Any dog people want to help me figure out

[Merope215]

what kind of dog I have? We rescued him this summer from the county shelter - he was actually scheduled to be put down the next day, because his time was up - and we have no idea what kind of dog he is. We named him Homer (I wasn't really involved in that decision). He runs like the wind, has lots of energy, occasionally points when he trees squirrels and such, and is kind of bipolar (he's perfectly well-behaved most of the time, but once in a while will go nuts and start running around, barking, and trying to bite people - there doesn't seem to be any trigger at all). The vet said he thinks he has some pit bull due to the brindle coat, and he's the size of a boxer or small lab. Just for fun, I'd be interested to know what kinds of breeds he might have - does anyone have any ideas?

Here are some pictures:



first day home



on "his" chair



with his "lovey," Senor Frog



on the couch

Any takers? :shrug:

[kslib]

1. Look at this site

it's very useful for your particular question!

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/tutorial2.html

:hi:

[HamdenRice]

10. I agree and don't agree with the site ...

The site author is absolutely correct that most "mixes" are not mixes of purebreads at all. And he is correct that many purebreads resulted from selective breading of "village dogs." Perhaps a better term than village dog is a term used for livestock: "land race", because it connotes that over time, dogs in certain areas developed somewhat stabilized features, like the pigs of Jamaica or the cattle of some part of Angola.

I don't think however, that most American mixed breed dogs are descended from land race animals. My guess from my limited memory and presumptuous hypothesizing is that over many decades, the US has been flooded by purebred dogs, as breeds go in and out of fashion. Many of these purebreds then breed with mutts. So the indigenous mutt line gets infused with pure breeds.

That's why it seemed that in the 1960s, so many mutts looked like German shepherds dogs -- because there was an influx of GSDs. From the 1980s to the present the most popular dogs are Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers -- and in fact, a lot of mutts look like they have some lab or golden in them. From the 1990s, urban areas were flooded with pit bulls, and not surprisingly, many urban mutts are pit bull mixes. Here in NYC, the typical mutt looks like a lab-pit bull mix. It is true that such dogs are not a mix of, eg, a purebread pit bull bitch and a lab sire; but you can see that these strains predominate.

The typical urban mutt is definitely not a landrace or village dog, though.

[kslib]

2. Oh yeah

and congrats on your new addition! What a beautiful dog! :)

[Merope215]

4. Thank you,

and thanks for the link. It was very interesting!

I don't think I ever realized that dogs don't really have to be mixes of breeds before...our previous dog, who had to be put to sleep a year and a half ago, was also a shelter mutt (which I say with all due respect) and we were always trying to figure out what she might have been, too. Maybe it's just a futile endeavor.

Thanks again! :hi:

[SiouxJ]

3. Well, his markings are very typical of Border Collies

(well, collies in general I suppose) Typical “collie” pattern: white blaze on face and white muzzle, white ruff encircling the neck, white chest, four white feet and a white tip on the end of the tail.

That certainly would explain his high energy too. Whatever he is, he sure is a cutie! Look at that smile! Reminds me a lot of my border collie Natasha's!

[Merope215]

5. We never thought of that

but I bet you have something there. Border collies are such pretty dogs, but we never wanted one because they're so high energy, and before we got this guy we didn't get out of the house much. (Our previous dog preferred to lie around and beg for Cheez-Its, and she *hated* going for walks.) He seemed so mellow in the shelter, but he was probably just bored - when we got him, he had a big sore on his leg where the vet said he'd been chewing on himself. He told us it's pretty common, since the animals in the pound don't have any other toys to play with. :cry: I'm glad he's feeling better, even though he is a bit of a pest sometimes - he's a sweetie.

Is your Natasha the one you rescued with Boris? I think I saw pictures of them in another thread somewhere, and I love "Rocky and Bullwinkle," so the names stuck with me. If so, they're both beautiful dogs!

[SiouxJ]

16. The stripe on his nose and white tipped tail is what

first got me thinking collie. Then I noticed all the other markings. Maybe not Border but perhaps some type of collie dog :-).

Yes, that's my Boris and Natasha. Natasha's energy never quits. She tries to get me to play from sun-up to sun-down. Boris will take to chewing up a toy if he gets restless. He doesn't have quite the interest in "sports" as his sister. He'd rather go for long, long walks, which Tasha finds a little too boring for her speed ;-) .

Thanks! Yours is beautiful too! He has a lot of character :-) . Good for you for rescuing him!

[livetohike]

6. Gorgeous and he looks like a Catahoula Leopard

Here are two pics of our girl Cindy. Our original vet was from Louisiana and told us that Cindy looked like a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard. The dog pound called her an Australian Shepherd, but I think it is because they didn't see many Catahoula Leopards there.

[Merope215]

7. Wow, I've never even heard of that breed

Is that a native Louisiana dog? The patterns are so interesting!

I'll pass along your compliment when I see Homer over spring break. He knows when people are talking about him and likes to prance around when he gets compliments on his walks.

Your Cindy is beautiful! Her colors are so striking, and she has such a sweet face! (I love dog pictures.) Homer often holds his tail the exact same way - looks pretty plausible to me.

Thanks for sharing your pictures! Give Cindy a scratch behind the ears for me. :hi:

[livetohike]

9. Cindy thanks you!

I never heard of the breed either. Try this link. I think I see Homer in the picture on the front page. Cindy is joined by her "brother" Murphy who is an Australian Cattle Dog (maybe mixed). The Catahoula Leopard is a cattle dog breed. I learned alot about them after we brought Cindy home. She is a sweetheart as I'm sure Homer must be.


http://www.catahoulaleopard.com/swdogs.htm

[Merope215]

13. There used to be a dog

named Murphy who lived down the street from us. She was some kind of Great Dane mix, probably with Rottweiler or something, and she was HUGE. She was a very nice dog, though, which was lucky since she was the size of a good-sized pony. Give your Murphy a quick scratch too - I don't want him to feel left out!

And thanks for the link - what a cool breed of dog.

[ernstbass]

8. Homer is lovely

and you are so nice to save a dog's life rather than purchasing a purebred. I agree with your vet about the pit bull due to the markings but I'm seeing some kind of hound in Homer also.That would account for the pointing behavior also. Perhaps beagle or walker hound?

[Merope215]

12. Could be...

He loves to "track" things and walks with his nose stuck to the ground, unless someone we meet says he's cute (that's when he starts posing). Definitely looks like there could be a scent hound of some sort in the genes somewhere.

I'd never get a purebred - picking Homer out from the shelter was the worst experience of my life; there were just so many other dogs we couldn't save. Someday I'd love to have enough space to just go to a shelter somewhere and take every last animal home with me. :hi:

[ernstbass]

17. I know what you mean

I adopted my bluetick hound 2 years ago and I still have vivid menories of the other dogs in there begging to be loved and cared for.

[Merope215]

19. Yes, it's very sad

I'm sure people who love purebreds will be on me about this, but I really hate breeding while there are so many sad and unwanted dogs and cats still out there waiting for a home. It gets me every time.

[HamdenRice]

11. Whatever he is, he's a cutie nt

[Digit]

14. Practice saying this....it is a Canardly.....

Canardly tell what kind of dog he is, and then laugh.

Years ago someone pulled this prank on me and I laughed my fanny off.

[Merope215]

15. Haha...that's very funny

I'm laughing my fanny off even as I type. Thanks for sharing!

[DemExpat]

18. My guess...... some kind of collie/boxer mix.

The brindle coat is often seen in Boxers, too....

He looks lovely!

DemEx

[Merope215]

20. Thanks

I definitely think he's got both of those in him somewhere. I prefer to think boxer than pit bull...I know they've got a largely undeserved reputation, but still... :hi:

[MidwestMomma]

21. I think he's a beagle/boxer mix

Boxer for the size and brindle coat. Beagle for the ears, the white and solid markings and the hound dog eyes.

I have a beagle and the face reminds me of her. And she has white lega and a white belly and a white tipped tail.

Does he have an unnatural love of food of any kind? Cause that would really make me suspect beagle. ;)

[auburngrad82]

22. I second this opinion

Definitely has a beagle face and teh brindle coloring is very common with boxers.

[ernstbass]

23. Definately some beagle in there

[Merope215]

24. You know what's funny? We've only fed him

dog food.

Our former dog used to get people food all the time - she especially loved jelly beans, vegetables, and pasta. This guy only eats dog food - he's big enough to stick his head on our dinner table, so we didn't want to give him a taste of what he'd be missing.

On the other hand, he loves things wrapped in plastic, and one day he took down a one-pound bag of rippled Lay's from the counter and ate the whole thing while my parents were at work. My mother told me that when she got back at 3, all his water was gone and he was panting like mad crazy...guess all the salt didn't agree with him too much. :P One time he also ate the wild bird seed my dad keeps for the backyard. So it's a definite possibility!

I think beagles are the cutest dogs ever! Do you have a pic you can share? :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

25. What a pretty dog! That face is priceless! And the markings are lovely!

Well, I'm hardly an expert, but I was thinking border collie, as well, since Homer reminds me a lot of a dog I once knew who I was told was a border collie mix. The markings are also very similar, except this dog was just black and white. And she also had the white tip to her tail.

I was also thinking beagle. The face and eyes and ears have that innocent beagle sweetness. If you get him groomed, you might ask the groomer. My groomer pinned down the other breed that comprised my friend's lab mix, and that dog is 12-years old!

Whatever he is, he sure looks like a sweetheart! Congratulations to both of you!
:yourock:

[Merope215]

26. Thank you!

He's kind of a nut, but he makes life much more interesting. I'm glad we were able to give him a home.

And thank you for the compliments! :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

27. He deserves them! My friend also has a "Homer," so he's in good company

Her Homer is not as dashing. He's a basset hound! And, to add insult to injury, for Halloween she dressed him up as a bumblebee! I kid you not! And sent everybody pictures!:-(

My dogs are both rescue, as well.:-)

Meneken, believe it or not, is a purebred Brussels Griffon.


But my Sara is another conundrum. She's listed as a terrier mix, but the vet thinks that there must be some basset in there, since she's lacking in stature. And I tend to agree, since I've heard her bark. She sounds like a much bigger dog, LOL!

[Merope215]

28. Aww! Check out those cuties!

I love the bandanna! And your Sara has an awfully sweet face.

I can't believe your friend dressed a basset as a bumblebee. I think I would have peed my pants if I'd seen that on Halloween. How undignified! :P

Thanks for sharing your pictures! Those are two cute pups! :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

29. Thanks, I think they're pretty special.

And both of my guys also went through some pretty rough times. The little guy's elderly owner died, so he became homeless, and was separated from his biological sister, after nine years. They were placed separately. Someone finally adopted his sister, but only wanted one. And she was the leader. He finally found a home, after being threatened with euthanasia, but that didn't work out. So the guy who had adopted him was threatening to just have him put down, when my friend in animal rescue heard about him. I had called about an eight-year-old male cocker, since I had two, but my 18-year-old had died. I thought that my Sheena was lonely. That's how I ended up with Meneken.:-)

He bonded immediately with Sheena. He had found another "sister." He looked to her for everything. But six months later, she got sick, and despite trying everything, I also lost her. He was devastated. But he is not great with most other dogs. Sheena was irreplaceable.;(

on edit: Meneken and Sheena together:


About a year later, my friend e-mailed me. She knew another friend in rescue who was trying to place a 12-year-old female cocker. By the time I called, the woman fostering the cocker had decided to keep her. But she was also trying to place "a Cairn Terrier." Well, my previous dog had been a Cairn Terrier, and I knew that Sara was not a Cairn!:eyes:

Sara had been found as a stray in Ohio, and was taken to a place where they still "gas" them. She had been scheduled for this to happen in the morning, but a kind of "underground railroad" of people transport dogs to rescue groups in New York and Vermont, which have tougher animal protection laws. Because she was such a nice dog, the people at this terrible place begged them to find room for one more. And that's how Sara found me.:-)

Meneken totally went off on her when they were first introduced, but she just walked away. That's the miracle and how I knew that she was the right dog. That was over a year ago, and they're doing fine. It's not the same as with Sheena, but he does look to Sara for leadership, and she looks out for him.:-)

So that's the story of my guys. And the reason that I sympathize with Homer and admire what you've done for him. All they need is a second chance.:-)

And, yes, I couldn't believe when my friend sent me those humiliating photos of her poor Homer. But she does love that dog. Next year, she's planning to dress up her horse for Halloween and take a picture to use for her Christmas card, since I sent her one of Meneken and gave her the idea. She really is very nice.:crazy:

Anyway, welcome to DU, Merope215! There are a lot of animal lovers on this board and I'm so pleased to meet another special one.:hi:

[Merope215]

30. What a fascinating story

Your buddies are so lucky to have found you! I'd heard about the "underground railroad" out of Ohio, but I didn't know it actually existed. From things I've come across on the internets (!), Ohio seems to be a pretty bad place to have four feet or feathers.

We used to do mildly humiliating things to my first dog (one time we got her to stick her head through a holiday wreath and used it as a Christmas card) but she didn't seem to mind too much. :crazy: Homer doesn't really go for that sort of thing and also insists on getting on the couch, but whatever makes the poor guy happy; I'm sure he's been through a lot, although we don't know anything about him.

Thank you for the welcome!

[Rhiannon12866]

31. Thanks. Sorry to go on! I tend to do that about my guys.

They all have such sad stories. I often wondered if Meneken and Sheena didn't form a bond, since she also became homeless when her elderly owner died. I just happened to find her when I stopped at the only local animal hospital which will still euthanize a healthy animal, looking for my other dog's prescription food, because my regular vet was away. The estate was paying to board her for a month, and she had a week left. And they don't advertise.:-(

When they found out that I had a cocker, they asked me if I wanted another one. I said I wasn't looking for a dog, since I had lost my little Samantha the month before. She had very bad seizures. But they talked me into meeting Sheena, and I just couldn't leave her. She was so excited, no doubt thinking that she was finally going home. I asked for her health records, and it turned out that she also had a history of seizures. What were the odds?:shrug:

I am the lucky one to have found my guys. Both were supposed to be cockers, but are anything but! And the "underground railroad" story is true. They saved Sara, but I also know absolutely nothing about her, unlike the others. I keep thinking that someone must really be missing her, she's such a sweet dog, but she did have a lot of health problems, so may have been neglected. And I'm sure that you're right about Ohio. The woman seeking to place her said that the "shelter" where she was is especially bad. And if I hear such sad stories here in NY, where even our Freeper governor and congressman are big supporters of animal protection legislation, I shudder to imagine the conditions in other states where animals have fewer rights.;(

I take part in a lot of "actions," to further animal protection legislation, as do others on this board, and many are posted on DU.:-)

I don't think pets mind the silly or cute pictures, unless they get scared. Mine was of Meneken sitting next to a Furby, LOL! When I adopted him, my friend said she thought he looked like an Ewok. He is quite unusual. I said I thought he looked more like a Furby, so we took his picture. He didn't mind and the pictures are priceless!:D

My guys sleep on both the couch and my bed. Meneken has slept on my pillow since day one. Apparently, that's what he was used to, poor little guy. I figure that they deserve whatever comfort they want, after all they've been through.:shrug:

Sorry to on, yet again! Yikes! But I think you're going to find many kindred spirits here on DU! Homer is already quite popular!:hi:

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

35. Canine Underground Railroad...

sure does exist! I'm a stationmaster on it! There are also lots of yahoogroups that dog rescue transporters use to network with one another.

There was an article on slate.com last week about rescue:


http://www.slate.com/id/2113564/

Overall, it was good although it does seem to condone taking a dog away from an owner, which ethical rescuers do not condone

[Merope215]

36. Hmm...I can't get into the article

but I'll try again soon. Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check it out.

And that's awfully cool that you're a stationmaster! (Is the acronym "cur" intentional?) I'd love to open a sanctuary some day, but that would be way far in the future, since I still have to get through school and all that fun stuff. What a lovely thing to do - I bet you have some great stories. :toast:

[Rhiannon12866]

37. Thank you so much for this!

Actually, I was calling what these marvelous people do an "underground railroad" as a descriptive term. I couldn't remember if the rescue worker who placed Sara with me used the actual words. But that's what it is and I had no doubt that it really did exist. My dog, Sara, is living proof that it does. If my Sara had been left at that terrible place in Ohio, she would have died in October 2003. She made it safely to NY, as did a male lab, who was placed with her in the same rescue group. She was a last-minute addition to her rescue run, making it 20 dogs who were saved that day. I am very grateful to whoever participates in this wonderful mission, and to you. Thanks so much for your amazing work and the article. I'm going to pass it on.
:grouphug:

[Rhiannon12866]

38. Well, I was now able to read it. I didn't like it.

This article made it sound as if borderline nut cases are out stalking dogs in marginal homes, just waiting for a chance to snatch them and give them new identities. That premise totally misrepresents what this movement is all about. Rescuers don't have to search for dogs to rescue. They don't have to. The system is already overburdened with unwanted animals for too few good homes, and no responsible rescuer will place an animal in any but the right home. I have friends in rescue and have witnessed the heartbreak that they go through on a regular basis.;(

As for my Sara, she was transported from Ohio to NY; I have the paperwork. But I also know exactly what transpired, though these people operate on a shoestring, depending largely on donated goods and services. Sara was not kidnapped. She was found wandering the streets of a town in Ohio. The paperwork, one sad sheet of paper, tells where she was found and the name of the woman who picked her up and dropped her off at the place where she would be scheduled to be gassed, probably thinking she was doing a good deed.:-(

It was just Sara's luck that she joined this dog run. She was a last-minute addition because the workers at this place were so impressed with her friendliness and must have thought that she deserved a chance. And she is also lucky that there are people who work senior dog rescue. At eight, she could easily been passed over in favor of a younger dog who might have been easier to place.:shrug:

I have often wondered where she originally came from and if someone was missing her. But she was definitely found wandering, and probably had been for some time. When she reached me, she had kennel cough, skin and ear infections, a growth in her mouth and one on her back (and that's just what I remember, off-hand), indicating that she had probably been neglected when she did have a home. But she must have, at some time, because she's very social and also spayed. The first thing I did was take her to the vet, and it was obvious that it had been a long time since she'd seen one.:-(

My point is that this article misrepresents what the wonderful people who do this kind of work are actually about. None of them has to look for a dog to rescue. There are already far too many for a limited number of slots. My Sara made it into the very last one, just under the wire.;(

on edit: added the fact that she was already spayed

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

39. Slate article

Many rescuers who not thrilled with the beginning of the article. But he does portray the rest of what we do pretty well

There are runs every week from OH and from the south bringing homeless dogs who were about to be gassed to the northeast. The pet overpopulation problem in this country is huge. Its hard to get local govts to spend on this problem since budgets are so tight. Thanks W ! More Compassion InAction!

[Ellen Forradalom]

32. He's a beauty

You could always make something up. He's a Beerhound. Or a Belgian Waffle Dog.

[calico1]

33. I don't have any advice but I just wanted to

say he is adorable and I think its great you saved him and gave him a chance! What a sweet face!

[Merope215]

34. Thank you both!

Belgian waffle dog's a good one, I'll have to keep that in mind... :hi:

[Dervill Crow]

40. What a sweetie!

His markings are very similar to my brindle pit bull (American Staffie), though that's definitely not a bully dog face. He's beautiful.