A wolf? No, a “Utonagan”

We just came across this majestic cross-breed. It’s called a Utonagan and is breed (originally in England) to look just like a wolf. What a fantastic idea! It’s said to be a cross of a German Shepherd, Alaskan Malamute, and of course a Siberian Husky.

Since I personally am no expert on the Utonagan, I thought I’d quote directly from the Utonagan Society [link] website:

The Utonagan is quite unique in the dog world for being the only large breed dog bred to emulate something else (a wolf) with no working purpose in mind. They are essentially a companion dog. With 3 working breeds in their ancestry however, it is not surprising that they can be trained for various purposes, if desired. The difference is that each dog may have it’s own specialty, as it were; i.e. some may excel at sledding, others may not see the point! Many have qualified as PAT (Pets As Therapy) dogs, but there are some who would be too nervous. The latter does seem to be one of the better occupations for a Utonagan though, as his exemplary temperament is one of the major requirements of the Breed Standard.

Looks like a pretty amazing creature to me…

Like it’s parent breeds, the Utonagan has a thick double coat that appears quite different in winter and summer. The guard hair is straight and slightly coarse to the touch. The pelage can be silver grey, cream, or brown with black overlay and a characteristic wolf mask. It also comes in all white and all black. If the dog lives indoors you can expect the coat to shed wildly.  It would certainly require frequent brushings. (you can offset some of the dramatic shedding with a Raw Diet…)

 Like any breed there seems to be quite the following for this pups.  Mostly in the UK, but I expect we’ll see a lot of attention in the US soon.  The AKC doesn’t recognize them yet….