Rosa Maria
There are 190 dog breeds registered in A.K.C., and 360 are listed in the F.C.I. Still, these listings don’t include all the tremendous mix-breeds that are developing like Lycan shepherd.
Lycan shepherd is comparatively a new breed that became an internet sensation after the original breeder Gargoyle Kennels posted several dog videos online.
So, what is a Lycan Shepherd? What is the goal of the Lycan Shepherd Project? Why it got so popular? Is it completed or still in the early stages?
And, mainly, what type of dogs were used to create such charming Lycan puppies and if they can be pets? Let’s find out!
Lycan Shepherd
A Lycan Shepherd is a new working breed with a wolf-like appearance, larger brain-to-body size ratio, high intelligence, trainability, and problem-solving abilities.
The dogs used as a base for creation are working-line German Shepherd, Blue Bay Shepherd, and Malinois. However, it is still in the development stage.
According to Kennels, the breeder with over 30 years of experience with dogs, this shepherd litter has three generations for now.
Before moving forward, let’s watch a playful video of his two Lycan Shepherd generations:
Now, the question arises that how and where did the stunning Lycan pup was created?
When & Where Was Lycan Shepherd Introduced?
The Lycan Shepherd dogs were produced under the ‘Lycan Shepherd Project,’ which involved three canines as the base: blue bay shepherd, German shepherd, and Malinois.
It is still under the development stage.
However, the breeder aims to develop a wolf-like breed with athletic health and other improved traits.
It went viral somewhere back in early 2017 when a YouTube channel posted a video of a 4-week-old F1 Lycan pup.
It only shows that it was into development stages even before that and was only able to make it in front of the public in May 2017 via a video:
Gargoyle Kennels, a former animal warden who successfully developed Renascene Bulldogs, combined three breeds to produce Lycan shepherd.
A dog with better and improved temperament, intelligence, and health.
He is residing in Minnesota, a state of the U.S., and it is the place where he led the foundation of the Lycan Shepherd Project.
Now, you must be thinking that different types of shepherds already exist, then why he felt the need to create a new pup? Or, what were the goals of the wolf shepherd project?
Let’s find the reason in our next section.
Goals of Lycan Shepherd Project
The main goal of the Lycan shepherd project was to develop beautiful wolf dogs with superior insight.
Still, like any other breed development project, it is under the trial-and-error stage.
The basic goals behind this project were to create a Lycan Shepherd breed that can have:
- Athletic Healthy Body: The larger leg structure for a firm and strong physique
- Loyal & Protective: Guarding, defensive, trustworthy, and working nature just like a German Shepherd dog
- High Intelligence: Larger brain-to-body size ratio and problem-solving ability of a wolf
According to the breeder, he wanted to produce an active working dog breed, not just a canine who just had a wolf’s beautiful looks.
He clearly aimed to create a highly trainable pup with a good temperament, beautiful appearance, great personality characteristics, and lesser health issues.
To get all the traits incorporated into one type of shepherd, he mixed three dog breeds. Let’s get to know each of them in our next section below.
Breeds Used to Create Wolf German Shepherd
Like other dogs creating projects, Lycan Shepherd Project also used one starting line or base breed, Blue Bay Shepherds, to produce Lycan Shepherd dogs.
As the project progressed, he then added the other two Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd canines to the project.
Every breeder is familiar with the cons one can have while breeding with a wolf-type dog.
The primary being the ‘wild animal’ strain in their genetic makeup. But kennels had this clear goal to make such a Lycan wolf-dog that can have minimal aggression and rough characteristics.
For this exact purpose, he used three different breeds:
1. Blue Bay Shepherd
Gargoyle Kennels used his blue bay shepherd kurgan as the baseline of the new Lycan shepherd.
Whereas the blue shepherd was developed under the project of a Florida-based breeder, Vicki Spencer, who introduced the first litters in March 2011.
She used an American blue bay shepherd and wolf dogs to obtain a dog with a wolfish appearance, high intelligence, sociability, and calm temperament.
The same reason the Lycan breeder used her blue bay shepherd for similar characteristics in his newly generated breed.
Note: If you want to read more about one of the vital base dogs of the Lycan Shepherd project, the wolf-like Blue Bay Shepherd. Click Here
2. German Shepherd (Working-Line Breed)
The second breed he used was a long-haired shepherd from an excellent working line breed.
And, as we all know, German shepherds are undoubtedly one of the most popular and loved dogs in the world due to their devotion, loyalty, intelligence, caring, and protective nature.
The very reason why the breeder used these types of dogs to create his new Lycan Breed.
Note: Find authentic information about a rare Black German Shepherd here.
3. Belgian Malinois
The last kind of dog he chose in the breeding process was a Belgian Malinois, a herding dog often mistaken as a smaller German Shepherd.
This Belgian Malinois is a stunning muscular and alert dog with intense athletic ability, higher prey instinct, and energy level.
It is also extremely devoted to please and protect its favorite people.
All the reasons why Kennels wanted to incorporate the same abilities in his Lycan Shepherd.
Now, the question arises of how the new Lycan dog will look as it is produced with three kinds of breeds.
Of course, the wolf-like appearance is a must, just like we see in different husky-type dogs, but what about the leg structure, eyes, coat, and other things? Let’s find out!
Appearance of Lycan Shepherd
Although the Lycan shepherd is comparatively a new dog breed and there’s not much information regarding appearance and characteristics except the breeder’s channel.
However, the Lycan dog was bred to have a stunning wolfish appearance, high instinct ability, and good temperament.
Kennels seek to mix the intelligence of wolf blue bay, the loyalty of German Shepherd, and obedience of Malinois.
We did our complete research on the Lycan wolf shepherd F1, F2, F3 generations, and here’s what we found out:
Coat
- Luna, an F1 Lycan shepherd breed, has soft brown fur with a blackish hue to it
- Puukko, an F2 Lycan wolf, has a thick, dense pure black coat whereas,
- Ruka, another F2 Lycan dog, has a beautiful blue coat
- Winter, an F3 Lycan puppy that is 5-6 weeks old, has a brown-grayish coat
Note: Read detailed research on rare Azurian husky, a husky type dog with a wolf-like appearance and blue-grayish coat.
Eyes
Lycan dog shepherds can have captivating blue, brown, black, or silver-gray eyes. You never know, we might get to see orange, green, or yellow eyes in the future generations!
Height
Lycan Shepherds are active, playful, demanding, and highly trainable dogs that require an equally energetic and experienced pet owner.
The average height of the Lycan Shepherd ranges from 20 – 35 inches (51cm-89cm), and they can have an average weight of about 40-80 pounds.
According to the breeder, one of his F2 wolf shepherd doggies was 32 inches in height at 12 months. So, it is still early to say the exact height range, but one thing is sure that the Lycan Shepherd will be a giant yet beautiful dog.
One user has to say in one of his YouTube videos that:
“Lycan Shepherd will make history as one of the beautiful giant dogs to ever exist.”
Size and Weight
The average size and weight of the Lycan dog breed range between 40-80 pounds.
As the breeder shared the size of his F2 pooches Ruka, Honey Badger, and Kratos to weigh 45, 55, and 65 pounds at 5 months.
However, he also shared his other Lycan dog Puukko’s size to be 115 pounds at 12 months.
This shows it is only in the initial stages and can be even more than this range as they grow old or have more generations.
To sum it up,
Thick-dense coats, piercing light eyes, large wolfy-head and leg structure, long tails, erect and triangular-shaped ears make these Lycans a stunner.
And, not to forget their strong athletic body, which allows them to run with ease even in the harsh weather.
Here, watch a video of Blue Bay Shepherd Kurgan, German Shepherd Lobo, and the Lycan Shepherd Puukko (second generation) hiking near the Mississippi River in the snow along with their breeder:
Food Requirement of Lycan Shepherd
According to the original breeder, he follows a B.A.R.F. diet (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) for all his wolf shepherd litter.
In simple words, the owner practices raw feeding and provides meals based entirely on edible bones, uncooked meat, and organs to his pet animals.
But, can you not give the Lycan cooked meat or food? He explains that feeding cooked meat will only make it harder for the pup to digest the meal easily.
Here, watch a video of a wellness veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker, who’s talking about the raw food diet, essential and non-essential food in general:
Temperament of German Shepherd Wolf
According to the breeder, the temperament of this shepherd dog breed is far from negative or aggressive. Instead, these gorgeous puppies are:
- Friendly
- Playful
- Loyal
- Protective
- Caring
- Affectionate
- Nonaggressive
- Trustworthy
- Social
However, the ideal dog behavior and temperament highly depend on how well you train them and what kind of environment they have to develop such good characteristics.
Check out this video of Gargoyle Kennels, who’s doing a temperament test on his young Lycan shepherd puppies and explains how you can do the same:
How to Train A Lycan Shepherd Puppy
Daily long walks, plenty of playful activity time, and few running hours can be ideal for such a German wolf dog.
Moreover, we can say that Lycan Shepherd is a highly trainable breed, and one can use early socializing techniques to train this puppy.
According to the breeder, he used the food aggression training in the early weeks of puppies to clear that there was no competition for food between the owner and the pup.
Another purpose was to exert the puppy’s bite force on chewing the large pieces of food at an early age.
Pro-Tip: If your dog starts acting rowdy and rough. All you have to do is take them outside and play with them.
The one thing you should never do is smack or punish them. Sure, it will make the growling stop.
But you will lose their trust, which could be the exact reason they would react aggressively to you or other people as they grow older.
Is Lycan Shepherd Good with Families, Kids, & Pets?
Yes! As far as we have observed from all the videos, the breeder shared about two generations of the shepherd’s dogs. One can clearly see these Lycan wolf dogs are friendly and loving towards children, pets, and families.
Here’s a video to prove it:
Common Health Issues
One goal to produce this shepherd dog with a wolf-like appearance was to have a strong body with fewer health issues.
Still, one can expect it to have some health problems like arthritis, Hip or elbow dysplasia, etc., from its parent breeds.
Does AKC or UKC Recognize or Register the Shepherd Wolf Mix?
No, the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club does not recognize or register the new Lycan Shepherd breed.
As the Lycan Shepherd dog is comparatively a new dog type and is still in the early stages of development, it is hard to say when it will ever be named an established breed.
In general, it can take a minimum of 40 years when it comes to a dog breed registration by either of the two clubs. Yes!
And, sometimes even more than that as both have different registration guidelines and standards.
Where Can You Buy a Lycan Shepherd?
If you come across any information regarding ‘Lycan pups for sale’ except the one from the original breeder, be aware that it’s a fake or at least not a Lycan Shepherd!
So, how can you get your hands on this gorgeous wolfy shepherd dog?
If we must say, according to kennels, the Lycan Shepherd project is still in early process and not completed by any means. So, it is too soon whether he will make the gorgeous breed available for the public.
Well, guess, we all have to wait while watching the calming videos of his pups:
Bottom Line
To sum it up, once the Lycan Shepherd project is finished successfully, it will be a huge benefit for all the dog-lovers as it will have all the qualities one expects to see in an ideal pet.
Lastly, if you want to read more about different dog breeds or pets in general, make sure to visit Inspire Uplift Pets Category.