Are NI & Ute's Wolfdog hybrids? Controversial

There's been much talk about wolves being used in the creation of NI & ute's. Some people say they seen wolves at Eddie's place, there was the JK t.v appearance and there was newspaper coverage back in the 80's of wolfdog hybrids at Eddie & JK's.
If wolves were used then all these dogs would be wolfdog hybrids right?

Who would object to an NI or Ute owner calling there dog a wolfdog hybrid, would you and why?

I think on the evidence from people who were with Eddy at the beginning.. before the name NI were given to the dogs.. i do believe some measure of wolf was put in. I`m not sure if i believe they were pure wolves, but high content. I wish, now that the law has been relaxed regarding wolf hybrids and it is legal to keep an f3 and below without a license.. i wish JK and others that were there at the beginning would just come forward and out with the truth once and for all.

I know a lady from the bo ness area with a dog that looks like a N.I , she was told never to use the dog to breed from as it would be too dangerous, shows a lot of similar behaviour to Inka, i.e submissive, shy wary when meeting other dogs, I did ask her if it was a Northern inuit, my boys were only months old at the time I first met her, however she does not call him an N.I she calls him a wolf hybrid...I was told wolf is in there, my hubby firmly believes this and Inka does do certain things that could be precieved to be wolfy, he does a lot of little things that none of any of my other dogs have done, saying that he shows no similarities to my EBT's behaviour, and she shows none relating to Inka either...my nieghbours refer to Inka as the big wolf dog lollllll ! and people I meet on walks do too, do I think there is wolf there, yes some where I do, I don't like him to be referred to a wolf dog as I feel the name sugests a preconcieved view of how that dog would be, react ect, and not a good image for the breed. xx

I agree with what you`ve said Elaine.. Freya.. if it is believed that "Taz" was pure wolf.. would make her an F3. She does not behave like a regular dog.. even though she does look like one. I don`t know if it is wolf like behaviour.. but not like any dog i`ve been around. Now Noah on the other hand is all dog... big, dumb, gobby and stupid... the complete opposite to Freya.

Yes I believe there were wolves used, even if Eddies were just high content they still would've had to come form a pure wolf to start with.

No I don't call my lot wolfdogs, prob more out of habbit of calling them NI's than anything

I have to say i don't think there is any recent wolf content in the NI, maybe the founder dogs had a small % of wolf content but not enough for them to be classed as wolf hybrids.

Kismet is a Huskamute the non controversial other half of the NI possibly and I ghave to say she doesn't behave like any other dog either. There is a fierce independance in all the 'northern breeds' and a real pack mentality that has to be allowed for and negotiated with at every turn.

I'm not sure if there was any wolf content in the beginning, but I had never heard of either breed before joining this forum, so don't know the background.

I have seen a dog that is definitely just a GSD/huskamute cross though and it look pretty much exactly like most of the Ni's I have seen on this forum... though the few I have seen that havea flatter face and yellower eyes do leave the jury out in the wolf potential...

Nope... Going to have to remain on the fence on this one.

that's what I think too, not sure if there were ever pure wolves or if they were high content hybrids.


The same dogs shown on TV can't be claimed to be both wolf hybrids, and then also claimed to be founder dogs of the NI, or pure bred for generations.

I can understand the reasons for using the name Northern Inuit to safeguard the dogs/hybrids in the 1990's, but now it should be out in the open one way or the other.

If there is no wolf blood at all, then the 'hybrids' that appeared on TV were just cross bred dogs, and it was misleading to claim that they were wolf hybrids in advertisments. If there is even the smallest % of wolf blood then I believe that they should be described as wolfdogs.

I think that now even if there was wolf blood in the beginning of the breed, it is now so many generations ago, that the dogs would not be classed as wolf hybrids (as they are further removed than F3), but if there is wolf blood IMO they should be classed as wolfdogs.

But JK cant now come on and say yes there was wolf used no matter what the new legislation is as she'd have her ass dragged back into court for lying in the first court case.
As for IF there was wolf used no matter what content, it was only 20 years ago, it would still make them 'wolfdogs' imo
There's been no recent wolf in CWD or Saarloos but they are still called wolfdog & wolfhound as it was once used and that was in the 60's.
I think you just have to look at what 'evidence' if you can class it as that, on various forums and decide for yourself if you believe it or not. Personally it would not concern me if any breeders of NI or Ute called their dogs 'wolfdogs'
Would it upset the Saarloos or CWD owners if they did? If so why?

Freya`s nothing like that... she is 1/2 step behind me at all times.. even when i`m standing up any where.. she lays with her head on my foot. She`s not particularly cuddly.. only when she wants a tummy tickle.. then she bats you with he feet... (usually in the face.. tut)

She keeps her distance from people ... she doesnt approach... she usually circles behind, but hangs back.. she`s very wary of kids.. again stays out of their way.. but she is very dog aggressive. She never barks... just makes a host of different noises.. depending on what she wants.

She`s as smart as a whip.. slams doors in the other dog`s face to keep him out of where i am.. she does not follow the crowd.. you can see her thinking about things... at times she just floors me.. she`s almost human in her actions.. got a sense of smell like nothing i`ve seen before.. she knows where her things are even if i hid them in the attic... she`d know and sit and whine at the opening. As i said before i have no idea if this is wolf like.. or she`s just a very smart dog.. but certainly none like i`ve met.

I think that, any wolf in the ni now, will be so diluted that it'll be of no consiquence. Though I have no problem with any ni/ut owner/breeder calling them wolfdogs, I'd think it'd be better if they reframed from doing so until the truth is actually known, especiallly if it is going to be used as an advertisment tool.

To be fair though, most nordic breeds show wolfy traits, the lady I've been out with exercising the Sibes has about 4from her team that are very wary and shy of strangers.

If there is any wolfblood at all in the NI then I don't believe there is much otherwise you would get the patchy's.

I personally would say there are differences in character and temperament between my Inuits and my Wolfdogs.

I personally would have a problem, as they're not wolfdogs.

I think I'm on the fence at the moment. The question that needs to be answered is wether or not those dogs in the 90's on the tv, were actually wolfdog/hybrids or not as the case maybe. Either way someone has been lying.

I will also say that, on this forum somewhere, someone stated that, they called their wolfdog a ut, I understand it was for its own safety, but, imagine that this dog was used at stud, then in actual fact, there would be wolf in the ut. Not saying for one second that, that is the case for that person, but I can imagine that their are a lot less carefull people who wouldn't give it a second thought. I supose what I'm trying to say is, that it just adds to the confusion.

That dog was used at stud Tazer.

I didn't say that in my last post, as I was hoping I'd got it wrong. Seems my memory was correct.

So, with that in mind, if they're wasn't any wolf in before, then there is now. Obviously not through the entire breed, but in that line. I hope, if not already, then the people who bought pups from that litter and subsiquent ones are informed of what exactly was in there, so they can aquip themselves to handle the dogs. As they say knowledge is power, the wolfdog being a specialist breed, should have people who understand what they're getting.

I havn't read the rest of the reply's but in answer to the poll question NO I personally dont think they are wolf hybrids

Gnasher (who was on here) has publically said on Cry Wolf that her dog was a hybrid, so wether this is the truth or she just wants to fit in over there i dont know????

personally i think some of the early imported strays were wolfdogs.