Angelique - yes I know.. it's infuriating to have people thing that owning a wolf or wolfdog makes them a bada-$. It really is not true. Wolf blood does nothing good for dogs and dog blood does nothing good for wolves. It is a lose lose situation, you are creating an animal that has to be confined and very strictly controlled. It is sad, unfortunate, and out of control.

Any wolfdog "breed" or wolf hybrid period.. is not a pet. With there being no real registration control for these animals someone could be infusing wolf blood on a regular basis which degenerates the temperament of the animals.

Well said, I think Wolves are majestic and absolutely beautiful, they should be left WILD and not owned as pets and certainly never bred to dogs..

i agree- wolves are intended for a different life than with humans. and i too have admired them all my life, and love the GSD breed, though i am not sure at this point if i will choose to train another as my next SD, because no matter the bloodline, care or whatever i do, i always seem to wind up with one with the allergy to fleas. growing up in california in the '60s and '70s, the usual treatment was to dose the dog with steroids, and the dose had to be increased as the dog developed tolerace for it, meaning that eventually, it became useless. it hurt too much to lose dogs to this every few years, and, i though, living out here in the midwest, that i would not have this problem again (the california vets told us back then that it was only a local problem). so since i find myself once again dealing with it with anja, i am considering changing to a tight coated breed, to try to avoid this, when the time comes to begin training up the new SDIT.

my interest in the ATS is academic, one wanting to learn, not as a potential owner. i have many people who come to my group looking for info on all things relating to SDs, and since this is a breed that has been used as one, and i tend to wind up with the odd questions, its good to be as well informed as i can be.

 Quote: gail nichols

i always seem to wind up with one with the allergy to fleas.

Gail,
This is a jump off your original post, but this comment sticks out to me....what are you feeding? Are you sure it is not maybe a food allergy?
I have seen numerous dogs that have been "diagnosed" with a flea allergy only, there is no flea dirt or fleas on them. Put them on a all-natural kibble or a raw diet and the allergies went away.....
I could send you some links to other threads about this if you like and I apologize for hijacking a bit.....

Back to the original post.
This thread is interesting, and Jennifer is right, I was referring to wolf hybrids, not mixed breeds.

Funny you say that cause I was just talking about being so tired of the Allergies my male has and has suffered all his life.I have tried everything under the sun , diet change,oils, meds(including steroids) NOTHING has worked. At one point I thought , well it's soo dry here in Vegas but then I read comments from areas where it's humid that have the same problem! .. I was entertaining the thought of my next dogs being anything but a German Shepherd cause I hear that problem from SOO many other GSD owners.My female is not as bad but she itches, I totally feel what you're saying...It's very frustrating.

I don't even have to read past the first post to know that you're wasting your time. There are at least a dozen different shepherd-based "breeds" floating around and they are all CRAP CRAP CRAP. Why waste your time when there's plenty of great GSD's out there????????

I have not encountered a flea allergy yet - have had 5 GSDs since 1985. Currently have 3

I have one with food allergies .

 Quote: carol boche

 Quote: gail nichols

i always seem to wind up with one with the allergy to fleas.

Gail,
This is a jump off your original post, but this comment sticks out to me....what are you feeding? Are you sure it is not maybe a food allergy?
I have seen numerous dogs that have been "diagnosed" with a flea allergy only, there is no flea dirt or fleas on them. Put them on a all-natural kibble or a raw diet and the allergies went away.....
I could send you some links to other threads about this if you like and I apologize for hijacking a bit.....

Back to the original post.
This thread is interesting, and Jennifer is right, I was referring to wolf hybrids, not mixed breeds.

My dog had an extreme case of “flea allergy” per vet diagnosis; his rash covered his whole back and stomach. Per advice from this board I changed his food to the Honest Kitchen “Force” food, added salmon oil and vit E and not only did it clear him up but he has not had another break out. He has been rash free for over a year now.

Gail, http://shawlein.com/The_Standard/13_Breed_Type/Breed_Types.html scroll down to "American Tundra Shepherd".

My opinion: I get upset that people have tried to take the GSD, a wonderful breed, and mix it with other dogs or wolves to try and get...what?...something "better"? Hasn't been done yet. None of the people I've read about on their websites have the qualifications that Max Von Stephanitz had, nor the vision, nor the level of responsibility. For these people to compare the origins of the GSD by Stephanitz, as so many of these "breeders" do in order to justify their "new" breed of GSD, holds no value for me. Their different GSD breed types is simply another version of designer breeds, only with a working dog.

Nancy, glad for you. But reality is the "allergies" in shepherds is a huge problem..i guess your post gives me hope, i do love my shepherds..

Nancy your boy gets nicer and nicer every time you post a new pic of him...handsome!