This is my fella:
From what I can gather, and I'd hesitate to call it fact, this breed started around 20 years ago. It was originally called a Northern Inuit, but there have been several splits from the original breeding program over the years. From what I can gather, the splits were mainly due to disagreements over breeding practices. The British Inuit Dog Club was formed within the last 10 years or so, and started to bring new blood into the Northern Inuit breed. At the current time of writing, they are introducing the Czech Wolfdog to the British Inuit lines. You can check out their site here:
http://www.bidc.co.ukThey are bred for their looks and good temperament. But they are not a dog for a novice owner. They are very independant, intelligent, and often quite boisterous. Due to the German Shepherd mix I believe, they are able to be trained easier than some of the other 'Northern' type dogs such as Huskey and Malamute etc. However, they do take a lot of patience, and time. One other thing I would advise is that they seem to prefer living with other dogs, and do not like being left on their own. It's my personal experience that Kopek is a lot happier now we have a second dog (Malli, a cross German Shepherd/Malamute).
There's a fair bit of mystery and controversy over how the breed originated, what kind of dogs were first used, and whether there is any real wolf content in them. However, I think it's generally accepted that they are in the main a mixture of Huskey, Malamute, and German Shepherd. Due to the medical problems than can appear in this breed, it is very important that you ensure that if you're looking to buy one, it has had a thorough health check, including hip displacement.
All the above said, Kopek is one of the best dogs I have ever owned. He has one of the best temperaments I've come across in a dog, soft as a teddy bear. He's very smart, but also very stubborn, if he doesn't want to do something it's not easy to persuade him. He's fine with other dogs, and cats, although he will chase if something runs away but he has never bitten anything. He's not much of a people dog, prefering the company of his own 'pack', but is very curious about other animals.
One word of warning, do not leave these dogs alone in your house or car, except for very short time periods. I am amazed at his capacity to chew and eat things, a brief list of the things he has destroyed so far:
- A mattress
- About a hundred books
- Three hoovers
- Several brushes
- Another mattress
- The hall, stairs, and landing carpet
- The driver’s seat from my car
- Numerous cushions
- A wig
- Door frames
- A kitchen table
- Dozens of plants
- Several pairs of shoes (well actually only one of a pair)
The above and so much more that I ended up writing a book about it called Kopek the Destroyer. You can preview it at my other site
http://www.kopek-publishing.com.
