I was incredibly lucky to not only meet one, but TWO Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs this Summer! Meet Zila and Kaida, imported Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs that were visiting Kalamazoo, Michigan, to compete in the UKC Premier Nationals. Still today, I am geeking out over being able to meet such a unique breed!

A bit of their history...

In the 1950's, the Czechoslovakian army used German Shepherds to patrol the borders, but the shepherds were struggling with the terrain, resulting in physical injuries that hindered the usability of the dog. The army tasked two scientists to create a new breed that would be more useful. These scientists captured 4 Carpathian Wolfs and started breeding them back to the German Shepherds, creating offspring that had the temperament and trainability of a shepherd, with the structure, stamina, and heightened scenes of a wolf, thus forming the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog!

Zila displayed more of her wolf background, with a wavering trust of new people. Luckily, I was using my 135mm lens, naturally creating distance between us, and while I wanted to just sit and marvel in her beauty, I keep my eyes averted elsewhere. This made her more comfortable, and so much so that she willingly took many treats from me throughout the photoshoot. This kind of compliment from an animal always warms my heart.

She kept her eyes on her owner, or would watch people passing by. This made my job super easy, as her owner would leave Zila in a stay, and then follow my directions for where to walk, pulling Zila's head naturally in that direction. Thus furthering my beliefs that the "more difficult dogs" are actually the easier ones to photograph!

A fun fact about Kaida, is that despite her weighing 50lbs, she can pull 1,400lbs! (For my horse people - that's the average weight of a Friesian!) She was here visiting from Minnesota, competing in both the UKC weight pulls and dash.

BIG Thanks to her owner for squeezing in photoshoots into her show show schedule, and for answering all of my curious questions about this exciting breed. Scroll down to read her testimony, and all the way to the bottom to see my favorite photo from the two sessions!

“I had the opportunity to do a photoshoot while visiting Michigan with 2 of my Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs for the UKC Premier. Jess was patient, gentle, and really went out of her way to make it fun for the dogs. Both of my girls had a blast!

The pictures are beautiful and the location she chose offered a variety of backdrops making each picture unique.
I hope to get the rest of my crew in front of her camera soon!”

— Jenna