So I got a dog . . .

Well, life's had some pretty significant changes lately, and low and behold, a dog comes into my life. I had been contemplating adding a companion animal to my zoo for a while now, the snakes have been downsized since I moved last year, and I stay fairly focused on Reticulated Pythons now, but nevertheless, I did not know what kind of pooch to add. . .

Earlier this week, a post went out on a local exotics board, looking for a new owner for a hybrid pup. It was listed as 75% Timber Wolf, 25% German Shepherd. I was slightly hesitant for many many obvious reasons (validity of its origin, nature of the beast, behavior, illnesses, etc etc), but after talking with the owner who needed to find it good home, and countless hours pouring through articles, papers, and owner reports to know what I'm getting into. I took the plunge and adopted her! So without any more hesitation, here's my new house companion Diamond;

http://www.pbase.com/codyconway/imag...7170/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/codyconway/imag...7169/large.jpg

She was born August 24th, 2014, and as of last night weighs 55lb!! She is in perfect health, and is scheduled for a routine Spay next month!

Cheers,

wow :O shes beautiful! i have been wanting a dog of my own for a while now too, been about 9 years since i have had one lol the dog i have here is my bfs, hes a beagle and bassit hound mix

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

Well, life's had some pretty significant changes lately, and low and behold, a dog comes into my life. I had been contemplating adding a companion animal to my zoo for a while now, the snakes have been downsized since I moved last year, and I stay fairly focused on Reticulated Pythons now, but nevertheless, I did not know what kind of pooch to add. . .

Earlier this week, a post went out on a local exotics board, looking for a new owner for a hybrid pup. It was listed as 75% Timber Wolf, 25% German Shepherd. I was slightly hesitant for many many obvious reasons (validity of its origin, nature of the beast, behavior, illnesses, etc etc), but after talking with the owner who needed to find it good home, and countless hours pouring through articles, papers, and owner reports to know what I'm getting into. I took the plunge and adopted her! So without any more hesitation, here's my new house companion Diamond;

http://www.pbase.com/codyconway/imag...7170/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/codyconway/imag...7169/large.jpg

She was born August 24th, 2014, and as of last night weighs 55lb!! She is in perfect health, and is scheduled for a routine Spay next month!

Cheers,

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Good for you!

I have worked with dogs since 1999, and have owed Presa Canarios and pit bulls since 2000 and 2001. I have been involved with protection dog training and trailing since that time and have a good bit of experience with working dogs in general.

One really nice thing about your hybrid will be the fact that the typical hip dysplasia seen in show bred GSD's will be negated or should be, by having the TW blood involved. Look up the Saarloos wolfhound and you will see the reasoning behind what that particular breeder was attempting to do. Most hip issues are brought on by human manipulation for certain appearance traits. Being a "working dog" enthusiast, I prefer function first.

Good call on getting a female with the makeup that you have going there. I'd say for a personal companion you'll be well setup though you may see some fairly aloof behavior having the TW mixed in.

I always recommend training and early socialization, but your dog doesn't have to be everybody's best friend. Just being yours, and your family's friend/companion is what is important. Keep with the leash laws, and crate your animal when you have company if you are concerned about any issues when it's an adult. Keep the dog very social in the early years though.

Congrats and enjoy!

Here's my wife handling our latest presa.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00074.jpg

Omg what a cutie! She is such a gorgeous pup :D she looks like she's a furry ball of fun!

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Originally Posted by Gio

Good for you!

I have worked with dogs since 1999, and have owed Presa Canarios and pit bulls since 2000 and 2001. I have been involved with protection dog training and trailing since that time and have a good bit of experience with working dogs in general.

One really nice thing about your hybrid will be the fact that the typical hip dysplasia seen in show bred GSD's will be negated or should be, by having the TW blood involved. Look up the Saarloos wolfhound and you will see the reasoning behind what that particular breeder was attempting to do. Most hip issues are brought on by human manipulation for certain appearance traits. Being a "working dog" enthusiast, I prefer function first.

Good call on getting a female with the makeup that you have going there. I'd say for a personal companion you'll be well setup though you may see some fairly aloof behavior having the TW mixed in.

I always recommend training and early socialization, but your dog doesn't have to be everybody's best friend. Just being yours, and your family's friend/companion is what is important. Keep with the leash laws, and crate your animal when you have company if you are concerned about any issues when it's an adult. Keep the dog very social in the early years though.

Congrats and enjoy!

Here's my wife handling our latest presa.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00074.jpg

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Yes to most all of this. I was concerned about hip dysplasia with any of the larger breeds, and when I heard wolfdogs are seemingly fixed from having this issue, it made me even more excited. Training is already started strong, and will continue. Because of the TW influence it has to be training based on respect and trust. Never hitting the dog, and using praise as constant reward for good behavior. During dinner its food down, eat a little, stop, sit, good girl, more food, repeat. It's going to be an incredible journey!

Absolutely beautiful! I love hybrids. Knew a friend that had a wolf/coyote hybrid. Coolest animal I have ever had the pleasure of encountering.

She is amazing! Good luck with her!

She is a very beautiful.

Very cool, we rescued a hybrid a few years back...he was a handful to start with and had zero trust thanks to the previous owners, but now he's amazing, still stubborn and doesn't really crave the attention like our other pups, has an amazing prey drive still.

This is a very good looking dog congrats.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks all. Just learned that having a retic pee on my floor is terrible but not that bad compared to a gallon of wolfdog happy pee in my kitchen! Still cleaning the smell

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...a26d476b7d.jpg

This is bath time

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8594/...a06580ba_b.jpg

And one more :-)

Very nice! Never would have guessed it had any wolf in it, though, very doggy-looking. Makes me want to get another dog, I miss my husky and GSD. haha

Awesome! Beautiful puppy, I thought it was a husky of some sort. Here is a pic of my siberian husky named Sierra.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...1313adbef8.jpg

1.0 normal bp
1.0 spyder bp
0.1 Normal BP

and more to come!

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Very nice! Never would have guessed it had any wolf in it, though, very doggy-looking. Makes me want to get another dog, I miss my husky and GSD. haha

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it lacks any rear dewclaw, has a black tipped tail, black gums, black nails, slanted forehead, angled eyes that are 'almond' shaped. a study of wolf dominant traits helps to understand inherited traits that are passed on. When she hits 3 years old, it's easier to identify exacts. As for now, its all puppy phase.

Awsome looking puppy! ive alway wanted a German shep then had daughters, now want one as a babysitter! They are great dogs. I have no experience with a timber wolfs temperament but it's a pack animal just don't left it forget who the Alfa is. I've only had a brindle pit bull but had to give him to my aunt because of homeowners insurance making any bully dog in California a murderer and you uninsurable.

My friend had a 50/50 timber/huskey

Good luck with that :)

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Originally Posted by reptileexperts

it lacks any rear dewclaw, has a black tipped tail, black gums, black nails, slanted forehead, angled eyes that are 'almond' shaped. a study of wolf dominant traits helps to understand inherited traits that are passed on. When she hits 3 years old, it's easier to identify exacts. As for now, its all puppy phase.

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Their temperaments are also much different than a dog, much harder to train, distrustful of strangers, etc. I'd heard of the pure-black gums, but did not realize the other traits were wolf traits as I've never seen them listed on wolf-dog websites before. Usually a 75%+ wolf-dog would look 100% wolf from birth, also wolf-dogs are usually born at the same time of year with very little variation from March-May because fertility times do not change. I do not think a hybrid would be born as late as August, at least not one as high of content as 75%.

Your dog is still very gorgeous, though! I'm just not too sold on it being a hybrid. I'm not trying to have a fight, but I see very little wolf in your dog, maybe you'd be interested in getting a phenotype to verify that your dog is indeed a wolf-dog? Sometimes they can look a bit off from the average wolf-dog hybrid.

Pheno typing will be much easier when she is in the adult stage. And yes, most fertility occurs in females during that time - but male sperm production is not limited to that timeline. The mother was the cross of GS x TW, which can give lead way into why ovulation would've been later / earlier than typically occurs in dens. Personally, I think mom was more of a mix of northern breed and GSD and dad was a TW x Malamute, based on the parental images I have from the original breeder. I've been trying to learn the best way to categorize certain things about her to get an understanding of her needs. One thing I do know, she's going to be a big girl, and will get all the love she will ever need :-)

Actually, outside the breeding season, males do not produce sperm. They will still mate, but will be not be producing any sperm. Their testicles also shrink in size once breeding season is over.

I was confused as to what you meant on waiting until she was older until I realized I meant genotype. lol I meant to get a blood test to see if there is any recent wolf in her DNA. I do not think a DNA test would be limited by age.

And yes she definitely will! She's only 5 months old and already huge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gratz on her and good luck. Diamond looks like a perfect name for her too.

As she gets older, you'll really get to see and appreciate the TW traits and hopefully part of her wild side(in a good way).

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...b27da8fd77.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...6c8a976878.jpg

Little bit of an update. Currently fostering the little chihuahua in the second photo.. she is terrified of diamond but diamond always seems to play nice

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...6110124fbb.jpg
Try and take her for a run and she only wants to herp

Update:

Took Diamond to a trainer today for evaluation. The training says she is a mid-content wolf hybrid based on behavior and phenotype. Fortunately, she was able to offer a ton of training advice, and it has shown immediate results in comparison to what we were seeing with "treat conditioning".

Now, to get her and the new Savannah friends ;-)