Often confused with various wolf species, the Utonagan is an intelligent, friendly, and obedient breed. But how do you know whether you are ready to purchase a pet and if this breed is right for you? This information is absolutely necessary in making the decision to purchase a pet.
History
The origin of the Utonagan can be traced back to 1987 Britain, when breeder Edwina Harrison began experimenting with crossing various breeds. Harrison eventually bred the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and the German Shepherd Dog, and the Utonagan was finally born.
Throughout its history, the Utonagan has been most commonly kept as a family pet and companion, proving its superior abilities to provide both entertainment and loyal companionship.
Today, due to lack of interest in the breed and bad breeding practices, the Utonagan has been reduced to a small gene pool and remains extremely rare outside of its native Britain, with its numbers dwindling yearly.
Personality Traits
Best known for its social and outgoing nature, the Utonagan is a genuinely happy breed. These dogs thrive on strong and dependable relationships with humans, often look to their owner for assurance and support, and love to receive attention and praise. This breed is highly intelligent and generally very easy to train. As a pet, the Utonagan is obedient, loyal, loving, and affectionate. The Utonagan is not suited for full-time indoor or apartment living, as it enjoys spending time outdoors, playing games such as fetch and tug-of-war, and having plenty of room to roam, run, and play.
Train-ability
Due to its eagerness to please and impress its owner and willingness to learn, the Utonagan generally responds very well to basic training and commands. This bright breed has the ability to learn to perform most any task its trainer is willing to take the time to teach.
Establishing immediate trust and respect is key to successfully training the Utonagan. These dogs require a confident, patient, and caring handler with a stern yet gentle approach to repetitive exercises and tasks.
Benefits and Disadvantages of the Breed
There are many benefits to owning a Utonagan, such as its surprisingly no hassle, low maintenance coat. These curious and outgoing dogs are always on the move, and often very amusing and entertaining to watch while at play. This intelligent breed is obedient by nature, easy to train, and capable of learning to perform many impressive tricks and tasks. When properly socialized from a young age, the Utonagan gets along well with children and other pets, known for its sweet and gentle approach to small children and its ability to make friends quickly with other animals due to its social nature. The Utonagan is obedient, loyal, loving, and affectionate, making an excellent family pet and companion alike.
Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages to owning a Utonagan. These active and athletic dogs require large amounts of daily exercise and room to run and play outdoors. Anyone wishing to purchase this breed lacking the adequate amount of time and space to dedicate to the dog is strongly advised against doing so. A Utonagan not receiving the proper amount of exercise and space will often act out by destroying property, chewing, digging, barking, whining, and ignoring basic training such as housebreaking.
The Utonagan is known to enjoy digging, and is quite good at doing so. It is not unusual for this breed to dig a hole under a fence with the matter of only a few minutes. The Utonagan must be properly secured or supervised at all times when outdoors.
As previously mentioned, the Utonagan remains very rare outside of its native Britain and can prove quite difficult to obtain. Individuals seeking to purchase this breed often encounter such challenges as inability to locate a breeder, extremely high prices, and being placed on long waiting lists.
Common Health Concerns
While the Utonagan is typically known as a healthy and hearty breed, they do suffer from a few health problems, including: hip dysplasia, likeliness to develop cancer, progressive retinal atrophy, glaucoma, cataracts, vision problems – sometimes leading to blindness, distichiasis – ingrown eye lashes, sensitivity to heat, and bloat.
Now that you know all about the breed, do you think you are ready to own a Utonagan? Remember, purchasing a pet is a big decision and should be discussed thoroughly and seriously with your entire family.
Sources:
http://www.heydogs.com/u/utonagan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/utonagan
