Corus was born on September 10, 2021 and was bred by Bridget Baker in New Hampshire, USA. Corus was born into a litter of 10 puppies (3 females, 7 males). He came home when he was 22 weeks old, since his breeder had offered to let him spend some extra time growing up with her and his parents and siblings first. Corus’ breeder, Bridget, has begun a personal breeding project to develop a new breed called the Wolven Gazehound. Corus and his siblings come from Bridget’s very first generation litter, out of her male Shikoku Ken mix, Thumos (bred by Brad Anderson at Backcountry Companions) and her female purebred Borzoi, Lycisca.

Corus has been an exceptionally calm, empathetic, and cuddly boy since the day he flew home. He is very intelligent and easily trainable, with moderate drives for both food and praise. He is eager to please and thrives with positive reinforcement training and a gentle hand. He is very sensitive to our tone and will become visibly dismayed if he thinks he has displeased us.

The “King of Couch Naps” has become Corus’ nickname, as he absolutely loves to be a couch potato throughout the day. He would gladly sleep in on the bed, have a quick breakfast and potty break, and then move to the couch for another nap. Even though he is a lazy bones at home, he is always up for a trip into town. Corus is such an easy dog to take out in public. He has lovely leash manners that have never felt like a chore to reinforce. He is calm, quiet, curious, and thoughtful whether we are at the auto shop or a pet friendly store. Corus tends to be fairly reserved when it comes to meeting new people. He likes to watch and politely sniff people, but doesn’t get super excited about actually being petted by strangers and prefers to lay down by my feet and hang out while I finish any social interactions. When pressed to interact with strangers, such as during vet appointments, he is calmly cooperative and tolerant of whatever needs to be done.

Corus has what I would consider a fairly high prey drive, which is to be expected for his breed mix. Borzoi, Irish Wolfhound, and Shikoku Ken are all very well known for being hunting dogs. Alaskan Malamute have been known to have a moderate prey drive, as well. Corus has been introduced to our two indoor pet kitties, but we do not allow him to have unsupervised access to them. He is also not allowed near our poultry (we have pet ducks and chickens who live in their own outdoor runs).

I don’t have any experience with hunting, personally, but my hope is to find a local mentor who can help me brush up on my skills so that I can take Corus out and see how he does with small game. Shooting a rabbit or squirrel will definitely be different than the combat marksman skills that I was trained for in the Marine Corps, so it will probably be a bit of a learning curve for me!

Corus currently stands at 27 inches tall and weighs 56 lbs at 19 months of age. He should fill out and gain a little more weight and muscle as he reaches maturity around 3-5 years of age.

Corus is co-owned by Gabriel Kieren Ogle, who owns Wilderun Kennels. Gabriel and I mutually decided to wash Corus as a prospective breeding dog after multiple health concerns were produced in close relatives that we feel are not worth the risk of passing down by breeding Corus. Details are listed in the Health Testing section below.