherwise is IMO either telling porkies, or totally misunderstands dogs.

I can indeed clarify, but it has been done a hundred times before by others far more qualified than myself.

As you rightly say, NI's Utes and other wolf cross types are most certainly not a breed, and may they never be IMO. The whole point of them for me anyway is that they ARE as you put it "a box of chocolates" - vive la difference, I say, this is the attraction to me. I don't like the regularity of a pedigree - I like the challenge of northern breeds - and anyone who says they are not a challenge, has either never had a northern breed, or as I've said above, not telling the truth, or just doesn't understand dogs.

Can you clarify?

Here's a question: do you think you'd say the same about the later, more recent crop of NIs and Utes? Or do you think the characteristics you describe have been dumbed down with breeding? (I know what I'm trying to say, not sure I'm being clear though).

What characteristics ?
I had a Springer x collie who might be considered a challenge by many

If by dumbed down, you mean less wolfy, than yes. But in terms of their potential for destruction - digging, separation anxiety and consequent house-wrecking, high prey drive etc. etc. - no. I haven't had anything to do with NI's really for a long time, and not a lot more with Utes, but I cannot see kc recognition (thank goodness) happening for a very long time, if ever.

Yes, but not tonight!! 'Tis freezing in this office, and I'm going back to the fire!!

I think - like all dogs - they can be a challenge....but certainly no more than many dogs.

Possibly you have just found your northern breeds and X's more of a challenge than your other dogs?

To be honest - the most challenging dogs I have met and worked with have been rescue Spaniel X's.

This obviously means I don't understand dogs :?

Oh yes!

rune

the number of these so called mals, sibes and wolf crosses you've had goes up each time

so u reckon im telling lies do ya? pmsl lol,me thinks you may embellish the truth somewhat ;-)
my hardest dog was my whippet x collie


i feel some people like to put a 'myth' and 'my dog is special' label on wolfy types and northern breeds
both myths quashed now ,sibes and mals easier to obtain,ni's ,coz even if there was wolf in ni's it aint there (worth talking about)now,real 'wolfy' breeds are available and seen, so its not as easy to pass 'mutley' off as a hybrid now.

northern breeds suit 'their' people in the same way other breeds suit other people.

of course they are different to other breeds, all breeds are,thats the point of them

i couldnt cope with 9 labs or 9 spaniels!!... and i aint lying

so do you like'northern breeds'? or do you like mongrels?

have u owned northern breeds or mongrels?

if its the crosses then u cant really comment on northern breeds,as you do not know...and not one cross is the same either...you wouldnt know what attribute came from which breed..thats even if you knew the breeds that went into the mix in the first place ... speculation!!

If this is the case Gnasher, why not go to a rescue?
I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble finding a northern breed cross.

good point... but methinks couldnt say it was a wolf cross then ;-)