Please identify breed of puppy.
September 1, 2013 5:01 PM   Subscribe

Adopted a puppy from the shelter this morning, and the breed was listed as a beagle mix, but they said they honestly didn't know for sure. Any ideas of what this sweet girl could be? http://i.imgur.com/f2npDDB.jpg http://i.imgur.com/zmWqsOn.jpg
posted by lane73179 to Pets & Animals (26 answers total)
 
Ears look beagle, muzzle looks mix. Possibly some lab in there as well?

If you have money to burn, you can get a test that will come back with breeds and percentages. I have a friend who did this and thinks it was well worth the moola.
posted by vegartanipla at 5:13 PM on September 1, 2013


What a beauty! She looks very beagley to me, maybe some more hound, too? What's her name?
posted by primate moon at 5:14 PM on September 1, 2013


She does look hound-y to me, a little like a Plott hound. But I'm no expert.

I recommend taking her for a walk in the park on a really nice day. You'll get tons of people saying "What a beautiful puppy! Is she a _______?"
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:24 PM on September 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


Great idea about taking her to a dog park on a busy day and having all the dog "experts" - both self-appointed and actual - coming up and telling you what she is. Good idea to get her socialized anyway, she is perfectly lovely and it's good to know she will be loved and cared for be a responsible Mefite.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:28 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


If you live in an area with a lot of hunting, I would guess she has some red bone coonhound in her, or (less likely but possible) vizsla. Very cute at any rate.
posted by northernish at 5:30 PM on September 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


Coonhound, maybe some Weimeraner with those eyes.
posted by dilettante at 5:32 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm thinking she's got some vizsla in her.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 5:35 PM on September 1, 2013 [5 favorites]


Seconding kanata.

I have a rescue mix as well. He was listed at the shelter as a "shepherd mix", despite looking much more lab-ish than shepherd-ish and not displaying any shepherd-like traits at all. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE has a different idea of what breeds my dog is a mix of. Nobody ever agrees, and not only that, but they are all adamant that they're right and everyone else is wrong.

The funny thing is that a lot of people tell me he is a particular breed of dog that there is just no way in hell that he actually is, like a Dutch Shepherd or a Tennessee Treeing Brindle Cur. I also once got "Is he part jackal?" which, LOL.

In my opinion, you definitely have some kind of hound on your hands, there. As for the rest? Meh.
posted by Sara C. at 5:36 PM on September 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'd put money on a Vizsla mix, and I'm not usually a betting lady. Check out the GIS page.

The combination of fur color and length, pink nose, hound ears, and the skin folds on her head scream vizsla to me.
posted by zug at 5:52 PM on September 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'd guess hound/ vizsla mix too. I've owned two hound crosses (coonhound) and the wrinkley head and gold eyes are pretty typical as are the white markings, although the pink noise is not. Does she make a lot of noise? Hounds are usually talkers. Crosses don't always bay, mine never did, but there was lots of growling, singing, aruufing and whuffling noises when they are playing or just have something to say. Hounds are also very silly dogs and enjoy playing more than any other dog I've ever met.
posted by fshgrl at 5:58 PM on September 1, 2013


She does look a little vizsla-ish to me, I think. Maybe possibly perhapsily rhodesian ridgeback, although they usually have darker muzzles. Very houndy, whatever she is.

plz boop her nose for me
posted by elizardbits at 6:01 PM on September 1, 2013 [4 favorites]


She's obviously an Arizona Brown Dog.
posted by zadcat at 6:17 PM on September 1, 2013 [15 favorites]


I wonder if she's possibly just a vizsla who's out of standard for the breed. See this girl, for instance.
posted by limeonaire at 6:42 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Another vote for beagle, and I also think Weimeraner is a good possibility. I think all the suggestions suggest a dog who's going to have a lot of energy, so spending a lot of time in the park or dog parks is a great suggestion!
posted by jaguar at 7:19 PM on September 1, 2013


Also it is vitally important that you tell us her name, when she gets a name! :)
posted by jaguar at 7:20 PM on September 1, 2013


Adding to the chorus that she is probably a vizsla mix, if that. That reddish color is pretty distinctive and her face looks a little long for a beagle. See the difference: Vizsla and Beagle.
posted by ruhroh at 7:26 PM on September 1, 2013


I think there's a touch of Vizsla or Rhodesian Ridgeback in her and buckets and buckets of cute!
posted by peripathetic at 8:22 PM on September 1, 2013


Google rhodesian ridgeback puppy and then hit Images. Looks like your little darling.
posted by aryma at 8:23 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I've googled beagle - viszla mixes and she looks just like the puppies we've seen there. We're torn between calling her Piper or Scout.
posted by lane73179 at 9:00 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


"Piper" and "Scout" are both awesome names for that particular puppy and I suspect that whatever her heritage, she will respond well to those names.

And yes, if you want a definitive answer, you're going to have to send off her DNA.
posted by jaguar at 11:13 PM on September 1, 2013


If you have money to burn, you can get a test that will come back with breeds and percentages.

They're mostly crap. You easily find multiple examples of people who gave it their purebred whatever's DNA, only to be told that it's some silly mix (like at the level of "Your purebred GSD is part Chihuahua, part Labrador, and part Pekingese")

It doesn't really matter, in any case. Even if you knew her ancestral breeds, you can't know which traits of those breeds she might have inherited, so it doesn't really tell you anything about what she'll be like, what her needs will be, and so on. Guesses based on appearance and, when you know more about it, behavior are all you need.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:14 AM on September 2, 2013 [4 favorites]


Piper!
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 5:47 AM on September 2, 2013


If you have any idea on where (geographically) she was before she got to the shelter, that could help to narrow it down some. (For example, many, many dogs in urban shelters will have some pit or bully breed in them. Shelters in more rural areas often have a lot of hounds.)

For your girl, I agree she's some kind of hound - beagle or coonhound. If she has short legs in proportion to her body (hard to tell from that pose), maybe even Basset (that wrinkly forehead!). And she's probably mixed with Lab or some other kind of retriever. Is the fur on her back behind her head at all curly, wavy or more coarse? My Australian shepherd mix has curly hair in that one spot, although the rest of her is Lab.

And after a while, you'll pick up on behaviors that will give you clues. We only really noticed the shepherd look to ours after we observed her obsessive herding behavior. And of course our beagle mix has his nose to the ground at all times.

What's really funny is next year, we'd probably have different ideas after her various parts stop growing. My delicate "Dachshund mix" puppy ended up more like a beefy Basset mix when he grew up.

Also, if we're voting, I vote Scout. Hounds get advance notice of all interlopers through their noses, and Labs will go out and investigate and report back (unless the interloper gives belly rubs, in which case they'll switch allegiances).
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:59 AM on September 2, 2013


Another hound vote here. My first thought was Viszla, but I am fond of the breed.

Did the shelter have any actual info on her background?

I used to argue against putting X-Y mix on dogs but there's a - possibly accurate - perception that the public prefers labels like "Lab-Boxer Mix" to "terrier-type mix" or just "unknown." In some cases, dogs are brought in by people who say my unfixed poodle had these puppies so the poodle side is known, but most of the time the X-Y mix is determined by people writing that down for whatever reason.

My expert opinion is that this pup is "outstanding" and "adorable."
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:41 AM on September 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


Even if you knew her ancestral breeds, you can't know which traits of those breeds she might have inherited, so it doesn't really tell you anything about what she'll be like, what her needs will be, and so on.

Nthing this.

My silly rescue mix looks a lot like a labrador, and he has the sweet easygoing demeanor of a lab, but he's also afraid of water and doesn't really grasp the concept of, like, retrieving anything. Your dog will likely have her own fun combination of whatever traits she got from whatever she actually is. Just meet her where she's actually at and don't expect too much breed specific behavior from her.
posted by Sara C. at 8:58 AM on September 2, 2013


Not sure about the breed, but you might have a much better idea in a few months when she grows into herself a little more.

However I think one of the most fun things about having an unknown mix is making up breed names. Sometimes I tell people that my Terrier mix is a Cajun Terrier (we found him in New Orleans). Sometimes I say he's part Muppet since he's pretty goofy looking.
posted by radioamy at 9:53 PM on September 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


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