And a mighty cute puppy too, I forgot to add.
I’m gonna post a picture of my dog too.
She’s a general mutt-type, with what seems like some alaskan malamute in her. She weighs about 50 pounds, stands knee height and sheds like you wouldn’t believe. I was watching a show on sled dogs, and the malamutes they showed were like skinny versions of her, especially in her behavior. Add about 30 pounds to this dog in the chest and abdomen, and you’ve got my Hockey dog.
Many of the traits that distinguish the different breeds are recessive traits, that only show up when the animal has two copies of the genetic allele for that trait, one from each parent. That’s why you have to have purebred lines to maintain the trait: if you cross with an animal that doesn’t have that trait, it won’t appear in the offspring, because it will be suppressed by the “normal” copy of the gene.
But the different breeds have different recessive traits, and have the “normal” (primitive, or as geneticists call it “wild-type”) allele for the traits they haven’t been selected for. When you cross a collie-pointer mix with a lab-greyhound mix, you are likely to end up with at least one copy of a “normal” allele for each of the traits that distinguish the different breeds - and those “normal” alleles yield a “Yaller Dog.”
Other genes that don’t show a dominance-recessive pattern, but instead “blending” inheritance, such as those for size or coat length, will tend to average out when various breeds are crossed, likewise resulting an “average” dog.
It’s more complicated than this of course, but I think you can see the principles at work here.
When dogs get upset and begin to growl, you can see the fur on their back stand on end. This is called the hackles. But, with a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the hackles go up backwards as if someone cut out some strips of fur lengthwise and then transplanted the cutting with the ends swapped around. …Like a reverse mohawk, I guess?
If this describes your dog, then Rhodesian Ridgeback it is!
Hope this may help!
-Jinx
Jinx that ridge is also found in the Indonesian Ridgeback, a breed that is evry closely related to and very similar in appearance to a dingo.
Perhaps more importantly the ridgeback gene is a recessive found in all dog breeds. With concerted efforts you could breed a ridgebacked dalmation if you wanted. Indeed most breeds ocassionally throw ridgebacks. They are routinely culled of course in pure breeding lines, while in mongrel lines the recessive status means it inevitably vansihes next generation.
The point being that the presence of a ridge back does not indicate in any way that a mongrel dog has any RR ancestry at all.
Looking at those photos the dog looks like a RR only in the sense that it has four legs and a tail. That’s where the similarity ends. RR’s are fairly heavy dogs somewhere between a hound and a mastiff in general appearance with heavy square dark muzzles and floppy ears. The dog in those photos is a slight wiry dog with a foxy nose and no discernible darkening of the muzzle.
'Tis a lovely dog but for sure 'tis no RR.
Since mulletmania was banned, can someone please explain the comment about puppies?
No idea, FilmGeek. Except perhaps mulletmania was concerned (as many people are, IMO rightly) about pet animal overpopulation, and took that concern to the extreme (as many people do, IMO wrongly) of believing that no responsible pet owner should deliberately allow/encourage his/her pet to reproduce.
I personally don’t hold that extreme position and have no interest in debating its merits, but that’s my best guess as to why mulletmania was shocked to read that Scruloose regretted that Maggie never had puppies. (Jeez, you think I’ve got enough dependent clauses in that sentence? :rolleyes: )
A lot of people think it’s irresponsible for anyone except experienced breeders to breed dogs, or even own dogs that aren’t neutered or spayed. Pet owners tend to underestimate the work and expense required to care for a pregnant dog and newborn puppies, leading to unnecessary suffering. And there are too many unwanted dogs (and cats) already, many of which will not find a home and end up being euthenized.
I thought he was upset because Maggie is a mixed breed, so her puppies wouldn’t be highly sought after. Since there’s no shortage of mutts out there, these potential puppies might stand a good chance of ending up in the pound.
I know people like to think that mutts are healthier than purebreds, but that’s not necessarily the case. Yes, there are some diseases that are found disproportionately among certain breeds. but hybrid vigor is not assured just because two different breeds/mixes mate. It’s perfectly possible and perfectly common for mutts to be the result of the mating of a hip displastic German shepard with a Golden Retriever genetically prone to cataracts and have diseases from both parents. Add in the fact that responsible breeders actively work to cull genetic diseases from their lines and many or most mixed breedings are unplanned.
Don’t get me wrong–I love mutts, but owning a mutt does not guarantee freedom from health problems.
I also assumed it was a reference to the overpopulation of dogs and cats in North America and that the average pet owner doesn’t need to create a litter or litters of additional offspring.
Never had a pet that wasn’t spayed, myself.
Now, if only puppies and kittens weren’t so DAMNED cute.
Lissa-your puppy looks a lot like my parent’s dog, although theirs is black.
Their dog is the known result of an accident between a Golden Labrador and a German Shepherd, and is a smart, pretty, loyal, trainable dog, about the size of a Labrador.
my parent’s dog has niether dodgy hips, nor catacracts, on reading easy e’s post, and has never needed to see a vet apart from annual vaccinations and claw clippings!
Thanks everyone. I figured that’s what he/she was up in arms about, but it’s a far far cry from “I wish I had a bunch more just like her so I could share her with the world” and dog overpopulation.
I wish my dog had had puppies so there would be more dogs just like her in the world. Doesn’t mean I plan on breeding her. Well, she’s 11 and spayed, so that wouldn’t happen anyway.
I also wish one could eat as much ice cream as one wanted and not get fat, full, or brainfreeze. Doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen.
Scruloose, take a look at http://www.carolinadogs.com/; they’ve got good info on the “breed” and photo galleries too.
I had a Carolina dog for nine years; she was the best dog I’ve ever known.
The pictures on that site and the one Apricot posted sure look a lot like Maggie. Looks to be the right size as well. Perhaps when someone mentioned Dingo to my wife, they actually said (or meant) “American Dingo”, as mentioned on that last site. Good stuff.
Exactly. That pretty much sums up what I said and why.
If y’all are so inclined, anyone care to guess my breed/mix?
He is 30lbs, about 1.5 years old. All black but for a small white patch on the neck. Very sleek, smooth coat, medium length hair. Brown eyes, spotted tongue- chow like, in fact.
Looks like a lab, acts like a terrier. Loves to dig, bury, and scare out game- HOWLS when he hears a siren or other noises of the like.
Is a whiz at the computer and has mad surfing skillz. Long shephard style tail.
“Looks like a lab” - sorry, I Don’t Think So.
Looks like a terrier (head is really quite terrier-type) with a black coat. My guess is that your dog is another Heinz 57, but with lots of terrier in him.
Similar kind of situation for Lissa’s pup, only more so. Too many generations of mutt for anybody to make a decent guess. When you get these generic-looking dogs that mature at less than 40 pounds, and especially when they mature at less than 25 pounds, it’s usually nearly impossible for anyone to say what’s there. I get so frustrated with people who insist that their 30 lb. dog is a “shepherd mix” or a “collie mix” or something of the sort. I recommend that people go to the AKC and take a look at the breed standard for the breed they claim is predominant in their dog. If the breed standard describes a dog that is 25" tall at the shoulder and matures at 60-75 pounds, and your dog is 15" at the shoulder and weighs 30, the odds are low that your dog has even one grandparent of that breed. Unless maybe two other grandparents were toy breeds (Chihuahua, Yorkie, etc.), in which case the dog would almost certainly bear some resemblance to the toy breed. See AKC Toy Group.
I also encourage every dog owner to enroll him/herself and the dog in a local class for the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen Program (hadta look it up; they’re changing the site - again) :smack:
Very true, even frighteningly true. There are too many “breeders” who don’t understand the responsibility to cull. “Oh, that’s cruel,” they say, not considering their responsibility to both their animals and to the animals’ future owners. However, you’re talking about a first generation cross. I was talking about Heinz 57s. These are two entirely different cases. And all of the dogs being discussed in this thread fall into that category.
I studied the genetics of the hollyhock’s flowers for 4 years, beginning when I was nine. I studied both color and structural genetics of Great Danes for something like 20 years, and about year 15 told my genetics prof that I believed that mammals had a HOX (then newly described in insects, now long since changed to HAX) gene because of a constellation of skeletal malformations I had observed in a bloodline. I got laughed at, because that was 1985, some years before it was discovered that the HAX gene was almost ubiquitous. I’m not always that prescient, alas, but genetics is a subject in which I have many years of practical experience, coupled with a fair amount of formal study.
Crimminy, I know he’s not a lab- he’s only 30lbs. I just said he LOOKS like a lab. Which he does. I was trying to be descriptive. His coat, ears, and tail all look like a (small) lab.
I appreciate the information though- I didn’t mean to hit a hot button with you or anything.
Oh. You meant body structure. Sorry. I couldn’t really see your dog’s body structure from the pix, but I got a good look at the head, and it says “terrier” loud and clear. 
You didn’t. I was doing my generic rant on the subject. I apologize for making you feel it was directed at you.