I love your new pup @Heinz_57 - very cute! I’m also jealous of the green grass you’ve got starting to come in… we are still buried under mountains of snow.
I just checked in to it, and I think I might have to share Scout’s sonar ears there!
I am considering doing an Embark test for Scout, if someone has a discount code or sees a sale I’d love to hear! I’m in Canada so the exchange rate makes it even more pricey for me.
I’ve used both tests on the same dogs and they’re never exactly the same results, but they’re similar. Unfortunately, your dog appears to be part Easter Bunny and they don’t test for that. My favorite thing about Embark is that they show you relatives of your pet.
Those ears are fabulous 
The paws really say Dane or Dobe to me. Will be cool to see what he is!
If I were betting money on predominant breeds, I’d guess GSD + coonhound.
Oh I’d bet coonhound is likely too! We don’t have as many of them up here so I never think about them really.
My first thought was collie…
I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing some collie in there! 
I see Smooth Collie and Dane in your pup, but its hard to tell when they are still growing as well.
Keep us all updated on Benji. He is super cute!
I did an Embark test with Silly Lilly. I knew her mom was a Lab and her sire was of unknown breeding (at the time) she was an oops litter. But then I come to find out that the lady that I got Lilly from had a second litter the next year and presented a photo of the sire, which to me looked like a Border Collie, but turnes out he was an Aussie mix. Lilly was not an oops litter… I had been lied to.
3 months
first birthday!
1.5 yrs.
I see border collie in there, but that is because I want to see BC. But she totally has Aussie ADHD days.
One of us Embarkers should have a discount code for you.
Silly Lilly is gorgeous!!
If folks have discount codes, after OP gets first dibs I would love one for my Scout:
They usually do a 50% off deal around Black Friday/Cyber Monday
I guess there is australian black & tan kelpie blood in your puppy …
. if you look at it body from the side, but also head and ears.
and they have also white markings,
https://moorastuds.com.au/moora-kelpie-stud
and on photo you see the ears…
Both breeds are very, very rare in adoptable mixed breeds in the U.S. You can read 100 breed profiles in DoggyDNA and never see either.
While certain other breeds are prolific – BC, GP, husky, ACD, the ubiquitous pit, and the popular littles, some GSD, boxer, blue heeler, etc., appear in a significant number of the mixed breed profiles. Working farm breeds tend to crop up regularly.
The reason is dog-owner culture in the U.S.
The most common breeds reported among mixed breeds are those that include owners who allow their dogs to roam unneutered. And regional areas where strays flourish under the radar (there isn’t a big push by the community for animal control to eliminate strays, they are somewhat accepted as a fact of life).
If a breed hits the popular culture radar, it is highly likely that BYBs and puppy mills will push them into the category of owners who will add yet another layer to less controlled breeding.
Whereas the breeds that are rarely if ever seen in mixed-breed profiles are those with protective owner communities who control breeding and almost never outcross. If there is a mixed breeding, they find a responsible home for the neutered/spayed pups.
If a purebred or mixed dog that is visually identifiable as (probably) all or part of one of the highly curated and protected breeds happens to turn up in a shelter, there is a) a unique backstory and b) a good chance that a breed rescue will come get it, if the shelter knows to call them.
Also sometimes for the classic retail sale days such as Memorial Day and Labor Day. Watch for a sale this spring, fingers crossed. 
Thank you!
I will keep an eye out for codes via email from Embark. I love Scouts ears! I would play with them all day.
Agree on the Smooth Collie, but Danes have become very very popular and have a quickly growing BYB population. It’s a travesty.
I’m afraid Malinois may be on the same track.
Maybe I’m more practically-minded than most people – I don’t know – but I cannot imagine a casual pet home wanting either a Great Dane or a Malinois, given the huge job and responsibility of caring for such a dog. But I sadly suspect that many people think that dogs are dogs and don’t see the reality.
Chows had a wave of popularity a few decades ago. I still cannot imagine why, no surprise that I rarely see them anymore. But the ghostly shadow of that wave lingers in the small percentage of Chow in many mixed breed results.
I miss the days when most people didn’t know what a Malinois was.
Around here, everything in the shelters are pitties and crosses. Cane corsos have been rising in popularity.
10 years from now, I predict everything will be frenchie mixes. 
Generally curious what challenges/experiences you are referring to with a Great Dane? I do see them come up for rescue locally. My local Mastiff rescue has closed, so I was considering a Great Dane as a possibility for my next rescue.I am partial to large dogs and want to keep my options open. My current Mastiff rescue is around 11 years old and in good shape, but she is slowing down.
I totally understand the challenges around having a Malinois as a pet.
OP - Benji is so cute! Love the ears!
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