Coats and Colours
Wolfalike dogs were initially bred to resemble wolves whilst maintaining a dog-like temperament.
Although there have been many years of selective breeding to achieve the desired wolf-like look, there remains a wide range of diversity in coat colours, coat length, masks, and eye colours within the wolfalike type dog. This is translated across most of the wolfalike breeds, meaning there is no clearly defined 'type'.
If you are considering adding a wolfalike breed to your family and are interested in a specific coat colour or eye colour - or combination of both - it is worth checking with your chosen breeder to see what they expect from future litters. An experienced breeder should know what colours they expect from their future litters and which mating may produce the coat or eye colours you are looking for. However, it is also worth mentioning that there is such genetic diversity within the breed that a breeder's guesstimates may not always be 100% correct. Also, note that eye colours can change from puppy through to adulthood.
Coat colours
Wolfalike dogs come in various coat colours ranging from pure white to grey, silver, red, timber, black, black and white and occasionally ink marked, which is a fault in the Northern Inuit dog. Below are examples of the most common coat colours in the wolfalike breeds.
Timber
Timber is the most common colour in the wolfalike dog. These dogs are genetically agouti or "wild coloured". We use these four categories to distinguish between the different shades/varieties.
Light Timber
Cream undercoat with darker markings
Timber
Cream undercoat with dark red & brown markings
Dark Timber
Ceige undercoat dark brown or black coat
Apricot Timber
Cream undercoat with red & red brown markings
Grey
Grey is genetically also agouti, but they have much lighter markings than timber.
Silver Grey
White undercoat
Wolf Grey
Cream undercoat
Black
The recessive black wolfalike often got some white markings from Domino or domino + Urajiro. Its very rare that they are complete black.
Black and white
White mask
Photo (c) Honiahaka, used with permission
Black Timber
Recessive black with Domino.
White underside
Photo (c) Honiahaka, use with permission
Black and White
Without domino. (Still growing)
Photo (c) Honiahaka, used with permission
Charcoal Timber
Looks like a timber, but with black top coat only
Photo (c) Honiahaka, used with permission
Other colours
The recessive black wolfalike often got some white markings from Domino or domino + UrajiroItäs very rare that they are complete black.
White
Ink Marked/Patchy
Photo (c) Honiahaka, use with permission
Black and White
Without domino. (Still growing)
Photo (c) Honiahaka, used with permission
Charcoal Timber
Looks like a timber, but with black top coat only
Photo (c) Honiahaka, used with permission