sunnyday Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Hi, all! My name's Alison, I live in Phoenix and I've got a 2 year old mixed breed dog named Mieke. She was originally picked up as a stray (then rescued from Death Row by the foster organization from which I adopted her) so her parentage is anyone's guess. She's got a lot of BC traits though and I tend to consider her a BC mix despite her crazy coloration. (Hey, BCs come in Aussie red with white factoring, heavy ticking and odd eyes, right!) I have long been interested in herding both as sport and for practical reasons (I expect to own a small handspinner's flock of sheep in the next five years.) I hope to have Mieke tested on stock soon, though I know a dog of unknown origin and genetic ability is probably not the best dog to learn with. We may just be in the market for a well-bred dog in a few years. Anyway, I'll never turn down the opportunity to share my girl nor to solicit input as to her background, so here she is and breed guesses welcome! Thanks, and I'll be lurking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustopherJones Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 The feathers on the front legs, and the snout and ears, would reasonably lead one to surmise that there is some Border Collie ancestry involved. Beyond the coloring, however, the paws are a bit large for a BC, leading one to speculate that she is mixed-breed. Could the coloring and the paw size possibly infer an English Setter? In any case, she is a beauty. Merry meet, and welcome aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1sheepdoggal Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Welcome. From one Zoni to another. Born and raised in Tucson. She's a pretty thing, Id venture a guess, that perhaps a brittney spaniel or english setter may have played a part in how she looks, with maybe a bit of BC or Aussie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewie'sMom Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Welcome Alison! I just joined recently, too. Lots of good peoples and info here not to mention all the great pics of BCs. Mieke's a cutie. Very unique markings. Again, welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katelynn & Gang Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 I think English Setter and Border Collie are a good guess. Do you have any more pictures of her? Shes a very pretty girl and sounds very lucky to have found you! Welcome! Katelynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesney's Girl Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Welcome to the boards! You have a very pretty girl there. I like her spots. And you never know about herding, she might just be the ticket to get you hooked and into working stock dogs and on to getting a more competitive dog down the road if you choose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Welcome! She's adorable. I agree with maybe English setter/BC. How about more pics, please? I have long been interested in herding both as sport and for practical reasons (I expect to own a small handspinner's flock of sheep in the next five years.) I hope to have Mieke tested on stock soon, though I know a dog of unknown origin and genetic ability is probably not the best dog to learn with. We may just be in the market for a well-bred dog in a few years. Hey, try her on stock and see what happens! If she shows instinct/interest/ability and you can find someone willing to work with a mixed breed, then I say go for it. I am learning with my BC mix, and what I figure is that he and I will go as far, and learn as much together, as we can. We both love it, but I have gone into it knowing that Jack doesn't have all the tools of a working border collie, and am realistic in how far we can go and in my expectations. And someday down the road, if I've got a dog with all (or more, at least) of the tools, then I'll just be that much futher along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 She's a very cool looking dog. To me she resembles an Aussie mix, not a BC mix, though. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 She looks just like a dog belonging to a friend of mine that is of known heritage aussie shepherd/ border collie. Pretty dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Thanks so much everyone, for the welcomes and compliments and breed guesses! Thanks especially for the encouragement about herding -- now I'm feeling really enthusiastic to get her out to the local training facility. Since someone asked... RDM, I go back and forth between Aussie and BC as the dominant herding breed in her mix. (One reason I want to see her on stock!) Do you agree that her orange color is probably the recessive ee known as Australian red? Do you know if Australian shepherds carry that recessive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Yes, it's called "yellow" In Aussies: http://www.ashgi.org/color/yellow_aussies.htm Also, I have an Aussie mix that is orange: To me, your dog's face just screams "Aussie." But I've been wrong before. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SweetJordan Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Yeah I was thinking Aussie right away as well. I saw an Aussie mix that looked very similar before, not sure what the dog was mixed w/. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SweetJordan Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Oh and excuse me for being rude, I forget to say welcome! Whatever your girl is mixed w/ she is very beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Welcome. We live in Willcox, east of Tucson. This is a great group. If you would like to attend a stockdog trial, come on up this weekend to the ASCA trials in Mayer, AZ. Check out www.ascofaz.org under events for info. We are newbies also. Our Alfie just got her High in Trial last weekend at the AKC trial. Narita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincereArtisan Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Her markings actually remind me of the markings/color of some setters... Any chance she is a setter x BC/Aussie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borderlicious Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Welcome! I live right outside Casa Grande. Your pup is gorgeous. I, too, am inclined to think Aussie mix simply because of her head and face shape, but it's awfully hard to say. She's a good looking dog, no matter what she is! I say go for it if you want to try her on sheep! You never know, she might enjoy it and you probably will too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Welcome. We live in Willcox, east of Tucson. This is a great group. If you would like to attend a stockdog trial, come on up this weekend to the ASCA trials in Mayer, AZ. Check out www.ascofaz.org under events for info. We are newbies also. Our Alfie just got her High in Trial last weekend at the AKC trial. Narita Hi, and congrats on the HIT! For some reason I thought the ASCA was last weekend also? Glad I didn't miss it! If I can get out this weekend, I'll try to get out there, or maybe to Laveen to see about a herding instinct test. In the past few days I've seen glimpses of stalking behavior, and she's shown a lot of inclination to control moving dogs/bikes/cats that I'd never seen before (not, "she's chasing everything that moves, must be herding!" but moving deliberately to head off and re-direct the movement), which makes me intensely curious to see if this will translate to sheep. Thanks again for compliments and breed guesses on my unique pup. Technically there's a chance that she's any kind of mix, since she was found stray. But as a color genetics geek, I wonder how the odds would stack up for a Setter to match up with a BC or Aussie that just happened to be carrying that yellow/red recessive? Plus as I look closer I've noticed there's black pigment in some of her red areas, which rules out ee I think, but it's not sable either because it's red-tipped black and not black-tipped red. Also, in Aussies it seems like blue eyes are inextricably linked with merling? Which, whether she's ee red or sable, it's sure possible there's some phantom merle going on that we can't see due to the white patterning. But, I think in BCs the blue eyes are a simple recessive, right? Thing about that is it rules out her being a straight cross with any breed that isn't known to carry for blue eyes. So yeah, like I said, color genetics geek. LOL. I think I am just in love with the mystery. How did such a unique looking dog come to be -- and how did she come to be stray at about 4 months (and suffering distemper around then too, as evidenced by her discolored teeth, a sign that she experienced a high fever during the time her adult teeth were just getting ready to cut)? I wonder what her siblings look like, and where they are? Sorry to blather on, I'm just really starting to like my girl with all her quirks and faults after a rather harrowing past many months of being utterly annoyed by her underexercised, understimulated goofy puppy behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi Alison, and welcome. How do you pronounce Mieke's name? J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi Alison, and welcome. How do you pronounce Mieke's name? J. It's "mee-ka". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy in AZ Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 If you would like to attend a stockdog trial, come on up this weekend to the ASCA trials in Mayer, AZ. Check out www.ascofaz.org under events for info. We are newbies also. Our Alfie just got her High in Trial last weekend at the AKC trial. Narita I may have to try to make it there to watch some of this. It's pretty close to me. Just out of curiousity, is it frowned upon for spectators to bring dogs to trials? I don't know the etiquette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Hello Hello from Chandler Keep us updated on your hearding experiences in the Valley. I have a girl who I would love to get involved as well.... once her health is better. You pup is goregous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Hello Hello from Chandler Keep us updated on your hearding experiences in the Valley. I have a girl who I would love to get involved as well.... once her health is better. You pup is goregous! Hi! I'm in the East Valley too! I'll let you know how it works out, and thanks for the compliment. And hey, if you want a reference for a vet chiropractor/osteopathic manipulator (the holistic vet who's treating my girl's Valley Fever) I'm very happy to recommend him. He's a housecall vet in Fountain Hills who takes limited office calls in Scottsdale. There's also a vet chiropractor in Mesa that was recommended to me by someone I trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Don't know if ASCA has rules about bringing your dog or not. Check with Molly Wisecarver (molly@miconstruction.com). They are having 4 trials in 3 days so lots to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 I would love those vet reccomendations! Would you PM them to me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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