Czechoslovakian Wolfdog Information & Dog Breed Facts

More in known about the ancestry of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog than most breeds because the dog was developed in the middle of the 20^th century, and its initial development was part of a carefully recorded scientific experiment as the government became interested in the possibility of breeding dogs and wolves. At that time, it was not quite clear that the dog was descended from the wolf, with many scientists believing that the dog had actually domesticated from another animal such as a dhole, coyote, or one of the three species of jackal. Czechoslovakian scientists theorized that if the wolf and the dog were the same species, the dog was almost certainly descended from the wolf. In order to be considered the same species, two populations have to be able to freely interbreed and produce fertile offspring. There are many different species that can produce offspring, although these offspring are almost never fertile such as a mule (horse and donkey), or a liger (lion and tiger).

Moreover, these wolf-like dogs were developed in 1955 when Czech and Slovakian breeders Mr. Hartl and Mr. Rosik chose to combine a German Shepherd dog with a Carpathian wolf.

This was done by capturing and training four Carpathian wolves, who were named Argo, Brita, Lejdy, and Sarik, and crossing them with 40 or 50 German Shepherds. Male Carpathian wolves were crossed with female German Shepherds, and female Carpathian wolves were crossed with male German Shepherds. The offspring were then bred for ten years among themselves. The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog was born as a result. These wolf-dog hybrids exhibited a distinctive temperament and behavior. They were also considerably more wolf-like than dog-like in appearance, although that probably had to be more with the fact that the German Shepherd is one of the most wolf-like of all dogs in terms of appearance. Additionally, these dogs hardly barked and did not really respond to human training as quickly as modern dog breeds. The breed was known as Vlcak in Czech and Vlciak in Slovak.

Another main goal of this experiment was to combine the qualities of the wolf and dog into one breed. They wanted to create a pet that would have the trainability, pack mentality, and temperament of the popular German Shepherd, along with the endurance and strength of the Carpathian wolf. Originally, they were also developed for military usage as an attack dogs, but today these wolfdogs are used for tracking, search and rescue, hunting, obedience, agility, drafting, and herding. They are also significantly healthier than other dog breeds, suffering only occasionally from hip dysplasia and few other illnesses.

In 1982, the Czechoslovakian Kennel Club granted full recognition to the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog and named it a national breed. The breed was almost unknown outside of its homeland prior to the 1990s, but a few breed members had been shipped to neighboring communist countries like the Soviet Union and East Germany. During the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Czechoslovakia was liberated from communist tyranny. Furthermore, Czechoslovakia sought deeper relations with Western Europe, which piqued foreign interest and involvement in the breed. Due to disagreements over federalism, Slovakia and the Czech Republic peacefully split into two sovereign countries in 1993. When the Federation Cynologique Internationale gained full recognition to the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog as a member of the Herding Dog Group in 1998, the breed's international visibility skyrocketed.

A few Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs have been introduced into the United States since the late 1980s. Importation has risen considerably in the previous ten years, with more breed members arriving in the United States every year. The American Kennel Club enrolled the breed under the name Czechoslovakian Vlcak into its Foundation Stock Service in 2001, marking the first step toward full recognition in that organization. Not much later, in 2006, the United Kennel Club also granted full recognition to the breed as a member of the Herding Dog Group, under the official name Czechoslovakian Vlcak. Unlike most modern breeds, a significant number of Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs are still used as working dogs in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Italy.