We brought home this sweet thing last week after I had to have my best dog ever PTS.
This pup was dumped and then picked up by a lady who does rescue on the side and she thought Shepherd/ Collie mix. She is 3 months old.
She goes to the vet tomorrow and I will see if he has any ideas on breed.
[IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“src”:"https://i.ibb.co/KFBY1xd/DSCN2844.jpg)
This dog is ADORABLE!!! Oh my. Does she have black on her tongue? Maybe some chow or spitz in there? Seriously, what an adorable ball of fluff.
Sorry about your old dog but it’s wonderful that you’ve already opened your home and heart to another.
I’m curious if there is some Pom in there.
Anybody’s guess, really. Different mixes can wind up with some crazy, unexpected looks. With the long hair and curled tail, I’d guess there’s one of the “spitz” group breeds in there, more likely one of the mid-sized ones like Spitz or American Eskimo rather than, say, a Malamute or Pom. The color is sable, so there’s a breed in there someplace with that color, but that’s in a lot of different breeds. Probably nothing with a pug/bulldog face anywhere, nor any of the long-back/short legged beasties.
I wonder maybe some terrier. Her build and her ears. The ears look more terrier than collie to me.
Her coat appears to be soft, without the coarse outer layer. Is that right? It doesn’t appear to be as long as a collie.
I read somewhere that the brown color with black mask, often with a black saddle as well, is one of the most primitive and oldest genetic dog colors. That if a dog is a really random mix of breeds that may be the color that is expressed, even if it is not much like most of the breeds in a dog’s actual ancestry. So, basically, it isn’t always the indicator of actual ancestry that we sometimes think.
You might find it fun to do a doggie DNA test, if the entertainment of it is worth $100 or so. 
I also guess that one of the spitz breeds is in there because of the curled tail. A full spitz breed would have upright ears,and these are kind of in between.
There are a lot of spitz breeds (and this is off the top of my head, there are a lot more.)
Spitz
Pomeranian
Chow
Samoyed
Akita
Shiba Inu
Jindo
German Shepherd/Siberian Husky?
Maybe some Sheltie in there?
How confident is the estimate on age? Something about her proportions and face grabs me as being older than 3 months. Are her canines still baby/deciduous? If the babies have shed and the adults aren’t fully erupted, she’s between four and six months. If they are fully erupted she’s at LEAST six months (and could be older, we thought our guy was six months when we got him, but he only “grew” from 40 to 44 pounds so most likely he was closer to a year).
She is adorable cuteness hugsy baby girl wonderful!!! I don’t care what she is, other than that! Please let us know what your Vet thinks- besides all of the foregoing!
She adorable! I have always found the best way to get over the loss of any pet is to go rescue another asap…I focus on bonding with the new family member and don’t dwell as much on the loss of the other.
Good point. She does look older to me as well.
Lucky You, she’s darling. Good % of GSD and could be 4-5 more breeds mixed in. If you go the DNA test route, I was advised on my GSD forum to use Embark DNA as they are considered the most thorough test and most accurate. I also went for the additional health testing- same swab- but it tests for 180 potential genetic health problems.
Congrats on an adorable new family member.
For sure the curly tail caught my attention.
Black mask and ears, yeah terrier.
But she is sure a cutie :love-struck:
I would guess she is several generations of mixed breeds. The black masking looks like a shepherd type or one of the Belgian breeds, but the ears, tail and size don’t. I also wonder about her age (which is why I think size is wrong). She seems too mature and her feet too small to be a 12 week old shepherd type. But a shepherd cross bred to a toy cross could produce something like that. I’ll wait to put in a final guess until the vet confirms her age.
She’s so cute! Years ago I read about about adopting a shelter dog (can’t remember the title), and they had a list of physical traits and where they fell in the dominant/recessive range. For example, (I think!) drop ears are recessive to upright ears, etc. so if a dog has drop ears then both parents must have drop ears. It was a fun way to eliminate a lot of potential parent breeds based on the dog’s phenotype.
** UPDATE **
You all were right ! I thought she might be older than 3 months myself since she has had zero accidents and can hold it till we go out easily.
Vet had her at 5- 5.5 months of age due to her teeth and didn’t even try to hazard a guess on what her breeding might be ( i can’t blame him)
She is thin ( bony under all the hair) and weighed in at 16.6 pounds, so I am hoping that once her eating picks up she will mature at 35-40 pounds . That might be wishful thinking but really it doesn’t matter what her size will be.
I am kind of happy she won’t be terribly big because she sleeps on our bed and I would hate to have to make her get off or buy a king sized one down the road!!
She is respectful around the goats, cow and horses and terrified of the chickens ( who are terrified of her as well) so socialization is going well. She gets along beautifully with our 2 other dogs and is just what I needed.
@Another Poster No black one the tongue.
@OverandOnward Her coat is soft and doesn’t seem collie like to me but it is pretty fluffy.
@Toblersmom Her legs are fairly long and her body is well proportioned.
@DinkyDonk I never wait very long to get a new pup to love . It really makes the loss easier and so many dogs need love:)
Double coated breeds, especially collie adjacent breeds have a really fluffy puppy coat. Shelties (which I wouldn’t be surprised if that might be a contributor, there’s some Spitz way back in the family tree and a curled tail can pop up from time to time even though it is a fault) go through an awkward coyote phase before their adult coat grows in, which is anywhere from 18mo to 3 years. I’d definitely believe a medium or larger shepherd breed and a collie type breed contributed. The head angles aren’t really collie, too long, and sloped (which makes me think shepherd).
I saw Embark is having a sale on their Health+DNA test, I know for Shelties it can be hit or miss but for collies I think they’re more reliable.
I have no clue what she is, but she’s darn cute!
I would say there is definitely a Pom in there and also Belgian Shepard. Strange combo but he is quite super cute anyway. Maybe you should try one-off those apps that determine the breed just for fun.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
