Introduction to Sansorrella

I was Chairperson of the Northern Inuit Society for a while before forming The Inuit Dog Association (now the Timber Dog Association) with a few fellow enthusiasts, the intention being to expand the limited gene pool and to address the health issues in the breed. After two years of making no progress with this group of breeders and being very disillusioned with all the 'breed' clubs of that time due to their unprofessionalism and unethical breeding practices, in 2009 I embarked on a unique breeding programme with a few select breeders. I am continuing my research into the health of these dogs, uncovering the true extent of the consequences of inbreeding as explained in the health and genetics sections of this website.

Much time has been spent over the years trying to discover the true history of Northern Inuit dogs, which are the foundation of all the wolf lookalike breeds in the UK, going back to the six original dogs imported from the US (details are in my book 'The Wolf Lookalike Handbook"). As no accurate records were kept in the early years it has been impossible to collate true documentation of the origins necessary to satisfy the Kennel Club, thereby making recognition of Northern Inuit dogs as a 'breed' impossible. The many discrepancies in pedigrees make them unreliable at best and it is time to leave the past behind. However, before doing that I will just say that over the years many responsible breeders have recognised the extent of inbreeding and have broken away from the Northern Inuit Society to create their own breeds, which now go under various names - my contribution being the Anglo Wulfdog.

The name Anglo Wulfdog was chosen as 'Anglo' denotes the English origins and 'Wulfdog' is formed from the Anglo Saxon spelling of wolf - 'Wulf'. Thereby 'Wulfdog' gives the impression of 'Wolfdog' in the same way that our dogs give the impression of being wolves, but aren't.

Anglo Wulfdog breeders share the conviction that many 'Wolf Lookalike' dogs, in particular the Northern Inuit dog, are chronically inbred and have reached a genetic 'bottleneck'. There are twelve excellent articles on this website which explain in detail the perils of inbreeding and advises breeders to do what we at Sansorrella and Anglo Wulfdog have been doing for over 10 years to give our dogs a viable future. Anglo Wulfdogs are bred for stamina, health and temperament.

There has been a lot of conjecture and debate as to whether Northern Inuit dogs ever had any wolf content. Recent advances in the science of DNA has enabled me to test the DNA of all my own dogs, thereby confirming my opinion that there was very little wolf content in the breed. At least one on my Northern Inuit lines had no wolf content whatsoever until I introduced it very recently. One of my lines had a trace, which shows I originally had 6% wolf in that line about 15 years ago. All my original Northern Inuits came from the same breeder who helped create that breed. When I was breeding Northern Inuits I used a number of different stud dogs and have now been able to genetically trace the generations back to one wolf that contributed to some Northern Inuit dogs through early Olderhill lines. I have increased the wolf content of Anglo Wulfdogs significantly through the addition of established European and American wolfdog breeds, the % now making them true wolfdogs rather than "lookalikes".

Wolfzone High Flyer at Sansorrella
Czechoslovakian Wolfdog

I was a keen and active member of a group working to establish the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog as a breed in the UK and took my first step in this direction in January 2009 when “Quest” joined us. I think it is going to be a long time before these dogs are recognised by the UK Kennel Club, which is a great shame for the breed as it deserves credibility in the UK. "Quest" is one of the first CSVs to have been bred legally in the UK. Unfortunately due to the lack of suitable studs in the UK I was unable to breed her with pure CSV, but she was still able to contribute to the Anglo Wulfdog breeding programme through her son "Ash".

"Ash" - Sansorrella Quest for Perfection
First generation Anglo Wulfdog