Mix? Or PB?

[OffTopic]

I'm certainly not going to love our new guy any less if he's not pb BC, but I'm curious and I haven't been around as many BCs as most of you and I'd love to get some opinions, if you wouldn't mind giving them.

 

Finn's age is unknown, but the rescue group put him as "no more than a year", so I don't know if he's still changing as far as his looks are concerned. Our last BC had a very long coat, especially in the chest area and on the rear he had a lot of feathering....plus his tail was long and straight.

 

Finn looks all BC to me, except I can't remember ever seeing a BC with a curly tail! Plus, he has no feathering in the rear, but not knowing his exact age I don't know if that will change. It's hard to tell in the picture, but he has some reddish tint in his coat, concentrated in the tail and on his sides. There is no black on his tongue, btw.

 

He will drop his tail when relaxed, but it still has a slight curl at the tip. The tip is white, but it's a very small white area.

His bark is very hound-ish, more like a hunting dog of some sort.

He's not showing the typical BC high energy but he's still adjusting to us, so that may change.

 

So, mix? Or PB? And if mix, does anyone have any thoughts what he could be mixed with?

 

[Root Beer]

From the picture you provided, I would guess purebred. My good friend has a purebred with a curly tail just like that, and feathering can vary. They can also be very laid-back, although, like you said, he might still be settling in.

[Olivia]

I am part of East TN Border Collie Rescue where I believe you got Finn. His name with us was Foster wasn't it? I met him a couple of times and couldn't see anything else in him. We believe him to be a purebred border collie. As to the no feathering on his back end...it looked to me like bad nutrition, poor grooming and little attention caused most of his hair to be rubbed off or clipped off, you could clearly see his skin at that point. I think he will have normal rough coat 'feathers' on his back end as soon as they grow back with good food and good brushing. I think the poor nutrition plus some sun bleaching caused the red tints in his coat.

 

Be patient and in a couple of months you'll see a big difference.

 

Olivia

[Nellie's Dad]

I would think PB also, he looks a lot like our Nellie.

 

 

This isn't the best picture but she has the same tail curled over her back and now that she has been with us for a while has much more tail feathers.

[Root Beer]

When I saw the picture, I thought maybe the back feathers had been clipped off.

 

It will be interesting to see if that is the case.

[PSmitty]

Looks PB to me, too.

[Aquarius89]

Definitely purebred! And gorgeous.

[OffTopic]

Thanks for the feedback. Like I said, we love the little guy no matter what, but didn't know that BCs could have curled tails.

 

Olivia, yes that's (formerly) Foster. Since the foster mom had only started calling him that a week before I picked him up, we felt he could handle a name change without too much problem.

He's such a sweetheart! I've never been around such an affectionate herding dog. He wants to cuddle, cuddle, cuddle! We've had a few small issues with him....he really wanted out of the fenced yard at first, but it's getting better....and I've seen a few instances of hording aggression, but he's learning that food isn't going to be a problem, so that's also getting better. He's a really smart little guy and has already learned a pretty solid recall. We're working on the other basic obedience commands and he's picking things up very quickly. He's already learned that our kitty is a funtime play toy, which thrills our cat to no end. Gonzo loves to play with dogs. It's so much fun watching them together.

 

I will be interested to see if he feathers out in the rear. I do think it's a prettier look, but he's adorable as is, so it's not an issue.

We're feeding a premium food and I'm adding some healthy oils, so hopefully we'll see a shiny coat and more healthy energetic boy soon. I didn't think about the sun bleaching the fur red, but since he was a stray and there's no way of knowing how long he'd been a stray....I guess he could have been out in the sun all day for months.

[RaisingRiver]

I'd say Purebred as well. Many BCs (esp young ones) hold their tails high when they are excited, playing or just generally not in 'work mode' (ie. herding, fetching, focused on something).

 

My semi-rough B&W BC has red highlights in the fluff hair under her ears and on her butt feathers.

[sweet_ceana]

Ceana is PB and when she is happy she has a curly tail as well. It only gets straight when she is getting down to business with a tennis ball or frisbee

[Kat's Dogs]

Reminds me of Holly from the boards. It might be the ears!

 

Looks like she could certainly be PB to me!