wuffles Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I don't know nor care what breeds are in my big, black mutt. HOWEVER... every time we see a new person on the street we get asked what breed he is. It sure would be nice to know, just so that I have an answer to the question :DI have my own ideas about what breeds he has in him but it is interesting to hear other people's musings. I don't believe I've ever asked for people's opinions about his lineage on this forum and this thread is a good example why ;) You do have an answer for their question. You don't know or care. Why not just be satisfied with telling people the truth? Um, I am quite satisfied. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to have answers or even interesting to speculate Not everything is so cut and dry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Looks a bit like my first dog from years ago. She was a huski x boxer. Has the same face, tail, markings and colouring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow_wolf Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I would have guessed basenji x akita. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsrawesome Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Pretty sure that the person who posted this was just curious at what people thought was in the dog. I dont think the person would want specifics just a bit of curiosity never hurt anyone. Humans are known to be curious so i personally dont see the big deal about this post but hey each to their own :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max#1 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I think its interesting - I struggle to believe that all because your dog ISN'T purebred means you can have no idea what breeds are in it. And not just on looks - but on behavioural characteristics too - which, wouldn't this be really important for rehoming a rescue dog? Wouldn't it make sense to have a go at matching owner and dog? Even just a rough shot? Just a guess? Is it so dangerous? And its not denigrating pure bred dogs when a lot of those characteristics are positive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) I think its interesting - I struggle to believe that all because your dog ISN'T purebred means you can have no idea what breeds are in it. And not just on looks - but on behavioural characteristics too - which, wouldn't this be really important for rehoming a rescue dog? Wouldn't it make sense to have a go at matching owner and dog? Even just a rough shot? Just a guess? Is it so dangerous?And its not denigrating pure bred dogs when a lot of those characteristics are positive! Mostly these breed mix guesses are based on apprearance alone. A photo or photos, often at a young age, and nothing at all about behaviour. Try and guess from a close knowledge of the dog, it's behaviour as well as appearance, and informed by a real knowledge of dog breeds more widely and the canine demographics (if there is such a term) of where it is from, and you might well have a good chance of getting it right - if there are only a couple of breeds in the dog. Some first crosses are pretty easy to pick and fair enough - but sometimes the same cross will look completely different, that's genetics for you. By the time the dog has either a multitude of breeds in it or is in fact a true 'heinz variety' from largely 'heinz variety' stock - well it isn't even close to being a breed. So why not look directly at the behaviours. Rather than guess it's mix and which of the different characteristics of that mix will be most influential, as that will differ between identical mixes anyway. Genetics again. I am assuming some posters' use of the word 'dangerous' comes, at least in part, from my use of 'not without it's risks'. Of course it isn't always 'dangerous', but it is still unfair to the pure breeds whose reputations get linked to the dog. And sometimes to the dog itself. Might the named breed get the credit for a characteristic that people like in that dog, sure. But if that's an inaccurate credit it's still not fair on the pure breed. Because it is a misrepresetantion, it's not authentic. And if it's a problem behaviour, even worse. And when the guesses are 'uncommon breed x' crossed with 'uncommon breed y', it's just hogwash, sorry. Those of us who love our pure breeds tend to be a bit protective of their reputations, attaching their 'brand' to a dog that is probably not anything to do with them is not OK. Sometimes the guesses are based on common breeds, known to be in the area, a few genetically dominate characteristics, and sometimes more a type than a breed. That I can deal with. On the other hand, a guess like Basenji cross Akita based on a single photo when neither is common, and would be rarely crossed, and the guessers don't appear to have close experience of the breeds, and the dog doesn't have major features of either? Give me a break. Could it be? Not based on that photo, but nothing is impossible. Is it likely - of course not. Does it matter? Yes if you happen to value what makes a Basenji a Basenji and an Akita an Akita. Edited February 11, 2011 by Diva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilaryo Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I cannot understand this in any way. The people already have the dog, so the "breeding" is umimportant. I don't understand why others are "guessing" the breed. I considered it pointless, not dangerous, but having read some of the information here, I agree that it is potentially dangerous, and may lead to false expectations. No mongrel dog can be expected to have any genetic behaviours, although he may well have. They are guessing the breed because, as Koala says, they are having a bit of harmless fun. Nothing sinister or dangerous in that. No one who has responded on this thread has speculated about breed characteristics inherent in this dog. And the OP said her relatives would be ensuring the dog received appropriate training. I think people who don't take themselves too seriously can agree that this little pooch is a Cattle X Corgi X Akita X Kelpie X Basenji X Shibu X BorderCollie, although Akita might be stretching it! Second that!!! I thought Basenji straight away - obviously combined with other breeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I think its interesting - I struggle to believe that all because your dog ISN'T purebred means you can have no idea what breeds are in it. And not just on looks - but on behavioural characteristics too - which, wouldn't this be really important for rehoming a rescue dog? Wouldn't it make sense to have a go at matching owner and dog? Even just a rough shot? Just a guess? Is it so dangerous?And its not denigrating pure bred dogs when a lot of those characteristics are positive! In this case the breed wasn't important, and it was good that the rescue group was totally honest about what they knew. It is important to match dogs with owners in my opinion, however guessing the lineage is not going to really help with this. The way to do it is to assess the dog on its observed behaviour, and not ascribe breed characteristics to that dog. I am unaware of any dog behaviour that is limited to one breed anyway. There are thousands of behaviours and purebred breeding just concentrates combinations of traits within lines of dogs. Guessing won't help people, and could be very harmful if the guess is wrong, as Diva explained. Sometimes it is possible to tell what breed or breeds may be in a cross breed dog, as was obvious with Slinky the dog that was discussed here recently. But Slinky was a dog that if not purebred, was bred back to type, and not randomly cross bred. And we don't know all of the breeds that went into Slinky either. When you randomly cross breeds (rather than breed back to a type), you get a medium, average looking dog. Any of the rarer genes that give breeds their special unique characteristics, are prevented from being expressed (you can't see them), unless they are bred to another dog with those same genes. So it is very usual for a cross breed dog to have a common colour (black, brindle, fawn, white in common patterns) they are generally dominant colours. And these colours are in many breeds. And if a dog of that colour is crossed with a dog of a breed unique colour (if there was such a thing), the dominant colour or pattern would probably be the only one you see. The same applies to all of the other characteristics, the unique ones are not generally expressed unless both parents have them. The dog in the photo has no unique characteristics that I can see. A dog of unknown random breeding is a dog of no breed. When you breed two dogs together, up to half of the genetic material passed on is totally hidden, depending on what the particular gene is. A purebreed dog is a dog where most of the genes are certain, as people have spent hundreds of years testing their stock, culling out the undesirable ones and keeping detailed records. A cross breed dog, even a first cross, will have all of this work undone. It can be a bit like a primitive dog or a camp dog. A random mix of whatever dog genes are around. It is denigrating to purebreed dogs to take their names to use on cross bred dogs. Breeds are not something that just exist on their own, they are only as a result of many years of fairly ruthless selection. So we get to look at a photo of a very young pup standing in a way that doesn't show off its conformation well, that just looks like an average dog. It doesn't resemble any breed. I can accept a guess of cattle dog or staffy being somewhere in that dog's lineage might be reasonable. They are very common breeds. But it's still only a guess, and is just as likely to be wrong. It's the guesses of rare breeds that seem so ridiculous. Because here on a purebreed forum, I would expect people to at least have a basic knowledge of what makes all purebreed dogs different from all cross breed dogs. To appreciate why cross breeding is so deconstructive. Or are people happy to just think that the only difference is a label, (a fashion label?) and not care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Pretty sure that the person who posted this was just curious at what people thought was in the dog. I dont think the person would want specifics just a bit of curiosity never hurt anyone. Humans are known to be curious so i personally dont see the big deal about this post but hey each to their own Nothing wrong with the question. It is some of the answers people are giving that prompted my responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Apologies if I'm repeating, I skipped to the end of the thread... But what is easily overlooked in trying to name crossbreeds is the dominant factors, like Diva pointed out. Many of the features of a dog like this are dominant general features in Canis Familiaris. A spitz/primitive look is dominant and will appear from unlikely breeds in very few generations - from memory of a study done long ago, the dropped ears of a basset were all but gone and pricked in less than four generations of crossing. And really scouring the memory banks for detail... Can't find the old book sorry! But these dominant features will appear from dogs of breeding and background that they are not expected from. If you look at places like Bali (or even outback Oz) where the resident dogs have been left to their own devices breeding-wise for multiple generations, these characteristics become more and more prominent. I would bet my right ear this cute pup doesn't have any Basenji or Akita behind it, it's more likely to be beagle or cattle dog! But still very, very cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpiegal Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow - a whole lot went on in here whilst I was gone!! I'm so sorry for not responding earlier, we had a death in the family so I haven't been around much. I have managed to get another pic of the lil cutie in discussion, so we'll see if this more front on pic can give us any more to go on. Ned: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julzjc Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow - a whole lot went on in here whilst I was gone!!I'm so sorry for not responding earlier, we had a death in the family so I haven't been around much. I have managed to get another pic of the lil cutie in discussion, so we'll see if this more front on pic can give us any more to go on. Ned: Wow, how much does your pup like the big boy in Renbury pound right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsrawesome Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Sorry to hear about the loss in your family But your dog is adorable and the face just screams Australian cattle dog at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Yep. I see Cattle dog too. Lots of it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsrawesome Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Yep. I see Cattle dog too. Lots of it!! Yeah i dont know what else is in him but mostly Cattle dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HugUrPup Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Cattle dog for shnizzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 What, no more takers for Akita x Basenji x Shiba Inu now we have two photos? :rofl: I agree that cattle dog cross is a very sensible and likely guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyla Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I agree with a fair percentage of cattle dog. Based on the first pic with the white tip on the tail, I'll add some beagle to that too. (I have no idea if any other breeds carry this trait! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 cattle dogs, bcs, and some staffies and other dogs have a white tip tail. I read somewhere that it makes them easier to see in the dark/dusk. So now for a few ACD behaviours. Does this dog like chasing runners and nipping them on the ankle and when you try to hit it with a rolled up newspaper (I don't recommend actually trying to connect, but a nearby swipe will do), does it easily dodge the swing and then grab the newspaper and rip it up like a long lost favourite toy? Does it like swinging from horses tails, but they never manage to connect when they try to kick it? (I don't recommend encouraging this either). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Yep I don't see akita anymore, just ACD and maybe kelpie or something else with huge upright ears... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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