# What Dog Breeds look the most like Wolves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795 "2007-02-12T01:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/1 "2007-02-12T01:40:53Z")
{A Question from my daughter} We thought of the [Huskys](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=husky) immediately . What other breeds look like wolves? Jim ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/2 "2007-02-12T01:44:27Z")
Black German Shepherds, shiloh shepherds There is the Saarlooswolfhond and there is a list on wikipedia [Wolfdog - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Established_wolfdog_breeds) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/3 "2007-02-12T01:52:02Z")
There are a whole bunch of wolf/dog hybrids around so an individual in those lines can look almost identical to a wolf. Huskies look a lot like wolves but they tend to be smaller than many wolves. [Alaskan Malamutes](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/alaskanmalamute.htm) are bigger but the breed as a whole actually looks more powerful and refined than wolves superficially. Still, there are some dogs of that breed that look extremely similar to wolves. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/4 "2007-02-12T01:55:14Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] Black German Shepherds, shiloh shepherds There is the Saarlooswolfhond and there is a list on wikipedia [Wolfdog - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Established_wolfdog_breeds) [/QUOTE] Thanks for the quick reply. The [Shiloh](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/shilohshepherd.htm) looks like a good addition. The wolf dogs all have recent Wolf ancestors. I don’t think they count for what we were looking for. The two listed as Breeds that resemble the wolf, but contain no recent wolf content: [Berger Blanc Suisse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berger_Blanc_Suisse) & [Utonagan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utonagan) are great answers though. Thanks **Shagnasty** , that was the other breed I was trying to remember. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/5 "2007-02-12T02:47:07Z")
Though not a recognized breed, the [Mackenzie River Husky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_Husky) has more wolf characteristics than Siberians or Malamutes. They are also larger than typical huskies, running up to 120 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/6 "2007-02-13T00:57:52Z")
You forgot the [Norwegian Elkhound](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&sa=N&resnum=0&q=norwegian%20elkhound&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wi) and the [Japanese Akita](http://images.google.com/images?q=japanese+akita&btnG=Search&svnum=10&hl=en) --I don’t think either are terribly “wolfy” looking, but if you’re just looking for brownish, spitz-type dogs they might do the trick 😉 There’s also the [czechosłowacki wilczak](http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=czechos%C5%82owacki+wilczak&btnG=Search), maybe Czech wolfdog in English? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/7 "2007-02-13T01:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] You forgot the [Norwegian Elkhound](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&sa=N&resnum=0&q=norwegian%20elkhound&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wi) and the [Japanese Akita](http://images.google.com/images?q=japanese+akita&btnG=Search&svnum=10&hl=en) --I don’t think either are terribly “wolfy” looking, but if you’re just looking for brownish, spitz-type dogs they might do the trick 😉 There’s also the [czechosłowacki wilczak](http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&q=czechos%C5%82owacki+wilczak&btnG=Search), maybe Czech wolfdog in English? [/QUOTE] Thanks for the two additions. The Czech wolfdog is on the wiki page **BluePitbull** provided and has a recent wolf heritage. So my daughter and I rules it out. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/8 "2007-02-13T03:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] You forgot the [Norwegian Elkhound](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&sa=N&resnum=0&q=norwegian%20elkhound&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wi) and the [Japanese Akita](http://images.google.com/images?q=japanese+akita&btnG=Search&svnum=10&hl=en) --I don’t think either are terribly “wolfy” looking, but if you’re just looking for brownish, spitz-type dogs they might do the trick 😉 [/QUOTE] Slight nitpick, this being a subject dear to my heart - an elkhound should have no brown, just gray and black. Many of the pics you see online seem like they’re brown but it’s probably bad lighting or something (AKC site has standards, but [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkhound) has a better pic) [Here](http://new.photos.yahoo.com/donegalbob/album/576460762318825540/photo/294928803179332755/41) or [here](http://new.photos.yahoo.com/donegalbob/album/576460762318825540/photo/294928803179332492/39) for a classically marked but badly in need of a brushing, elkie. The black mutt in the second pic is kind of wolf-looking, but I’ve no idea how to reproduce that in another dog - some kind of lab/spitz mix, it was speculated when we rescued her [pic](http://new.photos.yahoo.com/donegalbob/album/576460762318825540/photo/294928803179338863/84)[pic](http://new.photos.yahoo.com/donegalbob/album/576460762318825540/photo/294928803179338551/82) (looks more wolfie in real life, especially out the window in the dark when her eyes catch the light just right) ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dog-breeds-look-the-most-like-wolves/391795/9 "2007-02-14T03:58:54Z")
Everyone’s a critic 😉 Add the [Samoyed](http://www.akc.org/breeds/samoyed/index.cfm) and the [Schipperke](http://www.akc.org/breeds/schipperke/index.cfm) (mini wolf!) pronounced skip-er-kee.