She is adorable, with Husky blue eyes. We thought she was blind when we first saw her.
We realize she’s probably just a mutt. Maybe she is part Husky? Can anyone tell?
:rolleyes: Yes! Might anyone tell me what breed my Sray is? Then, fill me in on what exactly a sray is!
STRAY! :smack:
She looks exactly like my sister’s old dog, an Akita. Blue eyes are not the norm in that breed, though.
Very cute puppy. Could be part Malamute. It will be easier to guess when it’s older.
Congatulations on the new addition to your family.
Haj
Why’s she wearing pants? That’s even more unusual than blue eyes in dogs.
No clue, but absolutely adorable 
Husky, malamute, akita, cross involving one of these maybe?
The more important question is, “How big will she get?”
The breeds mentioned so far (Malamute, Akita, Husky) are among the more difficult dogs to raise and train. Those three breeds also get VERY large. Unless you live in a big house with a very big yard, it would be very hard to own such a dog.
On the other hand, it could also have some Merle Border Collie in its DNA, and some American Eskimo - much smaller breeds. The thing is, it’s hard to tell at this point just what you’re going to get.
Because of the blue eyes and general husky-ish appearance, my guess would be “Siberian Mix.”
This is the breed I thought of, too. Here’s a site with pictures. There’s a puppy in the very first image. Then there’s links to the different colors and even links to eye colors, further down the page. Very cute puppy you have there!
We just found her. So obviously she is not housetrained yet. That is a “training garmet” to prevent getting poop and pee all over my carpets.
Because we don’t know what breed she might be, and how big she’ll get, we decided she will live at my mom’s house. With the big yard.
Any of the breeds mentioned so far require lots of training to prevent running away, running into traffic, biting when older, snapping at kids, etc. Get her to a trianer when she’s of age. Well worth it.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but if you are going to keep her you should:
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Check with the SPCA to see if anyone has reported a missing dog that matches the description. You don’t want to be keeping some little kid’s beloved pet.
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Take the dog in to the vet for a full checkup. It could have all manner of nasty problems, such as distemper.
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Get it spayed or neutered. It looks too young for that to have happened already.
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Get it the full range of shots it needs.
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Buy a crate, and learn how to crate train the dog.
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Take the dog to obedience classes. Puppy Kindergarten is good, and will help socialize the dog to other people, children, and other dogs. Then do at least basic obedience.
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All this costs money, but it’s pretty much mandatory. Be prepared to spend at least $500 on this dog in the next six months.
A healthy, obediant dog is a joy. A rangy mutt left in someone’s backyard to bark and dig is a nightmare. A decision to keep a dog brings with it quite a bit of responsibility. ‘Free’ dogs sometimes get short shrift. When someone spends $500 on a purebred dog, it gives you some idea of the commitment they are willing to make. But when someone who hasn’t really thought about keeping a dog before finds one for free, sometimes the true cost of ownership isn’t considered. Add in your annual shots, licenses, and dog food (don’t feed it table scraps), and you’re looking at an annual cost of ownership of at least $500.
Sorry if this is obvious, and I hate to sound like I’m lecturing… You might be the greatest dog owner on the planet and know this stuff cold. But in case you’ve never done this before and haven’t thought it through, it’s important to bring it up.
I was just going to say the same thing. A puppy of that sort is not only adorable, but valuable as well. Somebody’s missing their little friend. I’d say that as long as you post Found Dog posters in the area you found it in for a couple weeks, you’ve done your duty.
I agree with the speculation… some sort of Huskie mix. She is soooo cute. Good luck with her. I picked a Huskie mix at the SPCA about 17 years ago. They can be a challenge to train. I think they are pretty smart but they may not seek to please you. This was my experience anyway. Eventually, it turned out ok. The puppy years are fun but very difficult. I think it is great that you want to care for this homeless pup. She surely needs a good home with lots of love.
Good luck and keep us posted.
I pretty much agree with everyone’s suggestions in this thread, so I won’t add to them. I just wanted to say that that is one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen in my life!!!
What he said. All of it, especially the training and the expense.
This pup is possibly a purebred Husky, in which case it is highly likely that she is somebody’s lost pet. She almost certainly has some (perhaps all) “northern” breeds. As her tail does not appear to be curly, I particularly doubt the Akita, unless it’s a couple of generations back. One thing you need to know about Husky/Malamute, etc., breeds is that they are both highly intelligent and highly independent. IOW, you will need to begin training her ASAP, unless you want her to grow up to be a dog that nobody wants around.
If you’d like to know a bit more about the personality (dog people call it temperament) of these breeds, the least painful way of learning that I can think of is to get a copy of Susan Conant’s A New Leash on Death. ISBN is 1-55773-385-6. Probably the cheapest way to get it is to look on Amazon, or maybe eBay (though with their new classification system, it is much harder to find a particular book). It was published in 1990, so unless your local library has a librarian who protects “dog mysteries” or “animal sleuth mysteries”, their copies will long since have been discarded. Conant, I think, was an obedience trainer before she developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This was her first mystery; there is a whole series of Holly Winter books, with a new one coming out nearly every year.
As for non-fiction, I am giving you links to the AKC breed standards, and also, where I could find them, links for “rescue” organizations for these breeds. I don’t really think your pup has Samoyed or American Eskimo, as both of these are all-white dogs with long fur. Nor do I really think she’s got Malamute. Why? Because of the red coat and blue eyes, which are not unusual in Huskies… Blue eyes are a disqualification for most of the other breeds, and Mals and Elkhounds are of colors that dominate over the red “liver” gene (I think the white of the Sammy and Eskimo is one of those freak dominants, as they have black noses, etc., just as white poodles do). However, I try to be thorough, and mutations from the genes that produce either grey sable or black are known to produce the liver gene.
Alaskan Malamute
American Eskimo Dogs
Norwegian Elkhound
Samoyed
Siberian Husky
Here are some breed organizations or, where available, breed rescue groups. I think the rescue people are more likely to be sympathetic and helpful WRT a mixed breed, as your pup possibly is. OTOH, she strongly resembles a purebred Husky in those photos. She’s got the blue eyes, nice prick ears (standing straight up), and a very typical coat color and distribution of the red part - or at least what I could see of her. One of the things you will need to know is the kinds of health problems that are typical for northern breeds. Other than hip dysplasia, I can’t really help you; my knowledge is all about Great Danes, sorry.
The only link I found for Malamute rescue doesn’t seem to work, but here it is, in case you have better luck:
Alaskan Malamute Assistance League
American Eskimo Dog Rescue
Norwegian Elkhound Rescue
Samoyed Rescue
Siberian Husky Rescue Site
I do hope you’re not keeping the diaper on her all the time. Diaper rash is at least as serious for a dog as for a human.
I also noted that you’ve moved her to your mom’s house “With the big yard.” If this means you plan for her to be an outdoors dog, that’s yet more expense, as she will need a “dog house”, or at least a shelter of some sort, where she can get out of rain/snow and wind, and which has bedding in it, which is regularly changed or washed, so it doesn’t harbor fleas, etc. In addition, unless you live in southern California or south Florida, she will need more food in the winter. If you live in any part of the US where there is actual winter, even as mild as it gets on the Gulf Coast, there is enough cold weather that her food will need to be increased by as much as 50% during the season.
One last note: as well as being high energy breeds, the northern breeds are also high metabolism dogs. This means that they need more food per pound than most other dogs, and that it needs to be high protein (and I do recommend that it have meat products in it!).
She doesn’t plan on keeping her outside all the time. Since they tend to be high energy dogs (And, boy, is Molly high energy.) we figured she wouldn’t be a good apartment dog. She needs a big yard to chase a ball in a couple of hours a day.
Plus, in a few months, she is going to be WAY TO BIG for this apartment.
Thanks everyone for your informative posts. They helped me make the hard, “Where will Molly stay” decision.