Saarloos wolfhound

lunarview4

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#1
Im looking for a breeder that has Saarloos wolfhounds but the only one i can find is in Norway now granted that I am not traveling to Norway are there any breeders near Nashville.
 
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#2
That's a new breed on me! You may have to explore the possibility of importing one. What are they like, and what made you decide that was the breed of dog you want?
 

lunarview4

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#3
Saarloos Wolfhounds are patient, strong, and need a fair amount of exercise. The breed strongly resemble wolves ,but are not wolves. Its an uncommon breed.
these dogs were first created to improve the dog stock (A step, not the second floor)
The enjoy to play early in life but lose interest later in life though they still like attention. As a Nordic Breed they are mostly found in Scandinavia (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland). and at that very few breeders of the Wolfhound exist there. Anyway the wolfhound must never allowed to win any game ,Because "in his mind" the order of the pack could change. Very patient with children. Patient enough to miss a daily walk once a week.

Oh and I like a dog with an easy temperment ,a good wolf look ,and a can good friend.
 

scout1

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#5
that breed had also caught my eye many years ago. i do believe that wolves were used in developing the breed. i have read that they are unheard of outside the netherlands so i don't think you will get one unless you travel there.
 

wolfdoggy

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#6
Saarloos Wolfhond is supposed to be looked upon as a dog. But it is not a normal dog. It is a hybrid, a wolfdog. It is part wolf and part German Shepherd. It is not just a northern breed, and thinking that is a mistake.

If you want a wolfdog like this, you will have to read about the breed from other Saarloos owners. Do a Google search on Saarloos Wolfhound (wolfdog, wolfhond). It will also be highly recommended to read about all kinds of Wolfdogs (Wolfhybrids). Their behavior, and how to treat them.

They are companions, and not pets.
 
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stirder

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last I heard there were only 6 known sarloos wolfhounds in the united states, all imported and there hasnt yet been enough interest in the breed for anyone to try to qaulify as a breeder, therefore those imported dogs are all neutered/spayed. the breed was developed by Leendert Sarloos in the early-mid 1900's, he died in 1969. he crossed canadian and siberian wolves with german shepherds. the sole purpose of the crossing was to try to eliminate hip displasia. the problem was that wolves can also develop hip displasia, and they didnt understand genetics at the time and some of the german shepherds used in the breedings either had hip displasia or produced it in their offspring. also he was not breeding for temperment or working ability, only crossing wolves with german shepherds. it IS a recognized breed, by the dutch kennel club, due to the fact that he used many wolves and many gsd's, and didnt continue cross breeding the offspring of every generation back to purebreds of either breed.
they do not differ from any other wolf dog though, in any way. they are very shy, very independent, very aloof, and have a very strong pack instinct. due to their nature of not being a very tractable/trainable dog wich are very prone to becoming fear biters, they have not become popular even in the netherlands. what little I know about them is from reading and from talking about them with a friend of mine who lives in Belgium and breeds german shepherds.
and as far as looks, the majority of them look more like german shepherds than they do like wolves. the only physical trait they inherited from wolves (due to the fact that for every wolf used in the program, there were 4 german shepherds, so basically after so many generations all sarloos wolfhounds are 95% german shepherd and 5% wolf) is there coat color. this color is gray sable, which is also found in the german shepherd. sables are almost non-existent in american lines gsd's, but quite common in german and czech bloodlines. the sarloos is built like a gsd, same hight, same weight, same proportions. my friends best guess was that for importing a sarloos from a dutch breeder you would pay in the neighbourhood of $6,000-$10,000. you can easily import a awesome german shepherd for that price, and have a dog that is highly trainable, not afraid or shy, and that has health, hip, and temperment garauntees. I imported my current german shepherd male from my friends kennel in belgium. he is from top showlines, schutzhund trained, and an amazing fmaily/house dog and I paid under $5,000 for him plus shipping fees.
 

wolfdoggy

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stirder said:
last I heard there were only 6 known sarloos wolfhounds in the united states, all imported and there hasnt yet been enough interest in the breed for anyone to try to qaulify as a breeder, therefore those imported dogs are all neutered/spayed. the breed was developed by Leendert Sarloos in the early-mid 1900's, he died in 1969. he crossed canadian and siberian wolves with german shepherds. the sole purpose of the crossing was to try to eliminate hip displasia. the problem was that wolves can also develop hip displasia, and they didnt understand genetics at the time and some of the german shepherds used in the breedings either had hip displasia or produced it in their offspring. also he was not breeding for temperment or working ability, only crossing wolves with german shepherds. it IS a recognized breed, by the dutch kennel club, due to the fact that he used many wolves and many gsd's, and didnt continue cross breeding the offspring of every generation back to purebreds of either breed.
they do not differ from any other wolf dog though, in any way. they are very shy, very independent, very aloof, and have a very strong pack instinct. due to their nature of not being a very tractable/trainable dog wich are very prone to becoming fear biters, they have not become popular even in the netherlands. what little I know about them is from reading and from talking about them with a friend of mine who lives in Belgium and breeds german shepherds.
and as far as looks, the majority of them look more like german shepherds than they do like wolves. the only physical trait they inherited from wolves (due to the fact that for every wolf used in the program, there were 4 german shepherds, so basically after so many generations all sarloos wolfhounds are 95% german shepherd and 5% wolf) is there coat color. this color is gray sable, which is also found in the german shepherd. sables are almost non-existent in american lines gsd's, but quite common in german and czech bloodlines. the sarloos is built like a gsd, same hight, same weight, same proportions. my friends best guess was that for importing a sarloos from a dutch breeder you would pay in the neighbourhood of $6,000-$10,000. you can easily import a awesome german shepherd for that price, and have a dog that is highly trainable, not afraid or shy, and that has health, hip, and temperment garauntees. I imported my current german shepherd male from my friends kennel in belgium. he is from top showlines, schutzhund trained, and an amazing fmaily/house dog and I paid under $5,000 for him plus shipping fees.
Not all of this is correct after what I have heard from longtime owners of Saarloos Wolfhounds, and read on wepsites and in a book. After Leendert Sarloos died, the crossing program continued, but stopped because of the increase in wolf-blood, and therefore much of the character traits Leendert wanted to pass on from the German Shepherd to this new breed, became less and less. It became more wolf. And therefore as it once was, a working dog, for blind and rescue operations, it became less efficient in those jobs. Now it is not a working dog, but a family dog. It's nature is not violent. It will always try to escape danger if it can, and you cannot expect it to help you in a fight. it is not a fear biter.

Some of the Saarloos physical traits that are unlike the German shepherd are. The body is longer and taller (Saarloos is 65-75cm. German Shepherd is 60-65cm), it has longer legs, more wolf-like build skull, very unique and wolf-like movements (not like German Shepherd). The hind leg's are not one leg more forward than the other like what the German Shepherd is known to be like. There are more, but I'll stop here. Here are two pictures so you can see the difference...
Saarloos Wolfhound:http://www.cinofilionline.it/images/Saarlos.jpg .
German Shepherd:http://www.dogbiz.com/dogs-grp7/germ-shep/images/germ-shep-300x240-tig-128.gif .
As you can see there is quite a difference.

I do not know the percent of wolf and dog, there are in this wolfdog-breed. What I have read from owners of some of these animals, that also have owned a German Shepherd before the Saarloos, was that the Saarloos was a better companion than the German Shepherd.
 
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stirder

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well, actually you contradicted yourself, and agreed with your argument. you said they try to escape danger, but are not a fear biter. that is the deffinition of a fear biter: they try to escape danger but bite when they feel cornered. and they are not more like the wolf than the gsd. they are more like the wolf and true gsd than the american lines gsd's. the true gsd (european lines) do not have the sloped back, small heads, one leg more forward than the other, etc.



 

wolfdoggy

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#12
Okay. I guess I never really knew what the word fear biter meant. I am Danish, and thats my excuse :p .I thought you meant that they will bite if they feel threatened in general. I see the German Shepherd picture on top looks a little more like the Wolf-dog. The hind legs are still German Shepherd-style, the legs are short still, the back and stomach part is not as harmonic as the Saarloos wolfdog. But the pelt and overall look is much saarloos-like. I wouldn't know the difference between the two German Shepherd categories you just mentioned, but I doubt it is much like the Saarloos Wolfhond. The appearance can look a little the same, like the top picture. But the movements are not the same, the body-structure (pelt colour not included) is not the same, the character traits I doubt too are the same. Intellect-wise, I too doubt are the same. Strength and endurance I doubt too. What more?

What is the European line gsh like, character-wise?
 
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stirder

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#13
both of those dogs are in a stack position. unfortunately it is next to impossible to find a photo of a german shepherd not in a stack (show stance). the dog on top is 75 cm's tall, bottom is a 69 cm female. the one on top fooled an entire class of grad students studying to be wolf biologists. the behaviour is basically the same, with the gsd being more confident and easier to train. max von stephaitz (creator of the gsd) himself admits in his own book that he used the canadian wolf in the creation of the gsd. typically the gsd has larger feet than the sarloos, and the wolf has larger feet than the gsd. an accurate depiction of the working line gsd would actually be more similar in bone structure, size, proportions, gait etc to the wolf than the sarloos. of course there are always exeptions, and I dont argue the fact that the sarloos is very wolfish. however if properly bred (not bred to look like a monstosity that cant hold its own butt off the ground like majority of american gsd's) a gsd will look atleast as wolfish as the sarloos, and be much easier to train. the sarloos' independent, aloof, shy nature makes it harder to train, also it is hard headed. just speak to someone who has tried to train a wolf hybrid, sarloos may be easier to train than a wolf hybrid but its not as easy to train, or maybe I should say it isnt as likely to obey the command no matter how well it knows it, as a gsd.
 

wolfdoggy

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#14
I know the Saarloos is stubborn and hard to train, and that is one of the many wolfdog traits. People mistake the "shy" character. It is not shy. It is suspicious. It's not like it lags confidence. That is a trait that wolf hybrids are known for. But that ain't necessarily a thing that makes it a bad breed.

And Saarloos is a wolf hybrid.

It sounds to me like you are saying that there are more wolf in the German Shepherd, than the Saarloos. Is that what you are saying?
 

poeluvr

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#15
o my grandpa had a irish wolfhound, their masive. he had to keep his outside.its like a horse, but sweet!
they dont live long though
 

poeluvr

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#17
they live close to normal in general i tthink 11-12 yrs generally. my grampps though when it was 9
these are his words, but he should no. buthis was a irish wolfhound
 

poeluvr

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#20
it was laid back o but wait i think irish wolfhounds and wolfdogs might be differnt but yea that is what i heard. They get lots of leg problems, heart problems when they get older because of their size. They are very big. gramps was bigger then a great dane, theyre not common though but are supposed to be the biggest dog
 

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