Tamaskan breed

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Wibbs

I know a guy in the UK with two of them. Lovely looking dogs, very easy going too. Rare enough breed though. Never saw or heard of one in Ireland anyway.

Cherry Blossom

Pretty interesting past thread on the subject

From 2008

They have not become a breed that is recognised by the kennel clubs since that thread.

Wibbs

Seems to be another one of those potential breeds suffering from over zealous and in fighting breeders. It also seems the looks like a wolf but has no wolf blood selling point may be bogus http://the-no-wolf-tamaskan-fable.blogspot.com/ Pity that site has the info in doc format, but the upshot seems to be, or is claimed that they actually do.

EDIT added in a summary of the above site;

Our goal was to reconstruct the Official TDR pedigrees so that they more accurately reflected the history of the Tamaskan Dog.  We had hoped to develop a more complete record of the breed and, in so doing, identify important health issues as well as dominant lines.   What we have discovered is that there are a myriad of combinations of breeds all under the Blustag/Blufawn umbrella of "Tamaskan".  Jodie at Blustag is an F1 wolfdog (wolf x husky mix), Heidi at Blustag is an F2 wolfdog (F1 wolf dog x mid content wolfdog mix), Jaegar vom Munsterland at Tarheel is an F3 wolfdog (F2 wolfdog x wolfdog mix), Ruby at J & J is a Czech Wolfdog x Husky mix, Mikko at Conchur is approximately 80% Czech Wolfdog with the balance Husky,  Raan and Skye are wolfdog x Utonagan mixes...  yet all of them are considered purebred DNA tested Tamaskans.  Something is very wrong with this picture.  Simply taking DNA testing of parents of various breeds and continuing on your breeding program does not constitute creation of a breed.  Even the more recent "designer" Labradoodles only use Labradors and Poodles in their breeding.  At most, one can only honestly say that the Tamaskan is in the experimental phase, but certainly not make claim to a rare breed type.

To that end, many dogs have been used in the creation of the Tamaskan, including wolfdogs, to try to get that perfect "wolfy" look.  Not all Tamaskan lines have wolf in them.  There are some with Czech Wolfdog, now considered a bona fide breed as it has been more than two decades since a wolf was infused into the lines.  Other Tamaskans are predominantly husky mixes, with some low content wolfdogs ... certainly low enough that the next generation may no longer fit the legal definition of wolfdogs.  For those who purchased a Tamaskan intending to buy a "wolfdog with no wolf", we have prepared this information so that you may be reassured of your purchase, or informed that you have been misled.  For those of you who prefer not to know, you have that choice.

If true, a tad dodgy to say the least.

Cherry Blossom

Personally, I find the whole 'lets domesticate the wolf' by breeding it with various dogs and give it a fancy new name a bit pointless. It's as useful as crossing dogs with coyotes, foxes, guinea pigs or anything else. It doesn't create a new breed, it creates a freak-show that doesn't know what it is or what it's purpose is (think liger). There are plenty of primitive northern breeds around that know what they are. If looks and hard-man-ship are the aim there are plenty of breeds that already fit the bill (not that anyone should own an animal for either purpose). There are also more than enough species and breeds owned by people who can't cope with their needs as it is, there's no need for any more just so someone can get the novelty factor of out-doing the Jones's.

Wibbs

I agree with you 100% AJ, but I can also see why it was done in the past to improve the dog breed in question. The GSD being a good example. Other more recent examples would be the Czech and Saarloos wolfdogs and the Lupo Italiano. The first and last in that lineup can be outstanding tracker and SAR dogs. The second has even been used as a seeing eye dog for the blind. An even odder one would be the Sulimov dog. A Jackal/dog hybrid bred in Russia. The result of which makes an excellent working dog in the sniffer capacity(makes a bloodhound look like it's got an awful headcold). As "ickle pet doggies. Coochie coo" in an inexperienced household, no way for the most part. Though one might say that about a few breeds out there.

Of course when it was done it was done very rigorously and records were kept and the outbreeding in the original programmes were small in number and only the best most tractable resulting examples were allowed breed. Plus the intention was very different. Like I said it was to improve the dog, not weaken the wolf and it was done to create a specific domesticated dog with specific goals. None of which were "eeeee it looks like/is a wolf" ballsology which is what we're seeing more today in ads on donedeal and the like. Like you say AJ the novelty factor.

The joke is the horror movies and fairytales have given the wrong idea. An actual wolf would be as much use as a chocolate fireguard as an "attack dog". Guard dog? Pointless as they rarely bark and if they do it's a very quiet affair. Captive ones only bark at humans cos they know we're deaf by comparison. Their built in mindset is "oh oh, trouble, let's get the fook outa dodge, run away, run away". Pretty sensible if you ask me.

Luckily for the hard men types(and the odd so called donedeal "breeders") and the rest of us, the vast majority haven't a clue what a wolf actually looks like. Movies use made up huskies etc so that's what people expect(the only flick I can recall with a real one was descriptively enough "Dances with Wolves). I recall a thread hereabouts on this subject a good while ago now and there was an example of one that was a rescue and an example of why it was such a bad idea. Damn fine sentiment and bloody good advice, but if it was a mid or high content wolfdog I'm the king of Siam. The phenotype very closely follows the genotype. More like a very badly socialised low content(at best) dog whom the owner projected the wolf ballsology on, until it was too late to reverse that process. Sadly all too common.




*Back in the day I was lucky on a few occasions to deal with captive wolves up close and you'd not mistake one for a husky or a dog. They're quite different and those differences while subtle at times are a long list. The Tamaskan dog does look kinda like one.More than the average anyway. Though in much the same way as a bloke I kinda look like George Clooney. Well I'm middle aged and I've got grey coming in so...

tamaskan

Yes, I have one. Fantastic dogs, people lovers for sure. Would make terrible guard dogs, which is why some people would want one.