Entlebucher Sennenhund

[phillo]

I rescued Jack, a dog that I (and the vets I took him to) assumed to be a shephard/husky mix. Today at the beach I met a woman with a dog that looked just like Jack and her dog was an Entlebucher Mountain dog.

So this woman thinks Jack is an Entlebucher, any opinions? Anyone know anything about these dogs? Jack is the black dog in the pictures.

[Laurelin]

Entlebuchers are very very rare over here in the US (assuming you're in the US) Tricolor happens in a lot of breeds and I could see him being any of those. For some reason I really want to say border collie and hound of some sort (beagle?)... How big is he?

[JessLough]

Laur as soon as I saw him I thought BC/Beagle too

[phillo]

I thought he was a beagle mix too, maybe some pit bull. This mountain dog I saw today looked so similar to Jack I was getting the two dogs mixed up. So when I got home of course I looked up the dog and most of them look extremely similar to Jack, to my roommate and me anyway. What's interesting is many people have asked if he's a Bernese even though he's too small.

I gave the woman my number and asked her if I could photograph the dogs together. She seemed pretty hardcore in terms of knowledge of the breed, a German woman. I'm too curious now not to get him tested. Oh also the way he behaves almost exactly matches the description of the dog.

[corgipower]

I would suggest not testing him -- if you mean DNA testing. The Entlebucher is highly unlikely to be a possible answer on their list of known breeds, which will make the results exceedingly less accurate than they would have otherwise been (which would be highly inaccurate). You'd probably be told he was a toy poodle/chow mix.

I wouldn't say beagle, but I could see him having one of the bigger hounds in there maybe. Or maybe he is an Entlebucher.

[mom2dogs]

I really doubt he is one. On the club's website there are only four breeders (one being in Alaska) mentioned, making me believe the numbers are drastically low and thus breeders keep a track of where their dogs are, meaning it would be hard for one to fall through the cracks and into rescue (but I suppose not impossible). Someone can come along and correct if wrong. In the end, you'll make the decision to call him whatever you feel he is.

As someone who is familiar with Stabyhouns (a rare breed here in the states), I see TONS of mixes, mostly of BCs/BC mixes, who look similar (there's an owner on this board, I want to say the dog's name is Psyche, that could be mistaken for a Stabij overseas in Holland where they are more common. . . here? No way).

But whatever he is, he looks adorable.

[colliewog]

Maybe Greater Swiss Mountain Dog mix? They're gaining popularity, at least around here, enough that I've seen more pets out than in the past ....

[Laurelin]

To me he doesn't look that big assuming the dog next to him is about bichon size which is what it looks like to me.

[phillo]

Thanks for all the replies. I didn't get Jack at a traditional rescue I found him in the Ozarks, very rural Missouri, while on a road trip with some friends. He was a total mess and didn't look like he'd make it much longer so I decided to take him home to Boston.

Are there any methods to determine the breed of the dog if DNA testing wouldn't work? Having looked at a lot of pictures and video of the Entlebucher my feeling is Jack is somehow related to the line. He doesn't seem quite as muscular, his legs seem a little too long and I think he only has a single coat but besides that he matches the entlebucher really closely. The markings are exactly the same, the chest is the same, the tale is curled up, the shape of the face and the rest of the body are the same. The size is the same, Jack is 9 mos old and about 40/45 lbs. Really he looks like an entlebucher/appenzeller mix to me.

Also his behavior, like his markings, exactly match the descriptions given on the AKC website. He is the most intelligent dog I've interacted with, stubborn, independent but can't deal with being alone. He is amazing with kids and other dogs and has a really giant bark for a mid size dog. If he's not exercised/socialized he turns into a monster. He likes to leap and is really fast.

I'm going to upload some video of him and I'll post it here.

[mom2dogs]

Why not get in touch with the breed club and get their opinion?