BREED HISTORY

In 1955 Ing. Karel Hartl began to consider the crossing of A Carpathian wolf with a German Shepherd as a scientific experiment at the military kennels in Czechoslovakia.  The experiment established that the progeny of the mating of a male dog to a female wolf as well as that of male wolf to female dog, could be reared.
The first attempts to mate the she-wolf Brita with the chosen German Shepherd were not successful. The breeding dog had to be changed. The first hybrids of the above mentioned she-wolf and the German Shepherd Cezar z Brezoveho haje were born on May 26, 1958

In 1965, after the ending of the experiment, the idea was born to establish a new breed, a breed that would make a perfect border patrol dog, combining the usable qualities of the wolf with the favourable qualities of the dog. Capacity for training, activity and tenacity was tested. Chosen hybrids were mated again with non-related German Shepherd Puppies from the second filial generation could be trained if they were taken out of the kennels and reared individually. Hybrids of the generations F 3 and F 4 were commonly used as service dogs in the army.

The she-wolf Brita was also mated with the German Shepherd Kurt z Vaclavky and she gave birth to the first two lines of the hybrid. A third line was also born in the Czech lands; its founder was the wolf Argo. The female German Shepherd Astra z SNB gave birth to offspring in the kennels of the Police in Bychory in 1968. The abbreviation “CV” (Czech Wolfdog) started to be used for interline hybrids.

Puppies of the first generation resembled the wolf in appearance and behavior. Their upbringing was difficult; training was possible, but the results hardly matched the effort. In adulthood they were again bred with German Shepherds, decreasing the proportion of “wolf blood” to 6.25% in the fourth generation. Most individuals of the third and fourth generations were able to attend a normal course and could be placed in a service performance. Compared to dogs they had better navigational skills, night vision, hearing, and sense of smell. In tests of endurance, hybrids finished the entire 100km route without being exhausted.

In the 1970s most hybrids were sent to new kennels, near Malacky, which belonged to the Bratislava section of the Border Guard.

The best breeding dogs got further from the “iron curtain” And so Slovak breeders were not under such strong pressure to produce special hybrids for the army and the could work on the unifying the external traits of the new breed. The Vice-commander of the above mentioned kennels, Major Frantisek Rosik, now the honorary president of the Slovak Club of Breeders of the Czechoslovak Wolfdog in Bratislava, undoubtedly took the greatest credit for the development of the breed in Slovakia.

A third wolf – Sarik enriched the population in Malacky. He was mated with a female hybrid of the F 3 generation Xela z Pohranicni straze and with a female dog CV Urta z z Pohranicni straze in 1972. The name “Czech Wolfdog (CV)” was gradually changed to “Czechoslovakian Wolfdog (CsV)”, under which the breed was later recognized. The last entry into the fond of genes of the breed was the mating of the she-wolf Lady with the German Shepherd Bojar von Schotterhof, which again took place in the Southern Bohemian town of Libejovice and the puppies were born on April 26, 1883. Kazan z Pohranicni straze (F 1), born from this mating, was used directly in breeding CsV. There has been only pure-blood breeding within the population of the new breed since. From the beginning Czechoslovak Wolfdogs got into the hands of civilian breeders. However, kennel organizations in the Czechoslovakia refused all attempts of ing. Karel Hartl to gain recognition for the Club of Breeders of this breed and at recording breedings into the pedigree register.

In 1982 the breed was again presented for recognition by Frantisek Rosik through the Klubu chovateľov ČsV (Club of Breeders of Czechoslovakian Wolfdog – current day Slovakian Breed Club), and this time, it was recognized by the Czechoslovakian breeders associations as a national breed.  In ten years (1982 – 1991), 1552 puppies were recorded.

In 1989, it became provisionally recognized as FCI standard no. 332, group 1, section 1. It won the title of “World Champion” at the World Dog Show in Brno in 1990. Ten years later, in 1999, the breed confirmed its viability and met all the criteria of the FCI, earning full recognition of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog breed.

In 2012, the breed numbered 168 adult females and 170 adult males officially registered in the Czech Republic. As of January 2014, the most puppies each year are registered in Italy (up to two hundred), in the Czech Republic (about 100), and in Slovakia (about 50 )

The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog Club of GB (czechoslovakianwolfdogclubgb.co.uk)