Wolfdog - the best friend of man.

By: Romana ("Rona") Paszkowska

We haven't bought our Czechoslovakian Wolfdog from any breeder. Our dog has never been presented at any dog show, and what's more – for 10 years we didn't even know that she probably was a pedigree dog. However, we've always felt that she was an extraordinary creature that suddenly, out of blue, appeared on our way as a prize for God knows what....

Almost 11 years ago it was Tina who found us when we were returning from a walk in the park. She was very young, about 4-5 weeks old, skinny, weak and unbelievably dirty. She must have been strolling around and searching for food in dust- bins. She simply selected our "pack", joined it and followed us wagging happily her little tail. When we reached a busy street my husband took her and carried home, where we gave her a bath, some food and she stayed with us for good.

She stayed with us against common sense – we lived in a flat in the centre of a big city, worked long hours, our kids spent much time at school. During the week Tina had to stay long hours at home on her own. Only during the weekends she had a ‘walking heaven'.

My husband is a geologist, at that time he did a lot of fieldwork and often took her for excursions and expeditions. I suppose she hasn't been unhappy with us, though probably would be happier if we lived in a house with a garden or in the country. For many years Tina was taken for a mix of an Alsatian and Husky. Very often people in the street admired her wolfish beauty, warm-heartedness and expressively demonstrated joy of life. She is exceptionally friendly and behaves as if she loved the whole world. This feature does not fit the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog profile, but maybe she remembers that thanks to her friendliness she found a family? Or maybe due to this trait she had lost her first home?

But I have to admit that her warm nature has its good sides. Once I was walking her late at night in an empty street when suddenly I saw a group of suspiciously looking young men coming form the opposite direction. I felt rather scared, since Tina had never been trained to act as a defense dog. But our bright pet welcomed the muggers with such enthusiasm, wagged her tail, kissed them with affection, etc. so that they were instantly disarmed by the fantastic dog that ‘is able recognize good people' as they put it... It seems it was her precisely designed strategic plan which would probably not let her win a defense-dog show, but was amazingly successful..

About a year ago I met a lady with a dog that looked exactly like Tina. Amazed, I started a conversation with her and learnt about the existence of Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs. Later I found a Wolfdog webpage and read the description of the breed, which Tina fit almost perfectly. To my surprise, in the gallery I saw hundreds of almost identical dogs. I must admit I had rather mixed feelings because by that time I used to think that Tina was a unique creature! On the basis of the photos Margo assessed Tina as a wolfdog of an older type, which was later confirmed by a vet, a breed -expert.

It has never mattered to us if Tina is a pedigree dog or not. We know that the whole pedigree dog business: dog shows, kennel clubs, herd-books, etc. has its sense and we don't want to question this, but neither my husband, nor I have ever felt like participating in such events. Even when I had a very nobly born dachshund, of which one could say that when he walked "his breed preceded and followed him" but I also have to admit that finding out Tina's probable roots helped us a lot understand her soul and character, especially those features which did not fit ordinary dogs.

What is our Tina like? She has greyish coat and is really beautiful, full of girlish charm. She is bright –learns new things very quickly, even at later age. She is rather obedient but we always know when she disagrees with us. When somebody tries to break her will she becomes as stubborn as a donkey and ignores him politely, like a princess. However, we haven't had any serious conflicts with her for several years now. We learned how to respect her individuality and in return she tries to follow our principles. She doesn't have a definite pack-leader – rather treats my husband and me as ‘alpha couple' She's placed herself between our son, whom she admires and the daughter whom she loves dearly but looks down on, though just a little bit.

Tina moves like a true wolf and is very lightly- footed. She looks very wild when running and leaves an almost single- line trace. Even today at the age of 11, she has incredible amount of energy. Like a wild beast, she has a ‘sports heart', that beats at normal speed only when the dog runs, jumps, swims, carries logs, etc. On holidays in the mountains she was several times taken for a wolf. Once she almost lost her life when a brave young man attacked her with a knife in an attempt to defend his girlfriend against a "wild beast" that was affectionally wagging her tail. Since then Tina always wears a red scarf when running in a an open space, so that everyone sees from a distance that she's a domesticated animal. She's able to run many kilometers by a bike, and after a short nap is ready to continue her efforts. She doesn't fear the height, climbs rocky slopes, easily approaches precipices in quarries, precedes her master when entering dark caves, omits obstacles in a very intelligent ways showing her ability to think strategically and anticipate dangers. But most of all she loves water – swims in every water basin she comes across, sometimes jumps into a river and dives. Nobody has ever taught her that – this is just her nature.

Tina couldn't bark by the time she was around two years old. She barks now only when she stays at home on her own and watches the household. When she wants to communicate us something she would rather moan. She howls like a wolf when she is worried and hysterically fears storms and fireworks – New Year's Eve is a real nightmare for her. She usually behaves very fairly. When she feels like taking something from a plate which lies on a table in an empty kitchen she first comes and tries to pass on the message. If we do not understand her, she helps herself, but immediately takes the blame on her and goes to a dark bathroom, where she stays for some time, until we "forgive" her the crime. .... To our surprise we found out that our dog had conscience, or sense of morality – when she was a puppy and broke the rules we used to punish her by depriving her of our company for 10-15 minutes. It happens sometimes that on coming home we find miserably looking Tina in the bathroom, waiting for the "forgiving ritual" – and we even don't know her sins!

She loves working – fetching slippers, carrying umbrellas, newspapers, letters, dragging sticks and logs... In these moments she feels handy and very proud of herself, raises her tail and wags it triumphantly waiting for our praises. She sleeps in an armchair close to our bed. But strangely enough she follows a ritual which she imposed on herself years ago: only when we turn the light off she opens our bedroom door sits at out bed and moans loudly until we both agree to her jumping in the armchair. Sometimes her good manners drive us mad, especially when one of us falls deeply asleep and has to wake up and produce the spell ‘up the armchair', just to please our over-polite dog.

She is extremely unhappy when her family disperses. Whenever she sees bags or suitcases she becomes very upset. When the person returns she shows how cross she feels about the disappearance by not "talking" to him for a day or two. When somebody in the family has a problem or feels low, Tina comes to him, lies close or puts her head on his lap as if she wanted to say ‘Don't forget that you've got me' – just like a good friend does, without nagging or asking for attention. When she came to live with us she understood some simple commands, like sit, lay, give a paw – which was rather unusual for such a young puppy. Someone must have put a lot of effort to teach her all that. She was also trained to stay in her place when people eat their meal at the table. She still follows this rule even though nobody requires her to do so any more. My friend says that Tina is so much lady-like that she would show her class even when living in a scrap- heap.

We think with anxiety of the passing time. People in the street still comment ‘A young dog, isn't she?" Tina's wolf-like, greyish coat masks her age, she is happy and her eyes are full of life. But the, so far, excellent health has recently been slightly getting worse: she had to have her tooth extracted, last winter she coughed for a couple of months, strange bumps appear on her body... Can we call our relationship with Tina friendship? I think it's more than that.

Somebody who has never had a dog will never understand this specific relation. One feels, and perhaps even is, a better person because he looks after a living creature, but receives in return so much affection, unconditioned acceptance, love and faithfulness, that it is difficult to compare it to any other relationship.

I used to have other dogs before, but I must admit that the relationship with a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is still different, due to the element of partnership that it involves. The wolfdog has something wild, unpredictable– a kind of internal freedom, which cannot be compared with e.g. the mere stubbornness of a dachshund . .... The wolfdog follows the rules only when it feels like doing so and considers it right and proper. Sometimes I feel that Tina allows us to do certain things to her, such as brush her teeth, give her a bath, or patiently waits for us outside the shop with an expression on her face saying "OK guys, let it be your way this time, but don't think that I will let you go away without a prize for my patience". And she surly wouldn't let us forget our debt.

On the Wolfdog webpage there are many stories of wolfdogs ‘from': from Molu Es, from Peronówka, etc. etc. I wanted to tell you a story about Tina without any "from" – a true orphan, without any documents, famous ancestors, brothers or sisters, without a family history (a mongrel, as Pavel puts it), though with a very noble looks and exceptionally visible wolfdog's soul . A story of Tina, who for us, our children, friends and neighbours will remain the top champion of all the dog's shows which she has never taken part in..

But seriously speaking – I can't even imagine what our life will look like when I wake up in the morning and will not be able to say ‘Hi Tina' and our sleepy dog will not wag her tail lazily and show her teeth in her wolfish smile.... So we keep enjoying every day spent with her, because she is a dog with an extraordinary personality and extremely good- natured. She is a good dog, but not in the meaning ‘obedient', but in the sense which is used when speaking about good, kind-hearted people...

I send my deep regards to all Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs, those of noble breed and those without "papers" and to their respectable owners.

Rona (Poland)

Epilogue:

Wednesday 2nd of August 2007 Tina passed the Rainbow Bridge..

Ringo - the First

By Miroslaw ("Mirek") Bednarski

How to describe friendship? How to describe a 10-year long emotional relationship between a growing teenager and a dog? In fact not a dog, but a mix, a hybrid, which could have developed a lot of unexpected features of character…

If you recollect your childhood as a happy period of your life then you know what I mean. And the childhood spent with a super dog stays in one’s memory forever. Lots of adventures, joyful incidents, the feeling of pride…. Hundreds of kilometers tramped together in Czech Republic, in the Moravia region, in Poland…. umpteen places which I would never dare visit on my own, even though I was a very dynamic child. All this, and even more, I experienced with Ringo. RINGO was the FIRST and in my memories will always remain the BEST. In fact I never analyzed his appearance, to me he was perfect the way he looked. When visiting The Border Guards Kennel in Budějovice in the Czech Republic I saw, of course, many other Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs. But these were the early stages of the breed development and there was still a far way and years of hard work ahead to reach the breed standard.

As far as remember there was always a dog at my home, a black setter, Misiek. He didn’t have easy life. A family story says that I wanted to bite off his ear when I was a toddler, but I hope they just exaggerated.

We moved to Prague in 1967. I started attending the 3rd form of a Czech primary school. New language, new environment, the adaptation wasn’t easy for a child. At some point, when going through a phase of rejection, I delivered a true Polish chauvinism – everything Polish was good and best. But when mates at school wanted to pick on me they asked about hockey. At that time Czechoslovakia was a hockey power, while Polish hockey was disastrous. After some time I got what I had been asking for: older boys from the 9th form gave me such a beating that I hardly staggered home. My Dad did not ask any questions, but understood everything. I definitely needed support. I’d always wanted a dog, my own dog, just like most kids do. But after the incident at school, my dreams started becoming true. My Dad knew it wasn’t just any dog that I needed, but a really big, brave, loyal friend that would defend and protect me. Father started recognizing ‘the field’ and Colonel Hartl suggested a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.

The agreement at home was simple: the dog would be mine and so the duties connected with him. If I didn’t look after him properly or missed my obligations, the dog would immediately be returned to the kennel. Very simple conditions and a fair deal. When my father brought Ringo home I was 10 and Ringo – 5 months. He wasn’t a little puppy, but rather a ‘dog youth’. The first moments were great, I remember my enthusiasm well since this was the most important experience of my childhood. Ringo immediately showed the full range of his abilities and made a pooh on the bed. On seeing this my Mum almost fainted, Dad was rather philosophical and I was naturally cleaning. A nice beginning! Mum threatened to get rid of all three of us: me, my Dad and Ringo, but with time things improved. I suppose she did not really believe I would manage the duties.

First things first, I started teaching Ringo cleanliness. Luckily, he quickly abandoned his kennel customs and got used to living in a flat. Our walks were fantastic, everybody envied me such a dog. My position among the Czech friends increased significantly. Cooking was the hardest thing – Ringo must have been a really tough guy if he survived on my diet and wasn’t sick. There were occasional damages. He was very consequent, if he did not like something he kept destroying it with incredible stubbornness. He hated the frame of the door pane and damaged it with passion – I remember endless repairs. But relatively soon he grew out of all these destructive instincts. He was kept busy and had no time for such nonsense.

He was sent for his first training in Budějovice when he was 9 months old. I was deprived of my dog’s company for three months, but I visited him every weekend. He was growing, and becoming nicer and nicer. On his return I had hard time because when giving commands, my child’s voice did not sound convincing to Ringo; I had to imitate a man’s voice which wasn’t easy. I never changed the Czech commands into Polish language, this was my trick. Only my sister and I spoke Czech language well, so the three of us with Ringo had our own “private world”, which was great. With basic commands the language didn’t really matter, but rather the tone of voice was important. Besides, Ringo perfectly reacted to visual commands and what was more, the distance did not really matter to him.

We lived on the ground floor and I still have no idea how he knew when I was supposed to come from school. I used to return at various hours, but he always seemed to know my schedule and waited for me on the window sill. When I was approaching he jumped out through the window and ran to meet me. We were always together, he accompanied me everywhere with one exception - school.

The second training also lasted three months and, according to Colonel Hartl’s suggestion, took place one year after the first one. Again I visited Ringo every Saturday, but this time it was much harder, we had already been very close and I missed him badly. I don’t remember the exact training methods but as far as I recollect the course was individually tailored for Ringo. The effects were incredible: perfect obedience, walking on a leash – what’s leash?, fetching things – we both enjoyed it, obstacles – only the really difficult ones, tracking - every scent, defence – only at a password invented by me and known just to Ringo, me, and the trainer. In fact I used it only once in his life, many years later and it worked!

Apart from all that – the dog had a really individual character: asked to jump over a fence? Why not, but only once. Asked again? What for, if easier to walk around…. Ringo did not question only the most basic commands, with all other ones - he preferred to try his own ways – he wanted to please his master as well as to use as little energy as possible and manifest his own will. I also had to undergo a special training – a kind of instructions on how to “use” the dog. Ringo could do really a lot and I had to learn how to make the best use of it.

What was really amazing, Ringo never needed any additional training, repetition or reinforcement. He just knew what he was supposed to know and that was it. I was sure he would always obey, though his enthusiasm would vary. I sometimes used to show off his skills in front of people and I was very proud of him. I never later taught him anything else which, from today’s perspective, could be called sensible or useful. I taught him to take off visitors hats, which once almost ended in taking off my aunt’s scalp (well, I exaggerate a bit). I also taught him something, which at that time I considered to be very useful – to lift girls’ skirts. No girl could ignore me in such circumstances- just a perfect method to pick up girls at that age.

All Ringo’s abilities and skills were kind of obvious for me. Only from today’s perspective and experience, after having trained other dogs, can I fully appreciate the quality and professionalism of the training received by Ringo in Budějovice. Jukro, my next czechoslovakian wolfdog had never reached such mastery although he completed three stages of training and I devoted him a lot of time and energy. He was just very good when compared to Ringo, who was excellent.

I had reasons to take pride in Ringo. People admired him, though at that time in Czechoslovakia he was officially considered to be a mix. But I knew he was exceptional!!! The crucial issue was that nobody had a dog like mine and nobody’s dog was better trained and more obedient. Even at that time I promoted the thesis that he took all his best characteristics after his wolf predecessors. There were thousands Alsatians around, but very few wolf hybrids. He had "Puvodu potomků křiženi nĕmeckého ovčáka a karpatského vlka”. It did sound impressive, even in Czech!

Boy scouts camps were fantastic experiences with Ringo. We lived in one tent and ate the same food. He was an absolutely irreplaceable partner in the woods. Everybody felt safer when he was around. He became famous when helped regain our camp kitchen equipment. He kept tracing the robbers for three hours or more. I don’t remember how many kilometers, but definitely a lot. What’s more, he not only found the thieves, but also helped them understand they should return our belongings.

We often accompanied my father in his trips to Poland. Ringo patiently put up with the journeys, though in those times cars were not as comfortable for dogs as they’re now. Once, he was so fed up with being driven for several hours, that when my Dad slowed before the border, Ringo jumped out of the window in order to “play” with a cow. The cow’s company was a stronger temptation for him than his perfect manners could stand. Luckily, the cow survived.

Ringo was fantastically socialised. Never had I any problems with other dogs. I suppose they were afraid of him, and he never initiated any “misunderstandings”.

Ringo had great pedagogical talents. He brought up and socialised my best friend’s Alsatian and taught him unbelievable amount of skills. It’s incredible how much the dog learnt just by observing and copying Ringo’s behaviour patterns. When we returned to Poland for good Ringo was four. He was in his best age, a well-balanced, reliable, predictable male dog. We lived in the centre of Warsaw, but there was a square courtyard among the blocks of flats. In the morning Ringo went out on his own for his toilet needs, quickly returned and waited for me to get ready for a longer walk. I wouldn’t risk letting out any other dog like that.

During holidays we travelled around Poland together with Ringo and my Czech friend, Peter. I felt I should visit the most attractive regions of my own country. Ringo used to sail with me, although a small sailing boat was not the most comfortable place for a big dog (see the photo). Running by the bike was, of course, a standard and we went skiing together, too. The only activity he did not enjoy was my horse-riding, somehow he could not understand why he had to follow the huge animal his master was sitting on. While roller-skating, he pulled me smoothly with even speed without getting off tracked. Poor Ringo had the most extravagant master who wanted to try everything, but he never protested.

Only once did I see my dog running like mad without listening to my commands. We were in Bialowieza Forest in the east of Poland. Things were different in those times and we were wandering freely in the wilderness, following animal paths, just worrying of how not to accidentally cross the border with the Soviet Union. Suddenly we heard a strange noise, but it did not disturb us – it was natural to hear all sorts of animal noises in the forest. It was Ringo who first identified the noise as real danger. By escaping he wanted to alert us, so we immediately climbed the trees. It was clear that thanks to Ringo we had narrowly avoided encounter with a wild bison! By provoking the bison and attracting his attention Ringo tried to lead him away form us at a safe distance. We waited on the trees until Ringo returned, which lasted quite a while.

Ringo loved going to the sea-side. Not only for swimming in the sea and running along the beach, which he really enjoyed but mainly for practising “extortion” . He had his favourite stands and kiosks selling sausages and fish. He ran towards them and ignoring the queue put his front paws on the counter. Then he looked deeply into the owners’ eyes and didn’t have to wait long before he was served with full approval of the queuing people. A real dog’s paradise: it wasn’t important if the food was good or not, but it was self-obtained! Everybody knew us and nobody protested because people considered it a kind of local entertainment or holiday attraction.

I always felt safe with him but at the same time I always knew that Ringo depended on me, I could not leave him. We could count on each other. My plans, trips, meetings and holidays were always arranged according to Ringo’s needs. The dog was first, everything else came next.

Ringo was very tolerant and loyal towards his ‘pack’, i.e. the rest of the family. He let children “torture” him, my little cousin, who could hardly walk rode on his back like on a pony holding his fur and they both seemed delighted. When I was a kid my parents must have felt quite relaxed. I was always with the dog, always watched and protected by Ringo. He would follow me into fire, as they say in Poland.

I really don’t know who was the master in our small pack. At that time I thought it was me, but after years I realised that it was Ringo who was the more responsible of us two. He treated me like his pup that he had to look after; a ‘pup’ with all sorts of strange ideas! Ringo always first checked new situations and new places which according to his dog judgment could bring any risk for both of us. Like a true wolf, he was quite suspicious and approached new circumstances with caution and distrust. Definitely my dog emotionally matured much sooner than I did. I learnt a lot from him. He taught me the rules and principles of functioning in natural environment. I learned how to assess various situations by observing him and reading his behaviour and his reactions. But what’s most important, he taught me responsibility. There were no such concepts as: “in a minute”, “later”, “tomorrow”, etc. The dog had his needs and requirements and I had to meet them here and now. The full care was on me and I could count on my parents’ help only sporadically, in real emergencies. It was a fantastic school of life.

My best fried left me suddenly, without any symptoms of illness or worse disposition. He just collapsed during a walk and died. The vet told me it was probably a heart attack. It was a life tragedy for me; despite the age it is always hard to part with a close friend. I got Ringo when I was a little boy and parted with him when I was 20 - the perfect 10 years of my life.

With no other dog have I ever had such a contact. Jukro was different probably also due to the different training he received. If I were to compare, Ringo was really intelligent while the next dogs - just smart.

But looking back.. I sometimes think that maybe it’s just our memories that create our ideals?

RINGO z Pohranični stráž F-3 born 16 January 1969,
Father: Odin z Pohranični stráž F-2 / Mother: Anka z Pohranični stráž
Breeder: Pohranični stráž

Owner: Miroslaw Bednarski