History

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (EPBC Act) is the Australian Government’s environmental legislation. Since 2010, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999, Australia has banned the importation of wolves/wolf hybrids and disallow breeds such as the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog (Czechoslovakian Vlcak), Saarloos (Saarloos Wolfhound), Lupo Italiano or Italian Wolfdog. This also includes any dog that has wolf or wolfdog content such as the Tamaskan and Northern Inuit and many other "wolfalike" type breeds, not officially recognised by the world kennel club (Fédération Cynologique Internationale - FCI).

When submitting an application to import to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, you must state the breed of your dog and sign a declaration stating that it is not an ineligible breed. Fines up to $313,000 for individuals ($1,565,000 for corporations) and 10 years imprisonment can be imposed for providing misleading or false information on import declarations. Animals can also be seized and euthanised on the spot.

Typically, wild animals do not make suitable pets. As such, our bloodline foundations do not contain any wolf content whatsoever.

Our breed was founded in 2014 by Brooke Taylor, under the "Australian Lykos Development Project", which set forth a stud book, Breed Standard and Code of Ethics. As an owner and then breeder of purebred dogs since the year 2000, Brooke had had many conformation show and working successes with her bloodlines in Australia, but also on an international scale under FCI judges and clubs.

Brooke envisioned a goal to develop Australia's first wolf-look-a-like breed here in Australia, using healthy dogs with exceptional temperaments, with unique colour with a desired 'wolfy' phenotype. Dogs that would be fairly easy for Australian families, but also have the ability to excel in recreational dog sports.

The founder (Brooke Taylor - Kennel Lykosia) derived the foundation from her world-renowned purebred bloodlines, whose ancestors excelled in work as guides for the blind, therapy, service, search and rescue dogs, as well as many international working and show ring titles.

The founding dogs Oreo and Meira were selected due to their health results and exceptional temperaments. They were hip and elbow x-rayed, cleared of MDR1 and DM (degenerative myelopathy) and their first litter was then born in April 2015. This litter produced Lykosia Caesar, the Lykos who starred in the Volkswagen commercial as a wolf. The combination of Meira and Oreo produced some outstanding puppies, which truly hit the nail on the head in terms of ticking all the boxes of Brooke's breeding goals.

Some time later in 2018, once Embark DNA came on the scene, it measured the breed mix of the Meira x Oreo pups. The results came in as German Shepherd Dog from Meira, Alaskan Malamute, Husky and a very small % of Samoyed from Oreo's side.

Due to the success of the first litter in 2015, the combination was repeated again in December 2016.

Puppies from these first two litters went on to be used for Government-funded scent detection projects, as accredited Service Dogs and therapy type work.

The colours of the first 2 litters were arctic wolf grey, agouti (timberwolf), which was exactly what Brooke had aimed for colour-wise. These colours aren't easy to replicate, making these foundation lines quite unique.

Thomas Dachs (Wolfden - Qld) joined the project, and they began working together to develop the Lykos bloodlines. The community grew and was later legally incorporated and re-named the "Lykos Wolfalike Council of Australia" (LWCA). There are now a few exports in Hawaii, Greece and the USA.

There have been nearly 400 dogs registered in the stud book since 2015. LWCA pedigrees cannot be used by any unregistered breeder or organisation without written permission due to the trademark with IP Australia. Since April 2018, our community was the first in Australia to adopt the term "Wolfalike", when we began selling merchandise. For the current merchandise available, please head to our shop!

The LWCA strongly advocate responsible breeding, with registered breeders going above and beyond in their breeding endeavours.

Our registered breeders have sound knowledge about canine genetics and breed improvement schemes, with some having been registered breeders holding prefixes with the ANKC (Dogs Australia).

As protectors and custodians of our breed, our breeders abide by our Code of Ethics and will (and have) enforced Agreements that serve to protect our developing breed.

We are working towards developing our breed using the specific regulations required for a new breed in Australia.

Due to the protected and exclusive nature of our breeding program, we are under no illusions how long it may take for achieve recognition. For us, quality is more important than quantity.

Working towards our goals at a slow and steady pace, developing a healthy and sound breed with a broad genetic base is the main priority at this point in time.

Below: "Lykosia Caesar" (2015 litter) bred and photographed by Lykosia