History of the Timber Dog
In the 1980s a variety of mixed breed dogs were imported from the USA and Canada to England. The exact origin of these dogs is unknown but they are believed to have been mixes of Arctic breeds such as Alaskan Malamute & Siberian Husky. These dogs were then bred to other dogs within the UK which included wolf-looking mixed breeds, German Shepherds & Samoyeds. (Thanks to Embark DNA analysis, we know that our Timber Dogs have German Shepherd, Malamute, Husky, Samoyed and Wolf within them).
The breeding of these dogs back in 1998 became the breed “Northern Inuit”.
The first litter of Timber Dogs were born in 2012 and were bred by Julie Bennett, whom is the founder of the breed. The first litter was created by outcrossing a Northern Inuit to a Utonagan of old lines - This was done to create more genetic diversity. Julie Bennett went on to keep 3 puppies from the litter, 2 females and 1 male. These became the first generation of the breed. These 3 dogs were then outcrossed to other fully health tested wolfy breeds of dog to create different bloodlines.
Most Timber dogs stem back to these 3 dogs, but the Timber Dog Club UKare still in the process of creating new bloodlines. New bloodlines have beenintroduced to improve health, temperament and conformation. To date breeders of Timber Dogs have outcrossed to; Tamaskan, Anglo Wulfdog, Northern Inuit, Utonagan, American Wolf Dog & Caledonian Wolfalike. The majority of Timber Dogs carry recent wolf content, it is relatively low - But it is still there. Therefore families overseas, especially in the USA need to keep this in mind when enquiring for puppies as some States in the USA do not allow dogs with any wolf content.
The Timber Dog is being developed for a Home Pet temperament with a wolfy appearance. They are often described as "Wolf look alikes" or "Wolf Type". Due to the fact Timber dogs have low wolf content, they are classed as Wolf Look A Like Dogs - not Wolfdogs. Some breeders within the Timber Dog Club UK are adding Wolfdogs to our breeding programme, therefore some now have higher wolf content and are classed as Timber Wolf Dogs.
