Fun American Alsatian Facts For Kids

The American Alsatian is a purebred dog breed, first engineered by Lois Denny (now Schwarz) in the late 1980s. It was initially known as the North American Shepalute.

The American Alsatians were bred under the Dire Wolf Project, in order to incorporate the resemblance of the now-extinct species of the dire wolves. The project under the supervision of Lois Schwarz focused on breeding North American Shepalute that were morphologically identical to their prehistoric dire wolves ancestors, but had the temperament and personalities of a companion dog.

Traits such as intelligence, friendliness, and inquisitive natures were given particular consideration. These American Alsatian breed dogs, reared solely for companionship purposes, are known to be intelligent, friendly, and calm.

American Alsatian puppies are perhaps the loveliest and the most gentle canine giants around. However, the Schwarz dogs are not working dogs.

If your interest has been piqued, read on to become familiar with these spectacular canines. After reading this article on American Alsatian facts, check out our articles on Kunming wolfdog and Australian retriever facts too.

American Alsatian Interesting Facts

What type of animal is an American Alsatian?

The American Alsatians are large, gentle breeds of companion dogs. Developed to resemble the prehistoric and now extinct dire wolf, they are more than just the American counterpart of the German Shepherd.

What class of animal does an American Alsatian belong to?

The American Alsatian dog belongs to the class mammalia, due to their ability to give birth to their young ones and feed them. These are giant-sized canines, about 25-32in tall.

How many American Alsatians are there in the world?

The American Alsatian Shepalute is a new and rare breed that is primarily focused around the USA. The total number of this companion dog is not known but it is common knowledge that their numbers are steadily growing.

Where does an American Alsatian live?

The American Alsatians are extremely social and docile dog breeds. Also known as a gentle giant, the Alsatian American dog settles well on farms as well as in houses. However, this new breed does not take well to the outdoors. They are known to make significant allies for individuals as well as families.

What is an American Alsatian's habitat?

The American Alsatian breed is a domestic pet and so, lives in homes. That said, the American Alsatian can adapt well to colder regions of America. Since their body is covered with a double coat, an outer coat and inner coat, the American Alsatian fare much better in winter months as compared to summer months.

Who do American Alsatians live with?

The silver sable American Alsatian are great family pets. Reared particularly to incorporate the compassionate and affectionate personality traits in large breed dogs, the giant white American Alsatian dogs are great around children of all ages, older people as well other animals.

In fact, these are sociable dogs that crave human interaction throughout the day. These are calm, friendly, and intelligent dog species.

How long does an American Alsatian live?

In general, the lifespan of large dog breeds is comparatively shorter than the smaller canines. However, the black American Alsatian lifespan ranges between 12-14 years; that is a longer life expectancy than most other dogs of their size.

Factors like right nutrition, balanced diet, regular vet checkups, vaccinations, are essential for the dog’s well-being and add up to their life expectancy, keeping them healthy.

How do they reproduce?

The gestation period in American Alsatian dogs lasts for 60-64 days. The primary period, called proestrus, in the female American Alsatian, goes on for about nine days, during which the females start to attract males.

The following phase can be noted by a swelling vulva. This phase is followed by the female becoming receptive to the male which lasts for about 3-11 days.

Diestrus, or the third phase, occurs around day 14. In this period, the vulva of the female returns to average, and she will no longer permit mating.

The fourth phase, anestrus, is basically the time frame between heat periods, ordinarily lasting for about six months. At the end of the gestation period, the female American Alsatian on average gives birth to about 5-12 puppies.

What is their conservation status?

Though the American Alsatian is a new and rare dog breed, they are being continually and vigorously reared by professional breeders. Therefore these species do not face any threats of extinction as American Alsatian puppies are readily being born.

American Alsatian Fun Facts

What do American Alsatians look like?

With beautiful almond-shaped eyes, a wolfish stare, erect ears, dark-tipped tail, and well-built muscular frames, these giant-sized pooches are quite a sight to behold. The head and hips of the American Alsatians are broad with a strong, dark muzzle.

The eye color ranges from earthy browns to yellow, while the coat color is primarily golden sable, silver sable, black or white. The double coat comprises an outer layer i.e.

winter coat which comprises coarse, dense hair while the undercoat is of soft hair. On the other hand, the summer coat is thin with all the undercoat shedding out, leaving simply the external hair. Neither of the double coats in American Alsatians is hypoallergenic.

American Alsatian size ranges between 24-28 in for males and females. Due to their large bones and slightly rounded skull, they actually appear bigger than they actually are.

How cute are they?

The American Alsatians are very cute despite their large size. In general, the eyes of any canines are hard to resist and definitely, the rule fits in quite easily with these wolf-like giant pooches.

These fluffy fur balls are compassionate friends and highly affectionate with everyone. The American Alsatian easily fits the bill of a cute warm and doting pet.

How do they communicate?

Since the American Alsatian dogs are docile house dogs and great companions, they are quite good at understanding emotions and commands. The American Alsatians are known to be capable of responding to minimalistic sounds. They use common methods such as howls, barks, whimpers for communication.

How big is an American Alsatian?

The American Alsatians are strong, muscular dogs with long sturdy frames. American Alsatian size for male dogs is 28in while American Alsatian size for male dogs is 27in. With their measurements, the American Alsatians are much larger as compared to large size dog breeds such as Alaskan malamute and German shepherd.

How fast can an American Alsatian run?

The American Alsatians are athletic dogs, however, are comparatively less active than German shepherds. They can be swift while running but do not require much exercise.

Though, for the sake of good health they still need around 60 minutes of exercise on a daily basis to maintain their activity level. The exact speed at which they can run is unknown.

How much does an American Alsatian weigh?

The American Alsatian belongs to the category of larger breeds of dogs. It is their gigantic size and appearance that makes them more similar to the extinct dire wolf.

In fact, the average weight of a mature American Alsatian is between 90-110 lb (41-50 kg) while that of females is 85-100 lb (39-48 kg), which places them above several large dog breeds like American Alsatian, German Shepherd, and English Mastiff, in terms of size.

What are their male and female names of the species?

The American Alsatian is a dog breed, belonging to the species lupus. The scientific name of this dog breed is Canis lupus. A male American Alsatian is referred to as dog, while the female organism is referred to as bitch.

What would you call a baby American Alsatian?

The young one of this giant-sized dog breed is referred to as a puppy.

What do they eat?

Since proteins and fats are the nutrients that are quite essential to muscle up your pet, the diet of American Alsatian should include meat, eggs, and gravy. The American Alsatian can consume about 3-3.5 cups of food every day.

Depending on their size, these dogs should be fed about two times a day.

Foods ranging from high-quality kibble, cottage cheese, gravy, and shredded cheese to meat and egg can be added to their diet. The American Alsatian can be fed about three to four cups of dry dog food per day.

Are they slobbery?

The drooling in the American Alsatian dogs is low to moderate, making them ideal for indoor rearing.

Would they make a good pet?

Despite their large size, the American Alsatians are basically gentle giants who crave affection.

American Alsatian temperament is extremely sociable, making them highly compassionate dogs. Because of their docile nature, the American Alsatian is pet-friendly, laid back, kids-friendly as well as good with senior citizens, and can make excellent home buddies with positive reinforcement.

However Alsatian American dogs make poor watchdogs due to no guarding tendencies, and the only plus point to their rescue is their massive size and striking features, which are quite enough to make a powerful impact.

Did you know...

The morphological twins of the dire wolf, the American Alsatian, are extremely sharp and intelligent which makes them excellent learners; and it's quite easy to train and tame these giants.

The American Alsatian Shepalute was reared by Lois Schwarz using purebreds such as German Shepherds, Alaskan Malamutes, English Mastiffs, Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherds, and the Irish Wolfhound.

The first litter of  American Alsatian was reared in 1988; they were initially produced by breeding with an Alaskan Malamute and German Shepherd and it was later that several other large dog breeds such as English Mastiff and the Anatolian/Great Pyrenees were used.

This new breed has inherited diseases such as hip and elbow dysplasia and Elbow Dysplasia from their parent breeds such as German Shepherds and Alaskan Malamutes. However, Alsatians are better options as compared to German Shepherds as they are healthier and have a higher range of lifespan.

With more than five consistent generations, the dog American Alsatian is not yet recognized by any significant pet club. They are registered only by their own breed club, called the NAABA- National American Alsatian Breeders Association and NASR - National American Alsatian Registry.

American Alsatian has a medium coat and are available in different color tones including gray sable, golden sable, black silver sable, wolf gray silver/sable, solid cream, tri sable golden gray, and silver sable. However, the silver sable is the most popular and desirable amongst American Alsatian Shepalute dogs.

Having your own American Alsatian

The American Alsatian is quite a rare breed, and therefore, is not available at cheap prices. Their affordability can be quite expensive. The average American Alsatian price is about $2,000-$3,000. However, American Alsatian cost varies depending on the breeder, location, and quality of the breeding stock.

Characteristics and health

In terms of temperament, the American Alsatian is a great companion dog. Despite their well muscular build and strength, they are not aggressive or wild animals.

They are extremely loyal to their guardians and mix in quite easily with all. Be it other pets of the house, kids, or the senior members, the American Alsatian is friendly, approachable, and quite a snuggly dog.

These gentle giants are active and intelligent, thereby quick learners. Though American Alsatians are carnivores, they do not have a high prey drive. However, these canines have no likeness for abandonment and become quite anxious and worrisome when left completely alone.

The American Alsatian has no affinity for whining, digging or running the fence. Rather, they prefer the premises of the house.

The American Alsatians are in general a healthy dog, with an average lifespan of about 12-14 years. However, they do suffer from certain common health issues, genetically inherited from their parent breeds.

Hip and Elbow Dysplasia is one of the common health issues in American Alsatian, inherited from German Shepherds and Alaskan Malamutes.

It is an abnormal formation of the affected joints such as the hip bones, which will eventually cause pain when walking, and crippling arthritis.

Panosteitis is another bone-related illness that causes inflammation of the long bones in the Alsatian’s leg, this can cause pain while walking. Some other common health issues in American Alsatians are Arthritis, Panosteitis, Hip Dysplasia, Epilepsy, Elbow Dysplasia, seizures, sheath problems, and limping.

American Alsatians require proper grooming, especially during the shedding seasons; such as the summertime (mostly around March and April). Brushing their coat with a wide-tooth steel comb and at least once every day proves to be quite helpful, during the shedding season.

During the cooler seasons, the winter coat on the Alsatian can be maintained by brushing at least once or twice a week. The hair of American Alsatians repels dirt, so they will only need a bath when necessary; occasional baths are great options.

In terms of training, it is relatively easy to train the American Alsatians as they are calm and intelligent dogs with a willingness to impress their masters. They pick up commands very quickly and respond attentively to them.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals including beaglier, or Canis panther.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our American Alsatian coloring pages.