I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9 month
old puppy, she had been rescued by animal control from a violently abusive
household and giving her a second chance seemed like the humane thing to do.

I can go into descriptions or post images, but for now I'll just start by
asking where the best place to go for that would be. The problem with
looking at breed images is that after a while they all start looking like
your animal - I've tried that before and I must have identified 14 likely
breeds before giving up. I have a good idea, but I'd like to try tapping
into someone who has enough experience with the breeds to single out the
most likely.

I have no interest in selling her like some pen bred slave dog, she's 5
years old and a part of the family now - so that's not what the
identification is for.

I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9 month

I'm surprised your Vet couldn't ID any possible breeds that she could be part
of. We had a dog that was mixed, and our Vet told us his best guess.

-sunny

-sunny

"Sunni12" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I
know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9
month

I'm surprised your Vet couldn't ID any possible breeds that she could be
part
of. We had a dog that was mixed, and our Vet told us his best guess.

i've seen some weird breed guesses come from vets... like a puppy i saw
the other day, it was fawn with some sable markings on its back and tail. it
had bully looking forehead wrinkles and rose ears. his vet had said Rottie
x Lab.

i dunno, but i just didn't see it.

i think the OP should post pix on a website and link them here, so we can
all debate about what it is. that's much more fun!


-kelly

"Sunni12" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I
know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9
month

I'm surprised your Vet couldn't ID any possible breeds that she could be
part
of. We had a dog that was mixed, and our Vet told us his best guess.


Well, vets have classes in all sorts of things but not one in dog breed
identification. I've met a lot of vet school students (here at Cornell and
at Iowa State) and while the majority of them like dogs (some are really
into other specialties such as wildlife or large animal) not many of them
are into the dog show/dog breed scene.

I suggest the OP post some good pictures of his dog and let the folks here
give a guess.

Chris and her smoothies,
Zeffie & Pablo

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I
know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9 month
old puppy, she had been rescued by animal control from a violently abusive
household and giving her a second chance seemed like the humane thing to
do.

I can go into descriptions or post images, but for now I'll just start by
asking where the best place to go for that would be. The problem with
looking at breed images is that after a while they all start looking like
your animal - I've tried that before and I must have identified 14 likely
breeds before giving up. I have a good idea, but I'd like to try tapping
into someone who has enough experience with the breeds to single out the
most likely.

I have no interest in selling her like some pen bred slave dog, she's 5
years old and a part of the family now - so that's not what the
identification is for.


The first place to go is to your local classified and see what it is the
backyard breeders are selling the most of. If there isn't a single listing
for Malinois, you can bet your dog is probably part German Shepherd instead.
Look at the most common dogs available, as a shelter animal will 99% of the
time be a mix of 2 or more of those. Ask a rescue worker in your area what
the most common mixed breeds are and have then take a look at your dog.
Here, the most common mixed breeds are black lab, german shepherd, chow
chow, and pit bull. The most common mix is sure to vary somewhat across the
country.

Secondly, since you won't be breeding her, what does it matter what her
genetics are? You could pick breed MNOP out of a book if it resembles your
dog rather than XYZ and it truly wouldn't matter. In fact, I think I'd pick
something incredibly exotic and tell all of my friends that she was a rare
MNOP breed and an incredibly special dog. The part about her being special
would most definately be the truth, no matter what her heritage.

I'm surprised your Vet couldn't ID any possible breeds that she could be
part
of.

Actually, vets are often REALLY BAD at guessing breed mixes- nearly as bad
as your average shelter worker. Vets are medical doctors, not geneticists.
For example, I know someone with a dog who is quite clearly a working-line
BC whose vet ID'd the dog (which is rough-coated, no less!) as a "Pointer
mix" because the dog has ticking on her muzzle.
Then there's the obvious Coonhound mix who was ID'd by the vet as a
"Rottie mix" because the dog is black and tan- apparently the vet didn't
realise that more than one breed comes in black and tan, including the Black
and Tan Coonhound. G

And I'm always amazed at how many vets quite seriously repeat the old
wives' tale that spots on the tongue = "Chow blood", when the most
elementary web search on the subject reveals that any dog with some black
skin pigmentation can have a spotted tongue. (I have personally met purebred
Newfs, Goldens, Springers, BCs, and a JRT with spotted tongues, plus my
BC/Saluki has one.)

"Sionnach" wrote in
:


Actually, vets are often REALLY BAD at guessing breed mixes- nearly
as bad
as your average shelter worker. Vets are medical doctors, not
geneticists.

I.. third or fourth this. (Wasn't keeping count of how many replied
similarly!) I work with vets, love most of them, but by golly are they
dumb when it comes to breed IDs!! I frequently get asked if the client
has any question.


--
-Abby

Pems, Aussie, and a Pug

****Remove shoes to reply****

"culprit" wrote in message
...

"Sunni12" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I
know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9
month

I'm surprised your Vet couldn't ID any possible breeds that she could be
part
of. We had a dog that was mixed, and our Vet told us his best guess.

i've seen some weird breed guesses come from vets... like a puppy i saw
the other day, it was fawn with some sable markings on its back and tail.
it
had bully looking forehead wrinkles and rose ears. his vet had said
Rottie
x Lab.

i dunno, but i just didn't see it.

i think the OP should post pix on a website and link them here, so we can
all debate about what it is. that's much more fun!


-kelly


I can start posting web links. I have to get some decent pics first (I only
have one right now). The tough part about photographing my dog is getting
her to stay still long enough for the shot, and not to pounce on the camera
while I'm lining it up.

http://imageevent.com/eigenvector/lucypoo

I can give you a reasonble description of her phyisical traits.

She's about 6 years old now, she's about 2 1/2 feet at the shoulder, has
medium length white/tan hair. The hair was white when she was a puppy, but
has since turned a more tannish in most places. She has a black spot on her
tail, near the base, her tail is very bushy and when she walks it curls up.
She sheds hair constantly, almost to the point that I wonder how she manages
to keep up - thick strands of coarse hair constantly waft off her body. She
talks quite a bit (not human speech obviously, but that funny dog talk
that's a kind of bark and growl at once). She always interrupts our
conversations with her talking outbursts. She howls at sirens in a very
high pitched voice. She hoards food like its her last meal. If I toss her
something like a tater tot she'll take it to some hidden place and bury it -
only to dig it up later to eat when no one's around.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
news

http://imageevent.com/eigenvector/lucypoo

I can give you a reasonble description of her phyisical traits.

She's about 6 years old now, she's about 2 1/2 feet at the shoulder, has
medium length white/tan hair. The hair was white when she was a puppy,
but
has since turned a more tannish in most places. She has a black spot on
her
tail, near the base, her tail is very bushy and when she walks it curls
up.
She sheds hair constantly, almost to the point that I wonder how she
manages
to keep up - thick strands of coarse hair constantly waft off her body.
She
talks quite a bit (not human speech obviously, but that funny dog talk
that's a kind of bark and growl at once). She always interrupts our
conversations with her talking outbursts. She howls at sirens in a very
high pitched voice. She hoards food like its her last meal. If I toss
her
something like a tater tot she'll take it to some hidden place and bury
it -
only to dig it up later to eat when no one's around.

she looks and sounds like a husky mix to me!

-kelly

"Sunflower" wrote in message
...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I guess I'm looking for the best place to find information on my dog's
breed. I'm pretty sure she's a mix, but really I have no idea. All I
know
about her history is that we picked her up from the dog pound as a 9
month
old puppy, she had been rescued by animal control from a violently
abusive
household and giving her a second chance seemed like the humane thing to
do.

I can go into descriptions or post images, but for now I'll just start
by
asking where the best place to go for that would be. The problem with
looking at breed images is that after a while they all start looking
like
your animal - I've tried that before and I must have identified 14
likely
breeds before giving up. I have a good idea, but I'd like to try
tapping
into someone who has enough experience with the breeds to single out the
most likely.

I have no interest in selling her like some pen bred slave dog, she's 5
years old and a part of the family now - so that's not what the
identification is for.


The first place to go is to your local classified and see what it is the
backyard breeders are selling the most of. If there isn't a single
listing
for Malinois, you can bet your dog is probably part German Shepherd
instead.
Look at the most common dogs available, as a shelter animal will 99% of
the
time be a mix of 2 or more of those. Ask a rescue worker in your area
what
the most common mixed breeds are and have then take a look at your dog.
Here, the most common mixed breeds are black lab, german shepherd, chow
chow, and pit bull. The most common mix is sure to vary somewhat across
the
country.

Secondly, since you won't be breeding her, what does it matter what her
genetics are? You could pick breed MNOP out of a book if it resembles
your
dog rather than XYZ and it truly wouldn't matter. In fact, I think I'd
pick
something incredibly exotic and tell all of my friends that she was a rare
MNOP breed and an incredibly special dog. The part about her being
special
would most definately be the truth, no matter what her heritage.


It matters to me what her breed is. I'd like to know more about her and
where some of her traits come from. I don't consider pure-breds to be any
better than mongrels, any more than I would consider a pure WASP to be any
better than (well....) me. Is the dog friendly and happy? That's all that
matters to me. But there is something interesting about geneology.