A "Reinvention of the Wheel" kinda scam
By Jennifer Stoeckl, MAT - Dire Wolf Project CEO, Sept. 9, 2024
Just after I posted Friday’s email about the “10 Benefits of Owning a Wolfdog”, I received a hate-mail reply email.
When I hit send that fateful Friday, I suspected I might uncover a few haters lurking around on my email list just waiting to defend wolf dog ownership, and sure enough…
One of them popped up from the prickly underbrush!
Admittedly, much of his tactics are pretty worn out and over-used, but it seems there isn’t anything better out there these days, so I’m happy to accept it.
“You claim to have been breeding the “dirus” “alsatian” mix for 35+ years and still haven’t achieved a standard build? The shiloh shepherd and king shepherd which are basically the same breed mix with the exception of the utilization of a wolfhound are proven breeds at this point. I personally have an actual low content wolfdog, which consists of 50% german shepherd, 25% malamute, 10% samoyed, 25% gray wolf, she is a black phase wolf dog and walks off leash follows commands easily and is protective when i tell her to be. I didn’t pay $5k for her either, it seems you are running a reinvention of the wheel kind of scam.”
Ahhhh!
The sweet aroma of troll breath!
I bet you were able to inhale the noxious swirl of decay and rot that still clings to the air all the way from over here!
It seems I stepped on his green, gnarled, big toe and caused him to squeal.
Oh well. *shrug
When you don’t have as many brave souls to choose from nowadays, you take what you can get.
At least, that’s how I see it.
I mean… there’s not even any real art to this one.
I almost feel bad for what’s about to happen to him.
But like I said, I’ve been having a bit of a troll dry spell lately, so… gotta make the most of one when it presents itself, y’know?
Anyway…
*cracks knuckles*
Let’s get on with cleaning out this wretched cloud of grall from its decaying matter.
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“You claim to have been breeding the “dirus” “alsatian” mix for 35+ years and still haven’t achieved a standard build?”
Ah… the “you-should-already-look-like-a-wolf” argument.
Nice to see you again, my old friend.
It’s packaged in a slightly different way by only requiring us to have a “standard build”, but same ol’ concept.
And to that I say…
How long do you think it should take to breed back the exact bone and body structure of the extinct, prehistoric dire wolf in a loving family companion dog using only domesticated dog breeds?
I suppose you would do what ALL other breeders have done and cheat by breeding in modern wolves and wolfdogs.
But even if you could refrain from breeding wolfdogs, which I highly doubt based on the fact that you own a wolfdog and you wrote me earlier asking if you could stud our dog Stanley, I bet you would not start by completely ignoring outward appearance.
Because breeding integrity isn’t actually something you care about, is it?
Oh, you’d think it would be easy to get just ONE WOLF TRAIT honed down in 35+ years.
Take the highly-slanted, yellow eyes of the wild canid, for example.
Surely it can’t be THAT difficult to achieve throughout the entire breed after all this time, right?
Of course, domesticated dogs can have yellow eyes, but authentic bright golden eyes in dogs are actually quite rare.
And highly-slanted, almond-shaped yellow eyes are even more rare.
Unless you want to cheat again and simply breed blue dilutes like the Blue Bay Shepherds (wolfdogs) from Florida.
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“The shiloh shepherd and king shepherd which are basically the same breed mix with the exception of the utilization of a wolfhound are proven breeds at this point.”
Awe… the strawman argument.
There is nothing quite as dishonest in debate as relying on a comparison to something completely different to make your point.
I want to interject here for a second to explain something to everyone before we move on…
The King Shepherd is a splinter breed from the original Shiloh Shepherd. They actually have the same origins and very similar goals.
These two breeds aim to:
- KEEP the fundamental German Shepherd Dog temperament
- RETAIN all of the original German Shepherd Dog coloring
- INCREASE overall size
- STRAIGHTEN the back
- IMPROVE overall health and genetic diversity
Neither of these two examples aim to breed back an EXTINCT WILD TYPE using only domesticated dogs.
They don’t have to:
- REPLICATE an extinct, prehistoric wild animal.
- FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER an inherited working temperament to a non-working temperament nearly void of drive.
Remember: It took Russian scientist Dmitry Belyaev about 6 to 10 generations of selective breeding SOLELY for inherited temperament to see any significant signs of domestication in silver foxes.
And finally, by the 20th generation, the world’s first domesticated foxes not only displayed dog-like behavior but also began to show physical traits associated with domestication, such as floppy ears, curled tails, and changes in coat color, similar to other domesticated animals like dogs.
It took Dire Wolf Project founder Lois Schwarz around seventeen years to perfect the world’s first large breed companion dog.
And she almost had to disregard outward appearance completely in order to achieve it in that timeframe.
Now keeping that well-established unique large breed companion dog temperament while at the same time actively crossbreeding with working dog breeds to improve genetic diversity and outward appearance is NOT easy.
Especially when we are fighting against natural domestication changes in order to breed back to a wild type.
There is no correct timeframe for this because it’s literally never been done before.
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“I personally have an actual low content wolfdog, which consists of 50% german shepherd, 25% malamute, 10% samoyed, 25% gray wolf, she is a black phase wolf dog and walks off leash follows commands easily and is protective when i tell her to be.”
Good for you?
Oh, wait… “actual” wolfdog?
You mean as opposed to a 100% domesticated dog that only looks like a wolfdog?
OH! I see.
You were trying to insult the Dire Wolf Project by stating that your wolfdog is somehow authentic.
Mwahahaha!!
That’s actually the first time I’ve ever heard that one.
Get an authentic wolfdog,
not a fake knockoff from the Dire Wolf Project!
You mean like the authentic wolfdog that killed a 3-month-old Alabama baby this last June?
Or wait…
You must mean like the pack of authentic wolfdogs this last May that snatched up a Shingletown, CA neighbor’s small dog while the owner was walking it on a leash?
Oooh… oooh…. oooh!
I bet you mean like the authentic wolfdog dumped in the woods near Coombs, British Columbia last year that mangled its first dog kill attempt and then actually killed and ate a small dog while the owner was walking it on a leash? It terrorized an entire town for half a year until it was officially killed.
Yep… okay. Got it.
DireWolf Dogs… the fake wolfdog!
I LOVE IT!
I might even have to trademark that one.
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“I didn’t pay $5k for her either,”
I bet you didn’t.
You get what you pay for.
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“it seems you are running a reinvention of the wheel kind of scam.”
Yikes.
I’ll have to give your closing line a 3/10.
No real substance.
I expect better from our trolls.
The fact that you don’t even know the basics about the Dire Wolf Project before coming at us makes kicking you off this list so much sweeter, too.
If there is one thing I love doing, it’s banning an ignorant, self-righteous troll who thinks he knows everything, but obviously hasn’t taken the time to learn even the first thing about us.
And since all you see is outward appearance, you are part of the greater problem that festers in the dog world like a smoldering forest fire that remains unseen for years only to flare up and claim innocent dog lives seemingly overnight, leaving behind only the silence of its devastation.
Truly, the deep loathing a troll feels must be a raw and instinctual kind of hate born from centuries of bitterness, isolation, and hostility.
It has no place in our world.
Otherwise, if you actually want to learn why the Dire Wolf Project is so unique and exciting…
And you don’t mind a little more troll-bashing at the end…
Then check out my more ‘in-depth’ book on how we travel from purebred to strongbred on the road to healthy, long-lived dogs:
The Dire Wolf Project:
Creating an Extraordinary Dog Breed
It’s basically the practical application of everything we do and teach…. applied to dozens and dozens of examples in different areas of dog breeding.
You’ll finally learn why we don’t conform.
And why we can’t be compared to any other dog breed on the planet.
Details can be found here:
OH, and don’t be afraid to challenge me with tough questions.
I love challenges and debate.
After all, I’m an analyst at heart.
However, there is a huge difference between legit respectful questions and the immature, emotional response of a troll.
Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.