Indeed. But it's worth noting that these dogs were prevalent before sheep's wool was introduced to the Pacific Northwest. That's noted above the "extinction" section, but was a driving factor in the breed's decline as well. The industrial revolution aside, the need to preserve the breed's coat qualities for handweavers dropped off due to the introduction of other, superior fibers. Thus the cited cross-breeding with European dogs is very likely just a symptom of the other trends rather than a cause the breed was lost.