Dog Community

How to find out what breed your dog might be?

Posted : 8/31/2006 2:05:33 PM

First, let me start off by saying that I don't at all care what breed my dog is. She is, quite frankly, the greatest dog on the planet. [

] It's just this great mystery to me and knowing her breed may answer a few questions I have about her. When we adopted her the rescue had been told she was a purebred chocolate lab, but they believed her to be a lab/weimaraner mix. Then, practically every other week we run into people who were "raised with pointers" that insist she is a purebred liver colored german shorthaired pointer. How would you go about finding out something like that? I know it's silly, but I guess it would just be fun to "know". For now when people ask I say she's a lab/pointer mix or that she's a "good dog".

micksmom

Posted : 8/31/2006 2:13:09 PM

I'd start by reading the breed standards for any of the breeds mentioned. Even if she's a mix, the standards might help determine with what. Take into consideration not only her appearance but also temperment.
AKC Lab standard:
[linkhttp://www.akc.org/breeds/labrador_retriever/index.cfm]http://www.akc.org/breeds/labrador_retriever/index.cfm[/link]

AKC GSP standard:
[linkhttp://www.akc.org/breeds/german_shorthaired_pointer/index.cfm]http://www.akc.org/breeds/german_shorthaired_pointer/index.cfm[/link]

AKC Weimaraner Standard:
[linkhttp://www.akc.org/breeds/weimaraner/index.cfm]http://www.akc.org/breeds/weimaraner/index.cfm[/link]

houndlove

Posted : 8/31/2006 2:23:43 PM

Also remember to take into account behavior and temperment. Dogs are individuals, yes, but breeds do have certain tendancies.

There's a few pointers in my neighborhood and you don't even have to know much about what a pointer looks like to identify them because, well, they point. When approached by something novel (like me walking with my dogs), they freeze.

At the pound, they got Conrad's breed completely and entirely wrong. We finally figured it out through both looking at physical breed standards and noting his personality (sensitive, soft, a little passive-aggressive) and his behavior (very nose-oriented but not that interested in actually hunting anything to kill it) to determine his dominant breed (bloodhound!).

Good luck! I really think that having a good picture of the breed or breeds your dealing with (or even just the group of breeds) is definately an aid to training.

determinedX2

Posted : 8/31/2006 10:35:20 PM

I'm glad you asked this, because I've wondered the same question a lot. Could you perhaps post some pics of your dog? We could give you some guesses. Plus I'd just like to see them since I love Pointers; I have an English one myself. Well, that's what I'm assuming she is. I too don't really know, but she looks like one to me and she's pointed before.