What breed is this dog?

November 17, 2021 3:10 AM

None of the other volunteers at the dog shelter recognizes this breed, so we don't know if he's a known breed or a mutt.
posted by Homer42 to Pets & Animals (19 answers total)

That's a very pretty dog. It's not a specific breed that I recognize though I do admit I use the sporting group round of dog shows to go get snacks. When I see coloring like that I always think of brittanys, but the ears are too up for a brittany, so maybe mixed up with a little cattle dog/heeler. Maybe a little white Irish setter with the general softness.

That's just a guess. Hard to make more guesses without knowing body shape or size, tail and paws would help, too. I would not object to more pictures of this beautiful dog.
posted by phunniemee at 4:46 AM on November 17, 2021 [10 favorites]

Can you please post a side profile view of the entire dog?
posted by all about eevee at 5:42 AM on November 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

I thought Brittany Spaniel too, phunniemee. Also agreed it’s unlikely to actually be one, but perhaps it’s in the mix.

Also thought might have border collie or Australian Shepard in there. Guesses of course.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 6:15 AM on November 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

The eyes and the high-set ears make me think there's quite a bit of border collie in there (like this guy). Head is a bit too blocky and coat looks shorter, so I'd say he has big mutt energy.
posted by specialagentwebb at 6:33 AM on November 17, 2021

I agree that it looks like it could be part (or even all) border collie or Australian shepherd.
posted by Redstart at 6:34 AM on November 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Another vote for border collie mix
posted by brilliantine at 6:40 AM on November 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Someone in my family has a very similar-looking dog, and doing one of those dog DNA kits revealed it is half chihuahua. You’d never know from the size or coloring but when you look more closely there’s something about the mouth/face that makes it make sense! YMMV.
posted by stellaluna at 8:11 AM on November 17, 2021

I would lean towards an Australian Shepherd mix. We have a mix who we were sure was border collie, who looked a bit similar (different coloring, similar hair). Turned out (with DNA testing) he was australian shepherd, Hairless mexican dog (!!) and golden retriever.
posted by routergirl at 8:13 AM on November 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

The coat color and softness reminds me of a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever which would also sort of fit with the ears, but it’s definitely a mix as the face and chest marking shapes are different than a Nova Scotia. I agree there could be something surprising there. The coloring and thinness of fur around the nose is pretty distinct.
posted by donut_princess at 9:04 AM on November 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Based on scientific research, visual identification of dog breeds is not accurate. Please consider eliminating breed labels at your shelter.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:33 AM on November 17, 2021 [8 favorites]

seconding something Duck Toller-ish. There's a large variation in colouring (we had one that was very light cream colour, and I've seen rust-red ones too with white patches). They're also more represented in shelters than they should be, as young duck tollers tend to be very high attachment dogs and demand human contact loudly and incessantly. There's also no puddle, no matter how muddy, that a duck toller won't find and wallow in (and, with ours, immediately engage owner-seeking mud-encrusted zoomies ... she was basically a dirt missile)
posted by scruss at 10:24 AM on November 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: In response to a request for a side profile view.
posted by Homer42 at 11:13 AM on November 17, 2021 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: In response to consider eliminating breed labels at the shelter. I asked about the breed name out of curiosity. We don't use them at the shelter. When potential adopters ask if [dog name] is a [dog breed] the standard response is 'we don't know'.
posted by Homer42 at 11:21 AM on November 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

I bet there's some Brittany spaniel in there
posted by SinAesthetic at 11:55 AM on November 17, 2021

Best answer: Australian shepherd looks like a good guess. But maybe some Borzoi?
posted by rich at 12:03 PM on November 17, 2021

I’m sorry, but is he kidding me with those ears? Seriously adorable.
posted by slmorri at 2:40 PM on November 17, 2021 [10 favorites]

I thought borzoi
posted by rmless at 5:52 PM on November 17, 2021

That ribcage profile looks to me like there's some sighthound in the mix. The ear shape/attitude is remincent of the greyhound family too.

So: Border Collie or Australian Shepherd
plus
greyhound or whippet
plus
??

A blood test might reveal if they have the high red cell count associated with sighthounds.

Lovely dog, whatever their antecedents. I wish I could pet those ears.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:28 PM on November 19, 2021

i call brittany spaniel mixed with whippet.
posted by megan_magnolia at 2:58 PM on November 20, 2021