What kind of dog is my puppy?

laurae

New Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
7
Likes
0
Points
0
#21
Thanks for the thoughts, everyone! It's really interesting to hear what people think! I agree that whatever he is, he's adorable. :) His name is Tigh ("Ty"). I realized that I forgot to mention his name before!

I took a picture tonight that shows the spots he's developing. These weren't here a month ago! Which I guess you can see from the older pictures of him. Do they look like ticking? That makes a lot of sense... I knew that dalmations developed spots as puppies, but I didn't know about ticking in other breeds.



Romy asked about his personality... he's extremely friendly. He thinks that every person or dog he sees is his new best friend. He also thinks that our cats are his best friends, but they disagree! He's also very smart, smarter than any other dog I've known. It's actually our biggest problem with him, because he does things like figuring out how to open doors so that he can get to places where he's not supposed to go. I'm taking him to obedience class, and one day another dog was barking, and the trainer told it to be quiet, then gave it a treat when it stopped barking. Tigh was watching all of that, and immediately started barking so that he could get a treat too! He hadn't barked once before that. He can also be stubborn... if I have a treat with me, he'll obey any command he knows, immediately. But if he knows that I don't have a treat, he often just ignores me.

Let's see... he also chews on everything in sight and has a lot of energy, but those might just be because he's still a puppy. He loves digging holes. He digs a hole in our yard every time I have my back turned. He also likes to pile things up. For example, he'll go in the closet, pull all of my clothes off of the shelves that he can reach, and put them in a big pile in the bedroom. He isn't really into fetching games... he likes to chase after toys if I throw them, but then he just shakes them around and throws them into the air again himself.

I don't really know what kinds of behaviors are typical of different breeds, so I don't know if any of that is informative or not! Tigh is the first dog I've ever had, and it's been a real learning experience! I'm actually thinking about taking him to an agility class at some point. I think it would be fun for me and for him. Does anyone have any advice about that sort of thing?

Again, thanks for all of the comments! :)
 

Kayota

New Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
962
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Southern Illinois
#22
Gosh, he's such a cutie! I love how one eye is bigger than the other, it makes him look really silly. I want to give him a big hug <3

As far as breed... Dalmatians CAN come in lemon spotted. So I wouldn't be surprised if he were Dalmatian x White Shepherd.
 

SmexyPibble

Blow. Me. Away.
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
4,216
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
29
Location
Washington State
#24
Aww, what an absolute cutie pie.

He reminds me of my dog back in Illinois, I grabbed her from the pound a day before she was euthanized, and then my Grandma wanted to take her when I went back to Washington. We weren't sure about her breed either, but we guessed she was a German Shepherd x Basset Hound. She has a lot of the face features of our boy, with a little bit of a shorter body.

I see German Shepherd in your pup. Possibly some Husky. He is sure a cutie pie, whatever breed he is.
 

milos_mommy

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
15,349
Likes
0
Points
36
#26
I second Aussie X husky. I don't think he's got white shepherd in there, but the other guesses are good.
 

naturesgift

Mo Wildlife Rehabber
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
808
Likes
0
Points
0
Age
35
Location
Mo
#27
:p What a cutie! I just love the patch over his one eye...like he he put eye liner around one eye but forgot the other:lol-sign:

Mandie
 

laurae

New Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
7
Likes
0
Points
0
#29
One really interesting thing is that everyone who sees Tigh in person thinks he is part lab. But no one here has thought that he was a lab! I wonder why that is? Maybe his personality is very lab-like. The guesses I hear from people who see him in person are usually lab/shepherd or lab/JRT.
 

Boemy

New Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
2,481
Likes
0
Points
0
#31
Wow, that is one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen. Gorgeous white coat and I love the ears. :p

The personality sounds border-collie-ish. Maybe also some german shepherd and husky? Huskies love to dig . . .
 

laurae

New Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
7
Likes
0
Points
0
#33
Hi everyone!

It's been about a year since I first posted here. I still don't know what kind of mix my dog is, but he's still very cute! He's full-grown now at 50 pounds and he's much more mellow now than he was a year ago! Last year I was especially curious about his spots, which started showing up last January when he was about six months old. He got more and more spots during the spring and they got darker and darker. Last April he looked like this:


But then during the summer, his spots started fading again. And by September he was pure white again, except for his ears and face! Here he is in December... all white!





Over the last month or so, the spots are very faintly starting to show up again. Anyway, would these spots still be considered ticking even though they come and go? Are there any dog breeds that have seasonal spots? Maybe this will help narrow down what sort of dog he might be. :)

 
Last edited:

sammgirl

ACoops favorite
Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
845
Likes
0
Points
0
#34
I would say you've probably got a pointer/spitz mix. :) He may have some samoyed in him- just due to that dense undercoat he has, plus that tail.

I think the reason you see his spots disapear is that his body is gearing up for a cold season, so his undercoat is becoming thicker and more profuse.

In the summer/spring he's probably blowing coat (when all of that undercoat comes out) and then you can see the spots due to the thinner coat.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top