ACD master race checking in

Norwegian Elkhounds (~5000 BC) northern spitz hunters rock!  

@binthere

Where did you get yours?  And what is a puppy of the breed going for these days?

Used to have huskies and wolf/husky mix.  Considered czec wolf dogs a few times.

he came from Spain, La Gretosa kennels. He was born January 4th 2021. There are only four US breeders recognized by the The Czechoslovakian Vlcak Club of America. You can find those here. https://czechoslovakianvlcak.org/recognized-kennels/

Unfortunately, none of them were having litters at the time because of Covid. I paid $1500. Plus more for a trusted friend of his to hand transport him to the US since I didn't have the ability to go pick him up myself. I wish I had. This person brought him to Mexico and then had her boyfriend take him to WI. That was not the agreement. They had stuffed him in a cat carrier and he was eating his own shit. Turned out he had parasites from Mexico because they kept him there for several days. It makes me furious just thinking about it again. Poor little guy was in survival mode and extremely angry.

It wasn't until he turned 8 months old that he flipped a switch one morning and spent more time being sweet than defensive. Its only gotten better since then. Having the older dog was a huge help. Now he's coming up on a year and a half and is a happy, sweet dog. He likes to watch Nature shows on TV while my girlfriend holds his paw.

Most breeders are going to question you hard and want a person to have experience with similar breeds. Unfortunately a majority of these animals get put down before they are two years old because they can be more work than people anticipate. They WILL challenge a weak owner for Alpha status. Its a shame. They ARE NOT Labs or Retrievers. They have different breed characteristics and most people do not understand that behavior from a lab that is considered unacceptable may just be another breeds way of showing displeasure. Example, these are mouthy breeds that will grab your arm or hand while while telling you that they are upset. Not that he's hurting you, but that is intimidating to a lot of folks. Especially with the way they look.

Funny enough its the old ladies we see on walks around the neighborhood who are not intimidated at all and he just melts when they pet him.

Mine was also a first born male that was used to getting his way. So there is that. These dogs are very much like Maligators with how mouthy they are and desire to bite things. Mine has grown out of that for the most part. He has been absolutely fearless since he was a puppy. They aren't very bumbley at 8 weeks. they are very athletic by that time.

He is muzzle trained just like my older one. Though I think when people see a muzzle they tend to believe that dog is inclined to attack, which isn't the case with either of my dogs. It does put vet techs at ease though.

If you want you can check out, "The Dark Side of CSV" on Facebook. It speaks to the challenges of the breed.

If I were to get another I'd probably try to get one from Greyfarer in California. I'd want to meet the puppy and spend a little time with it to build trust before stealing it away from the mother. I think that was a huge issue with mine. I'd also probably not pick it up right at 8 weeks. It's too critical of a time for these breeds in mental development. I'd wait until 10 weeks.

He's turned into a fantastic dog now. I'd never give him up. A huge challenge but its been rewarding. They are very much one person/family dogs.

Amazing looking dogs. Almost picked one up instead of the Tamaskan. What turned me off was the tendency for obesity and some other health issues with the breed.