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The History of the Tamaskan
Breed
In the
early 80's, five dogs, of Siberian Husky
origins, were imported into the UK from
America. These dogs were then bred to
Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian Huskies and
German Shepherds to create a wolf like dog,
but with a good temperament, thus being
suitable as a family dog. In the 80's these
dogs were labelled as wolf dogs or simply
wolf look-a-likes. Poor records were kept
from this era and so the ancestry of most of
these dogs is totally unknown. In 1988 a
group of people got together and formed a
club with the name, The Northern Inuit
Society (NI), although this name suffered
criticism as they are neither from the
North, nor have they any association with
the Inuit people. Lynn Hardey of Blustag
Kennel, the founder of the Tamaskan breed
purchased two breeding dogs from a breeder
who had moved away from the original NI
Society to go in a different direction.
Having purchased these dogs Lynn Hardey
called a few breeders together to form a
committee for a new club to be called The
Utonagan Society, to dissasociate from the
NI breeders, and to introduce health testing
and dna profiling. Arguments then ensued
over what the breed standard should allow,
and others were not prepared to go through
all the health testing required before
breeding. Lynn wished to implement a strict
health testing regime for breeders of
Utonagan, to try to combat some of the poor
hips seen in many NI at the time, but
conflicts of interest between Lynn and other
breeders led to Lynn forming her own club,
The British and International Utonagan
Society. The British and International
Utonagan Society created the first mandatory
hip and eye testing scheme. Soon after
starting the new club and researching into
the pedigrees of her Utonagan dogs she
discovered that many of the pedigrees did
not add up with those given to other people.
After a bit of digging it was discovered
that dogs names were changed or parents were
altered entirely to cover up mother-son and
brother-sister matings. Lynn decided that in
order to progress with the breed we would
have to forget what we have been told about
the pedigrees of our dogs and instead add in
new bloodlines in order to save the breed
from any health issues that could arise from
unknowingly mating related dogs. Lynn spent
the next few years searching for suitable
outcrosses. To disassociate herself from the
scandal surrounding the alteration of
pedigrees in the ancestry of her dogs, she
gave her dogs new registered names and
altered her pedigrees as far as she could to
reflect the truth of their past. The British
& International Utonagan Society continued
to selectively breed and improve type,
keeping all records of matings, health
issues, etc., setting rules and regulations,
a code of ethics and providing breeders
contracts. Eventually these dogs started to
look different than the dogs being bred by
The (original) Utonagan Society.
The search for other wolfy looking dogs led Lynn to Lapland, where dogs of a
very similar appearance were being bred for sled pulling in extreme
temperatures. These dogs’ close ancestors were also some of the best sled racing
dogs in the world and would enhance the breed’s future working ability. After
some negotiations with kennel owners, a female was purchased and imported into
the UK, with an additional six dogs booked for import from the same kennels. It
has been suggested that Czech Wolfdog was added into some of these dogs in the
past as recent DNA tests have found small amounts of wolf content. However, Lynn did visit the
kennels personally and met many of the relatives of each dog, assuring herself
that each had an exemplary temperament.
With a collection of new bloodlines now organized, it was time to think about
the future. So, it was decided after much debate by the committee members of the
British & International Society to close down the Society, as the (original) Utonagan Society
did not wish to
include the same type of new bloodlines in their breeding program. Therefore, it seemed obvious
that the present Utonagan would soon not resemble the ‘new’ dogs whatsoever and
they would need a new name.
After Lynns visit to Finland in 2004 she fell in love with the country and moved
there in 2006, taking with her 7 of her Blustag dogs, her original female import
and collectiong the other 6 dogs from Lapland. 5 other Blustag dogs belonging to
other breeders were also included in the foundation stock and 2 of her new
Finnish dogs were flown to these breeders in the UK.
Two other foundation dogs were added in 2006, purchased from breeders in Finland
and a male was added in 2008 (a black
grey) and two more (wolf greys) were added in 2009 to bring in fresh bloodlines
and add in desirable traits to the breed.
In 2009, the TDR introduced a Saarloos Wolfdog as a
"one-time only" out-cross to bring some fresh blood into
the breed. However, to date none of his progeny
have been bred from. This particular Saarloos was
specifically selected due to his great temperament,
appearance, and health.
In February 2006, The Tamaskan Dog Register was formed with
the founder, Lynn, sitting as its chairman and her daughter Jennie of Blufawn
Kennel as the secretary. The same strict rules and regulations enforced by the
British and International Utonagan Society were carried over, with one new
addition. In 2008 DNA testing became mandatory for all breeding dogs. It was
important to Lynn that all records were correct from the very beginning of the
breed for any future KC recognition and for peace of mind that future breeders
would not be able to breed related dogs and falsify pedigrees. All dogs used in
the Tamaskan Dog breed from the very first foundation dog, to 'one time only'
stud dogs have been DNA profiled and recorded.
In 2006 Lynn's daughter and co-founder Jennie set up Tamaskan
Rescue UK, which catered not only for Tamaskan but for all other wolf like
breeds. Not only did she take in dogs for rehoming but she also looked after
dogs while their owners visited hospital. Jennie also started the affiliated
breeders program in 2008, to encourage new breeders to do further health tests
on their dogs. Gold, silver and bronze awards were handed out to those breeders
who completed more health tests than required by the TDR and also to those who
micro-chipped their puppies.
Tamaska means
‘Mighty Wolf’ in North American Indian language.
The Tamaskan Dog Register is now the Governing Body for all Tamaskan dogs
throughout the world. Since forming in early 2006 many tributaries of the TDR
have branched to include clubs in many foreign countries.
Tamaskan Dogs have been exported all over Europe, America, Canada and Australia.
In 2013 several disgruntled breeders decided to start their
own register of the same name, claiming that they owned the rights to the TDR
name. It is widely accepted that these breeders were unhappy with the cost of
importing pure bred Tamaskan and disagreed with the founders wish to keep out-crossing to a minimum, to protect the character and conformation of the breed.
Since splitting from the original TDR, they have bred many outcross litters,
including adding mid to high content wolfdogs,
altering the genetic makeup of the Tamaskan irreparably. The original Tamaskan
and this 'new' Tamaskan can no longer be considered to be the same breed of dog.
Please note that the people that govern this register have been supporting and
promoting tamaskan ownership since 2000 and have had ownership of this website
and registry since Jan 2006.
To learn more about this lovely natured family dog please visit the information
pages.
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