Three More Days!!!

My husband and I are sooo excited to bring home the newest member of our family!  Better than a baby....better than a Lab.....it's a Czechoslovakian Vlcak!!!

A what???

It's the most beautiful dog known to man (other than the Siberian Husky, of course).  The AKC-recognized (Foundation Stock Service) breed originated about 50 years ago when the Czech government starting breeding German Shepherds with Carpathian wolves to work with the border patrol.  Later, they were mainly used for search and rescue and became an FCI standard breed (aka legit) in 1999.  Long story short, GSD+Wolf= Freakin Sweet Dog.  They were bred to have the attitude and brains of a shepherd with the strength and stamina of a wolf.  Here are some pictures from wikipedia.org:

I first learned about the CV on wolfdog.org.  My husband wanted a wolf-hybrid, which I would never go for, and I was leaning towards a shepherd dog, so I found the best of both worlds.  It's hard to understand for most people, including my husband's family, that this is not a wolf-hybrid.  The AKC does not recognize wolf-hybrids.  It did start out as one over 50 years ago, but has since been domesticated and interbred for many generations, just like any other breed. 

It's basically a super-charged German Shepherd.  It is courageous, strong, social, graceful, and sooo cool-looking.  They are known to be shy and wary of strangers.  The Vlcak is said to have great relationships with its owners and family, as well as other domesticated animals in the household.  It's very smart, but must be socialized and discouraged from chasing small animals, just like any other dog.  The only downfall I see is trainablility.  Possible, of course, but sometimes difficult, which we are very accustomed to with our Siberian Husky, Biscotti.  This is him:

He grew up with a German Shepherd during his first 4 months, so we think he'll do just fine with a Vlcak. Since the Siberian Husky is considered the closest related breed to the wolf, Scotti and the Vlcak will most likely have some similarities in behavior.  Both breeds communicate in ways other than barking.  They use mostly body language, howling, grunting, whining and growling.  Biscotti grunts a lot.  He never learned to howl, except when he's left alone, so hopefully our Vlcak can teach him.  Since Vlcaks are wary of strangers, we're hoping it can serve as a guard dog, a position in which Biscotti unfortunately, but adorably, fails.  Both breeds are also very intelligent, which actually makes them harder to train.  They both possess high energy levels.

Now to the Vlcak!  She is four months old, and she's the first Vlcak born in Texas, y'all!  They have only been bred in the U.S. for several years.  There are currently three breeders in the country, selling them mainly for search and rescue, as well as showing and breeding.  Ours will be a well-loved member and guardian of our household, which is just as honorable, and will probably be trained to find things.  I am also hoping she will have enough shepherding skills to round up our Husky when he's being "independent."  Here she is!

 

I've decided to name her Miele (mee-eh-lay, or Mia for short), which means honey in Italian.  I thought it went well with Biscotti (Bee-sko-tee, or Scotti for short), which means cookie.  Both dogs will understand their commands in Italian. 

We get her on Thursday, so come back next time to see how it went!  I'll have pictures of Scotti and Miele's introduction, and hopefully playtime and lovings rather than bloodshed and maulings.  I'll also share a recipe for some homemade puppy treats!  Wish me luck!