Another "Name This Mix" contest

At the dog park yesterday I met this big boy. He's three years old. I just had to go back to my car to get my camera to get some photos to share.
Now try to guess the two breeds that make up this mix. First clue is he does not like to swim. I'll give everyone a few guesses and if nobody identifies at least one of the breeds I'll post a second clue which should be a give away to one of the two. The second photo really shows the confirmation of one of the breeds in this mix.

 

Wow he is a pretty boy.

Maybe greyhound/great pyr?

 

Aqueous,
Congratulations. You get 50 points. He is half Great Pyr but not Greyhound. The next clue I was going to give is that this boy has worn out a path around the perimeter of their back yard. On patrol just like a Pyr.

 

okay a great py and a whippet? my first guess was greyhound

honeybear

 

The brindle pattern and white pattern reminded me of a greyhound.

Maybe another odd (but incredibly pretty) colored dog like a Catahoula or Australian Shepherd?

 

Oh wow, just WOW!

I have no idea about the breed as I was dead set on greyhound/great py too... but, I am sooo jealous of your dog park.
That's the first time I've actually seen it and oh boy is it something else.
I want one!

 

Aqueous wins. It's a cross between a Great Pyr and an Australian Shepherd.

Nik, Our park was recently voted the best dog park in the US by Dog Fancy magazine. It's those great swimming holes that set us apart from most parks.
Here's a photo of Duke and Freckles enjoying the water.

 

now Dukesdad, how do they really know what their dog is,
hopefully they didnt breed it that way :shock: :shock:

what a wonderfull pool the duke and freckles to enjoy, do they do anything like chlorine to keep it clean?

honeybear

 

honeybears,
When I first saw the dog it was walking past an Aussie followed by it's owner. I heard her remark to the Aussies owner that her dog was half Aussie. That's when I asked her about the other half. Just taking her word for the information. If I see her again I might ask if it was bred on purpose and if so why.
It seems very popular now days to cross mix popular breeds like the Lab/St. Bernard I saw a few weeks back.
Thinking about it are these mixes really that bad of an idea as it adds some genetic variety to a breed who might be developing breed specific problems?
Of course on the other hand it could produce offspring with genetic problems from both of the pure bred parents.

 

well, maybe she wants to believe its crossed be with a aussie, kind of like when you go to these rescue sites and the pound, according to them every dog has lab.

just look at that stance and brindle of that dog screams grehound

 

P.S.
About the water quality. I expressed my concerns early on that we would need to test the water frequently and give it a chlorine shock if the bacterial count was high. I will have to follow up to see if the maintenence people are doing that on a regular basis.
So far neither of my boys have shown any signs of illness and they swim, and yes drink, from these swimming holes twice each weekend. I would suspect diarreah would be the first symptom but nothing has bothered either Duke or Freckles.
Of course we had to post signs telling people that the lakes were for dogs only. Some people were actually allowing their kids to swim with the dogs. :mrgreen:

 

dukesdad-- here is something that shineillusion wrote on the post "Why are you putting down the poo mix http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10687
Breeding or not breeding can be a complicated issue. Breeders of purebred dogs must first realisitically evalutate their animals to determine if they have good type and are sound. One cannot restrict breeding to only perfect animals because there are none. One also cannot restrict breeding too tightly or genetic diversity is lost, and breeds fall victim to "Popular Sire Syndrome", which can have devistating effects on the health of the breed. They have to weigh the faults against the virtues, and at the same time seek to eliminate genetic disorders.

But I think it is a good answer to why to breed/mix or not. There might be a little more in that topic about it, but I am in a hurry.. gotta go hope that helps

 

It could be that they know the mix because a neighbor's dog got in the yard or something.

I immediately thought either great pyr/greyhound or even great pyr/some bully breed.....but the great pyr was a definite!

 

Well, if I remember my genetics and inheritence of color correctly, a dog can only be brindle if one of the parents is brindle. And that dog is brindle. Soooo, does brindle occur in Aussies? I know Pyrs can have biscuit or badger markings, but are badger markings brindle?

Perhaps we have a situation where they have a mixed litter, with more than one sire?

 

Errrr, you're right! Aussies do not come in brindle and neither do Great Pyrs! As far as I know...

I'm really leaning toward a Greyhound connection, or possible a bully breed of some sort. Look at that tail....I'm gonna have to say Greyhound.

People ask me what my dogs are and I tell them "shelter dogs" as if it's a breed, LOL. Then I will elaborate and say they are herding dog mixes of some sort.

 

If I see this dog next weekend I will ask a few more questions about it's mix. After everyone's comments it seems that Greyhound is in the mix. I'm just trying to figure out a tactful way to question the owner. She seemed so positive about the Aussie mix. First I might ask if she bred the dog. If so then I'll ask about the parents. If she was not involved in the breeding then I will ask where she got the dog and if she met the parents.
Some people are very sensitive to the way you ask questions. I remember an incident years ago as I was visiting a friend in New York and as we were walking through Central Park we passed a man with a dog on a leash, a rather unusual dog. My friend asked the man "Why does your dog have funny ears?" Well the man asked my friend why HE had funny ears and it almost progressed to a fist fight.
BTW my friend had an attack trained Bouvier that was trained as a protection dog for his wife when she went for jogs in the park. This was a huge sweet bear of a dog that I had wrestled and played with all week. When they told me he was attack trained I could not believe it until my friend gave it the "Alert" command. In an instant that dog turned into a snarling menace. He said that only once had his wife used the command when a man started following her in the park. When she put the dog on alert the man turned heels and ran. They had a trainer come to their apartment for the training sessions. One day my friend said he was coming home and as he was heading down the hallway to his apartment he heard the dog barking followed by banging sounds. As he got nearer the trainer came out of the door dressed in that full protection gear. As the dog proceeded to bark behing the door the trainer, not seeing my friend, removed his protective mask and helmut, leaned back against the door, and said out loud "What a way to make a living!"

 

Wow!! That's really cool. Dogs are such amazing critters.

 

My first thought on seeing the picture was Great Dane. They do come in brindle, too.

 

Definitely could have some Dane in there. Whatever he is, he's a cool-looking dog!

 

yeah, dane was my first thought too.