Czechoslovakian Wolfdog - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Origin
Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is still a young breed, developed in 1950s by Czech military breeding program. The breeds ancestors are German Shepherds and Carpathian wolves and the breeding goal was to develop a dog that will be just as strong as a wolf and trainable as German Shepherd.

2) Half Wolf?
A lot of time, people think that this is half dog and half wolf, but it is not true. Only the first generation was half wolves, but those dogs were extremely hard to train. That is why, these dogs were bred again with German Shepherds only, to reduce the proportion of "wolf-blood" to approximately 6% in the fourth generation. The fourth generation started to be trainable as intented.

3) Advantages
Was the breeding process worth it? It is believed that yes. The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, just like some other wolfdogs, showed better sense of smell, hearing and night vision than normal German Shepherds or other dogs. They also have better navigation skills and they definitely have higher endurance.

4) Purpose
Originally, these dogs were developed by Czech army for military purposes. They were developed as military attack dogs, but today, they are not used for this purpose anymore. Thanks to their big versitality, they found use in other areas, like protection, search and rescue, tracking, hunting and ocassionaly in drafting and herding.

5) Loyalty
Czechoslovakian wolfdogs are quite social animals who tend to bond very closely to its owner and family. Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs are known for their loyalty toward their pack. They can live with other dogs or family pets, especially if they are socialized from puppyhood. They are alert around strangers and can be suspicious towards them, but they are almost never agressive without reason.

6) Size
The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is a big and strong dog breed with average height between 24-28 inches which is 60-70 cm and weight between 44-90 lbs, which is 20-40 kgs. Females are naturally little bit smaller than males.

7) Living with
Unlike the popular belief, this dog is very adaptable and they can live in apartment. Of course, they will be happier, if they have access to big fenced yard, but if you will provide them enough daily exercise, they can live even in smaller apartments. But the exercise is very important and daily longer walks are must, because this is highly active dog breed.

8) Prey drive

It is recommended to keep Czechoslovakian wolfdog on leash in unknown areas because of their stronger prey drive. Its only logical, since they have wolf blood in them. They might start hunting the prey and than it will be very hard for them to obey your commands.

9) Maintenance

The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is pretty low maintenance dog. They dont need any professional grooming or frequent bathing, they can keep their coat in good condition bythemselves. But they do shed quite heavily, so regular brushing is recommended to remove the dead hair and minimize the shedding. Great fact about this breed is, that they are very clean and they do not have big odor.

10) Health
This is very healthy and hardy dog breed, which is commonly not suffering from serious health issues. Sometimes, they can suffer from hip or elbow dysplasia and lens luxation. The average lifespan is between 12-15 years.