Guesses on Jack?

 Wait! You got a puppy! WHEN! He's adorable!

You mean what is he besides too freakin' cute?  I'm thinking hound, like you and Lab. 

RidgebackGermansShep

...He is a very energetic boy, who like to have his mouth on everything. He is also extremely affectionate, and likes to lay all over you and sleep in your lap...

Sure sounds like Lab to me!  LOL  Yeah, I know all puppies have an oral thing going, but Labs especially seem to have to always have something in their mouths.  His weight is on the mark, too.

oh no! He's my roomates...she got him last tuesday from an overcrowded shelter. There were 6 puppies in his cage!!

 Wow! That is crowded! Lucky boy!

I say Lab mix.. Maybe Ridgeback.or Hound as well. But I'm not sure. From the description you gave, he sure sounds like a Labby! Lol.

oranges81

 ...From the description you gave, he sure sounds like a Labby! Lol.

Doesn't he, tho? 

Welcome to the PACK   Jack !!   seriously I have been in my breed for almost 30 years and he is RRR, Ridgeless Rhodesian Ridgeback

Between your description and photos I would bet the house on it.    RRRs were once culled since they lacked the hallmark trait. My very first was an RRR we named our Kneel for him, if we can EVER come up with a pup that has his heart, brains and loyalty then we did thje breed so very proud!! We produce champions and performance dogs and still in each we look for the twinkle that belongs to the RRR. I have never liked the nickname slickback.  They are simply RRR.  I bred my first litter many years ago telling my husband we will keep the RRR forever. IT will go no where.... sadly we have yet to produce one of our own. when we do and the odds are there It will stay. A recent study in Sweden showed the RRR have such a reduced rate of DS that in all probability as a breed we were engineering the death of the breed by eliminating the gorgeous RRR who have almost a zero occurrence of Dermoids.  The Top Kennels do not charge less for a RRR,  they simply make it harder for a person to buy one. The heart, soul and brains are the same.... they simply lack the goofy doo.

If you ever have a question on RRs holler, check out my profile and here is my new web site in progress   http://www.freewebs.com/bwanakennel/

Soon as I get it right I will buy my domaine name.... The world of Ridgbeback is exclusive when done right.... when you luck into to it go buy a lottery ticket!! This is a breed backed up like no other....

BIg hugs and again WELCOME

Bonita of Bwana

Hound pup's are jst as mouthy as Lab's! My PaPa bred working beagle/walker's for hunting - mouthy pups!

I'd deff. go with Lab/Red Bone....or some other hound.

He does look like a RR to me too, but you said they're not common in your area, so chances are slim that someone had a litter of pure or half RR pups and dumped them. Stranger things have happened thou!

Sadly BYBs often dump all of the RRRs at the nearest shelter. I have heard of litters with as many as 7 ridgeless in them. IT takes careful genetic studying to avoid that type of numbers in a litter.  One of the Top dogs has an arrangement with his handler that while the boy is being specialed that he could breed the dog to anything he felt was a decent example... that was the litter of 9 with 7 rrr. They did not even register the 7 , only the 2 with adequate ridges...but they assured the owner " they found great homes"  This owner was nearly voted out of the club .

Bonita of Bwana

Thanks Bonita. He does remind me a lot of Wyatt when he was little. They do look a lot alike in these pics...

It just jumps out at me. Last night watching the Holiday episode of Psyche there was a person walking a brown dog through the Santa's Village in Solvang Ca and yep the whole family yelled Ridgeback!!

Here are a few ( if I do it right this time) snaps of  our youngest RR pup...

Zion at 4 months at the Ridgeback Rodeo in Conneautsville Pa

Wyatt is such a Gorgeous Boy!!  I love his head and he has a front that could go all day on a hunt.  Zion is a big old goof ball who hoepfully will be our next stud muffin for the Raptors. He has a couple of things that the girls need and they have some qualities that will compliment him tremendously. Of course they have to finish and test out correctly or it is back to square one.

Bonita of Bwana

 he is so cute!  Certainly could have some ridgie in him or coonhound or visla.  I can't see that at 12 weeks he'd be only 13lbs if he was all ridgie though.  Seems really small to me, unless some RR's are much smaller than Wyatt.

Here are some snaps of pups at different ages, If I do this right ( don't hold your breath) I will be able to show how differently they can be sized at the same age , same litter same parents etc. When I was showing my in standard male who was 27" at the shoulder we showed against a top special who is in a lot of Southern Pedigrees who was barely 25" ( it was often said he wasn't even that tall) and later we showed against his son another special who was never allowed to be measured since he dwarfed my 27" male He had to have pushed 30". 

six weeks old now playing in play pen in yard

seven weeks old see the size differences really beginning to show?

eight week old boys Big Boy, Shaka and Little Boy, Leo

The girls Dreamer and the runtling Sox,  at 9 weeks ( I am so embarrassed about the newspaper, the kids could not find the new rolls of end paper , no dyes or inks and used this until I got home from some appointments. The Photo was cute but that paper YECK!

Twelve weeks old and going for their health certificate appointments, weights ranged from a petite 10 pounds to 16 pounds. 

This is not unusual weights for RRs, it is prefered to keep puppies lean rather than butterball fatties. By 4 months the average weights are 15 to 22 lbs and they gain roughly 5-6 pounds a month until they hit their gbig growth spurts. At that point all bets are off.  We delivered Kota of my line and 8.75 yrs 78 pounds 25 " with Nemo from a different but  simular line at 8 months and 67 pounds  and 27" ...

This is Kota at 8 years with 10 month old Zion weights were very close to the same about 85 lbs but the bone is very different. Zion is my outcross boy.

That was a ton of snaps I hope I did not bore you, but it illustrates how the different type of rrs even in the same litters can really vary in size.  I know of two RRXs , one with an acceptable ridge who was Beagle X RR and another was Chihuahua X RR with a perfect ridge but a million health problems. If Jack has something else in him it has not changed the lovely head and sweet face. Only made it even more special!

Bonita of Bwana

OMG Bonita! I guess it's Zion (the dark nose) is absolutely stunning! Those eyes are to die for!! He's one of the most beautiful RRs i've ever seen!! I think you should start your own RR thread and post a new pic every day ;)

This pic is of Wyatt when he was about a year...he was quite a thin boy, and i have no clue what happened but he got way thick!

Gads I can't get the posting photos thing straight to save my life!!! Sheesh, I am working with DSL tonight and thought the connection had broken, instead it sent then sent it again Sorry guys I promise I AM working of figuring it out!!

Cyber Troglodyte!

Bonita of Bwana