Dear Blustag,
Being enamored by wolves, my eldest son returned home one day with a 7 wk old wolf puppy he had purchased from a breeder in Texas. It took about three weeks for him to realize that maybe this was not the best "house" pet to own. Considering State permit requirements, enclosure guidelines by Fish and Wildlife, liability insurance costs, and veterinarian care, he came to the decision to return the wolf pup, although beautiful and playful, to the breeder. It was then that I began researching "wolf-like" dogs/hybrids and came across the Tamaskan breed and Blustag.
I envisioned the Tamaskan to be an energetic, intelligent dog with a "wolf-like" appearance, which would cause some people to do a double-take upon seeing it. It was difficult to visualize how large the Tamaskan dogs are by looking at on-line pictures without a good reference point, but my female, Kayla (one of Denali's puppies), is now about 65 lbs (1 yr old). I was expecting her to grow a little larger, and that may still occur as she matures, but she is still a beautifully colored dog (although her color has changed three times since she arrived at my home at about 8 wks of age).
Kayla gets along well with all of our other pets (a cat and 2 dogs), in addition to the neighbor's dogs that she comes in contact with. She, however, can be like a little gnat that keeps buzzing around your head. She wants to constantly interact with them (play, lick, paw, chase, etc.) until she becomes a nuisance to them. The cat will climb into a tree or playhouse to escape and the dogs will get into their kennels or let her know, in one way or another, they have had enough. The neighborhood children love to play with her (tug-o-war, fetching, chasing) and she will gladly oblige (a good way for her to burn off energy; and the kids too) and I don't believe she has yet met a stranger. She is friendly to everyone. It is funny though that when the other two dogs start barking at something (a squirrel, someone passing by walking a dog) she will get too excited to bark and will begin howling instead!
Kayla is a very intelligent, loving, and energetic dog and never misses a thing. It is amazing what she will notice and how inquisitive she is about her surroundings. Things the other dogs miss or are not interested in she will closely examine (lick, paw at, pick up, etc). She will even watch the airplanes flying overhead (we live adjacent to Eglin AFB).
When we sit outside with her she insists on being the center of attention. If the other dogs are being petted she will nudge them out of the way and place herself in between you and the other dogs. If they won't move she will begin to nibble on their ears or forelegs to get them to move over. She also loves to chew.
Anything in the yard is fair game; balls, bones, sticks, firewood, rawhide chews, tree bark, roots, inadvertently left out shoes, toys, tools, cans, etc. Living on the coast Kayla and the other dogs get to spend some quality time at the beach and along Santa Rosa Sound. She is definitely a water-dog. It doesn't matter what the temperature is she will get in the water. No mud puddle is off limits! If the other dogs walk around it, she will walk through it (and then stop to get a closer look or a drink).
Energetic doesn't describe the Tamaskan activity tolerance. For Kayla, a four mile brisk walk or jog is just the warm-up. She can't understand why you are stopping when she is just getting started! I believe she could keep up if I was on a bicycle, unless she got distracted by a passing butterfly, bird, or squirrel.
Kayla is a happy-go-lucky, energetic dog that is always looking for something to do. She continuously tries to show off and prance around carrying something in her mouth as if to say, "Look what I've got!", or "Look what I can do!". She is definitely living her life to the fullest. If someone is looking for a laid-back, docile dog the Tamaskan may not be for you.
-Sincerly
Michael McClure