Breed Guess?

Hi! Long time lurker, first time poster. I don't currently own a dog because I'm a student, although I'm hoping to get one when I am in the right position to. In the meantime I'm studying up (animal science major, if that explains it).

I'm posting because of my aunt's dog, Petey who is absolutely fantastic. We've always been curious about what mix of breeds he is and I know there are many very knowledgeable people on here so I thought it would be interesting to get your opinions.

Petey is three years old and was adopted from a rescue. He came from Florida. They were told that his mom was a retriever mix who was white with gold spots (yeah, I have no idea). The owner of his mother said that she thought his father was a border collie. He may well have some retriever, but he definitely does NOT retrieve.

He is great family dog who loves kids and is good with cats. He has a moderate energy level. He usually gets two half-hour walks a day but can still behave well if he misses one. He likes run circles around people when he's loose and is very protective, especially of my aunt and her five-year-old daughter.

I'm not sure how helpful that information was (oops! I wrote a novel). Now on to the pictures!





Thank you for your opinions. I really appreciate it!

I see Cattle Dog, and Border Collie. Definitally something else in there though....Golden, maybe?

I'd say Lab/BC mix would be a good call. Petey sounds like a wonderful guy. And he's quite handsome, too.

I say pointer X border collie...and a white retriever with gold spots could definitely be what someone would unknowningly call a pointer.

I'd say lab/bc as well. But if his mom was white with gold spots...hmm. She was probably some kind of mix, but like milos_mommy, could've been a pointer.

Either way, he's adorable! I love his name! We rescued a little puppy that someone had dropped at the garbage dump, and named him Petey.

Interesting. Most people seem to see the Border Collie. I can see the resemblance but I always thought that if he was half BC than he would have a higher energy level .

I'd considered Pointer before. He looks a bit like pictures of Pointers I've seen, and he fits what I've read about their temperament, but I've never actually met one so I can't really judge. Apparently his vet thinks he's part English Setter...

I should probably add that he's pretty big, about 80 pounds (although he is a little chubby right now). So there's gotta be something fairly large in the mix there.

Hmm. . . I think I see some kind of pointer, mayyyyyybe some BC (but I don't see many features that look border-ish) and I don't know about the area where he came from, but here most mixes have lab in them.

A type of setter could be with "retriever with spots," too.

This is going to sound weird, but the first thing that popped in my head was akita mix. I'm not sure exactly what about him makes me think that. Not his head, but sort of the rest of his build, and markings and tail. He has a really thick, muscular type of build and a deep broad chest. It would explain his size and protectiveness too.

No idea what he would be mixed with though. Some kind of hound/pointer/retriever? I don't really see any herding breed in his body or head.

I see Pointer or Setter mix of some sort, and can't argue the Border Collie part either ...

When in doubt, guess border collie At least here, TONS of mixes have border collie in them

I don't know, personally I think a lot of people guess BC when the dog is black and white. I agree with Romy, I don't see any herding features in that dog. I think it also depends on where you live. Here there are lots of BC mixes, but in Tucson there are mostly shepherd, lab, and bully breed mixes.

I honestly don't see any BC in this dog. I see a lot of hound features. Look closely at the coat in the first picture, it appears to have ticking.

He definitely has ticking.

It's probably also worth pointing out his semi-curly tail, which I don't think is found in any of the retriever or herding breeds people tend to guess. I hadn't considered akita, but that's an interesting possibility.

Unfortunately we don't know much about his place of birth. All I know is it was somewhere in Florida, which doesn't say a lot.

Ticking isn't uncommon in akitas either. My brother's akita is black and white with heavy ticking all over his legs.

Looking at his head again, I definitely agree with Sweet on the hound. And ticking could definitely come from a hound ancestor as well. If there's any setter it's probably less than half. Setters have pretty heavy feathering, and that would show up in a first generation cross. Not as heavy as the parent, but you'd probably be seeing it around the elbows and tail which this dog doesn't have.

I could get in on the hound idea. I was thinking of Pointer, but some hounds can have similar features to pointers.

She said the dog came from Florida. We have no shortage of BCs mixes here!

Not disregarding other guesses, just standing up for my own.

Several things to consider with the BC guess - their conformation is so varied that you will see dogs of that size and structure (he is a little chunky, but the OP admitted that) and no regard is given to tail carriage when choosing breeding dogs, so you'll see tails like that quite often! It's a unique curl, but the tail set doesn't strike me as Akita (at least not a correct one). Also, ticking is common in the BC, so that could be attributed to that breed (as well as the others that were mentioned).

I mentioned Pointer or Setter cross by (1) physical characteristics and (2) the comment about mom being a spotted "retriever" ....