As to be expected, any guesses :) I am sure this gets old!

    • Bronze

    As to be expected, any guesses :) I am sure this gets old!

     We adopted Power in late October from the pound. He came in at right under 5lbs and was guessed at 2-3 months old. He had Kennel Cough and a bunch of different types of worms and by December thankfully was finally feeling better and started gaining weight. In the last 2 months he has put on 25lbs and is our little love bug. He seriously to us looks like a miniature German Shepherd since he only weighs in at 30lbs. I was curious as to what he could be mixed with. Hes very soft, esp. for having a love dirty. He's the most intelligent dog to us, even though he was sick he managed to learn 5 "tricks" by January, we are just amazed at his ability to learn. He knows relax(sit), leave it, get it, kennel, jump and the one I taught him shake. He learns tricks very quickly, I have NO experience in dog stuff, not even potty training and I taught him to shake and it took maybe 5 times before he had it down. I feel like we really lucked out because hes so easy to train. Hes got a good disposition, nosey and does a check of the yard every morning, hes run down his little area he runs to check the whole back yard. When he hears something he goes on alert and that curl tell goes straight and down and his little goofy ears perk up. We feel pretty lucky we have him regardless of what he is mixed with. We are tempted to spend some tax money an just blow the 80-90$ to get his DNA done. The dog in the pictures with him is our newest puppy we got on 2/16/10 shes a German Shepherd mix as well. Shes 2 months old and 20lbs. I love the guessing game, I won't lie. It opens me up to so many breeds I never have heard of or paid attention to! So any guess would be appreciated!!!

    Please ignore the backyard, we are getting it re-done. No they aren't eating the grass in the picture either just sniffing I hope this works!

    Power

    Power
    Power
    Power
    • Gold Top Dog

     looks like some kind of spitz (chow or sheba inu perhaps) the red coat, shape of the eyes, face, and his tail carriage.

    many spitz breeds are scary smart. they are more primitive than others popular breeds and often have to rely on their own wits to solve problems.(they were also used as hunting or guard dogs) many times they will escape their yards and kennels. and you'll run the gamut before you'll figure out a way to stop them if they want to get out bad enough. they are often independent, somewhat aloof with strangers... but sounds like he is a well balanced and happy dog! so congrats and good luck!

    he could be mixed anything though... but i DEFINITELY see some kind of spitz in him :)

     

    • Bronze

     Never even heard of a spitz till now, this is why I love seeing the guesses! I could see some spitz but then I could see a million other things because I am horrible and telling dogs, except for the very obvious ones like our black puppy. Thanks! Hes so hard to tell which is why we debate blowing a little money just to humor ourselves, hes probably a Heinz 57 but it works for us!

    • Gold Top Dog

     Spitz is just the group, like hound or herding, etc. its made up of several breeds

    but here are the two i see the most in yours. 

    Shiba

     

    and old school Chow Chow

     

    the chows we have today - in the show ring anyway - would probably give your dog a more extreme and heavier build... so IF he has chow then its probably a mix or some unregistered yard chow. 

    also there is the Finnish Spitz..

     

     

    ETA i should rephrase that about the spitz *group* since there isnt one(but there should be!!).... they are in the nonsporting group... still..... 

    • Gold Top Dog

    No guesses here but I wanted to mention two things.  The dogs you most commonly see in your local shelters are usually the breeds involved in mixed breed dogs.  There can be more than two breeds involved because two mixed breed dogs could have had puppies......happens all the time.  It's not that common to see rare breeds in a mix.  My dog Rex is a mix and a groomer told me he looked like a pharoah hound mix.  huh?  Not a common breed around here and highly doubtful he is anything but a mix of several common breeds such as lab and shepherd and who knows what else. lol

     About the dna testing.  Save your money because based on what I have read here and elsewhere the results aren't going to help you much.  People have sent in dna from purebred dogs and gotten back results that indicate several breeds.  Another member here had a good point about how that might happen but I can't remember where that post was. 

    He's cute as can be regardless of his parentage!

    • Gold Top Dog

    I concur on the Oriental Spitz type in the dog...BUT there is also the basic pariah type which was also mentioned...mixes of mixes almost always revert to a dingo type appearance. See below:

    I would guess the common 3, Chow, GSD, and Lab...at the very least.

    • Gold Top Dog

     i agree with RW, after a while the pariah dog will turn into what some call a natural dog.

    i also agree that the breeds you most often see in the shelters are usually going to be the most common contributors to mixed breeds. in our area we get a lot of german shepherds, chows, labs, bulldogs, and hounds , and all varieties of those in between... and when any two.. or three.. of those meet up for a night of fun.... good luck guessing who is mixed with what!!

    . once in a while a rare breed turns up.. either in the shelter or owned by the locals.. someone had a bearded collie stolen last year.. and i've seen basenjis in the lost and found. and someone i met at our local park has a Shiba Inu and two malamutes (one is normal sized mal and the other a "Giant".. and boy is he!)

    • Bronze

     

    Beagles picture posted looks a lot like Power!

     

    The most common breeds out here is number 1. pit. Pit is I'd say like 75% of the pound. You know when you adopted a dog medium to large you have a chance of a pit mix. We actually think Media might be a german and pit mix. The next common is a german, followed by husky, then lab. For medium to large dogs. The most common dog are chihuahua's. The state pet is either a pit or chihuahua. Hes not a chihuahua lol. The only thing that throws me off with the spitz mixes is they all have pointed ears as do germans and Power has half up half down ears but that could be explained away with mixing him with pit or lab or something similar.

    • Gold Top Dog

     if he's mixed with pit and chow then the ears will go either way.

    but here is a chow x pit lol 

     

    • Gold Top Dog

     Could have a little Shiba Inu (hope I spelled it correctly), mixed in.

    • Gold Top Dog

    In that second pic, i'm thinking I see some german shepherd.... but most likely he's a mix of mixes....

    He sure is a cutie!

    • Bronze

     Hes got the jowls of life, his neck is so loose. The other odd thing he does is he points like a pointer. Lifts a leg and but his tail goes straight down. Every time he hears anything or gets suspicious he points.