Overview
Leendert Saarloos created this breed in the 1930s by crossing a German Shepherd with a European wolf, hoping for a tougher working dog. What he got was a reserved, wary animal with a strong flight response, and that is what the Saarloos remains today. It is tall, long-legged and lupine in outline, with a thick coat in wolf grey, brown or cream.
The handful in Britain live with specialist owners. A Saarloos does not bond quickly with new people and will avoid contact rather than seek it. If it panics, it runs, and it can run a very long way.
Exercise and walking needs
Two hours a day is a realistic requirement, mostly steady trotting rather than ball games. The breed covers ground tirelessly and settles poorly without it. Woodland and open country suit it far better than streets, where traffic and crowds feed its nervousness.
Because the dog is flight driven, the exercise plan has to be built around escape-proof places and strong equipment rather than around recall.
On the walk
- Flight response: A sudden noise, a dropped bin lid or a stranger lunging to pat the dog can send it bolting. Use a secure harness with two points of attachment and a lead you cannot drop.
- Recall: A Saarloos may come back for its owner in a quiet field. For a walker it has known a few weeks, do not count on it. Off-lead only behind fencing the owner has approved.
- Other dogs: Pack animals that are usually settled with household dogs and uneasy with strangers. Avoid group walks and head-on meetings on narrow paths.
- Strangers: Give people a wide gap and do not let anyone approach to touch the dog. It will back away or try to bolt, not snap, but a bolting forty kilo dog is dangerous enough.
Tips for professional walkers
- Spend several sessions with the owner present before walking alone, ideally following the same route each time.
- Walk from the owner's door rather than loading an anxious dog into a strange van if you can.
- Use a double-ended lead clipped to harness and collar, and check both before every walk.
- Pick quiet times and empty places; a Saarloos has no interest in a busy park.
What to ask the owner
- What makes the dog bolt, and what has the owner done when it has happened before?
- Does it accept being handled by anyone other than the family, and how was that built?
- Is there any enclosed space where it is let off, and how does it come back?
- Which other dogs does it live with or walk with happily?