New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hi everyone...new here... We recently adopted a rescue pup. We were told that he is a border collie/lab mix. Mom is supposedly a purebred border collie. We aren't so sure. I was just wondering if anyone would offer an opinion of what mix he might really be. thanks **sorry about the misspelled word in the title! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doghaven Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hi everyone...new here... We recently adopted a rescue pup. We were told that he is a border collie/lab mix. Mom is supposedly a purebred border collie. We aren't so sure. I was just wondering if anyone would offer an opinion of what mix he might really be. thanks **sorry about the misspelled word in the title! :)/> Hmm...Where did you get him from? That tail certainly doesn't remind me of a lab or BC tail, so there's at least something else going on in there. Looks chow-like to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrecar Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 I'd go with Chow mix as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildo Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Your pictures are way to huge for me to see clearly. But the muzzle in the second pic looks poodle to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelleybean Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Looks chow to me too. Is his tongue black or spotted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Just a note, as it is a very common mistake. Chows have BLUE tongues, not black. Lots of dogs have black spots on their tongues. If your pup has any blue on it's tongue, it has Chow in it. That is the only breed with blue tongues. If not, it could be anything! Also, most of the pups in the litter may have had Lab characteristics, so the litter was described as BC x Lab. But mixed puppies can have more than one father. If Mom went traveling during her heat cycle, she could have mated with multiple dogs. (Just to complicate the situation. Smile) Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 I've often wondered at the frequency with which dogs in the US are labelled as Chow mixes. Are they a common breed over there? They are very rare here in the UK. If not common, are they crossed deliberately? I'm guessing not many go walkabout and mate randomly. I agree that the pup's tail looks rather spitzy but equally since poodles have been allowed to keep their tails here I've seen quite a few curly ones, and we know how often poodles are crossed deliberately with all sorts. Maybe this pup is a labradoodle cross BC. Hard to say size wise from the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Your pictures are way to huge for me to see clearly. But the muzzle in the second pic looks poodle to me. sorry about the size, they didn't look huge to me when i posted!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Looks chow to me too. Is his tongue black or spotted? his tongue has spots on the underside and near the back, blue spots on the sides. i know other breeds can have spots too so i'm not really going to use that to determine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Just a note, as it is a very common mistake. Chows have BLUE tongues, not black. Lots of dogs have black spots on their tongues. If your pup has any blue on it's tongue, it has Chow in it. That is the only breed with blue tongues. If not, it could be anything! Also, most of the pups in the litter may have had Lab characteristics, so the litter was described as BC x Lab. But mixed puppies can have more than one father. If Mom went traveling during her heat cycle, she could have mated with multiple dogs. (Just to complicate the situation. Smile) Kathy Robbins I saw 2 others from that litter (that is what i was told anyway!) brother looked just like a BC and sis looked a lot like a lab. This little fellow just confuses me! His ears are cute! one flops to the side and the other to the front. The fur on top of his head is longer than the rest and almost silky but the rest of his fur is a lot like a chow...shorter, kind of course and choppy and very thick. He has big round paws and a curled tail like a chow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hmm...Where did you get him from? That tail certainly doesn't remind me of a lab or BC tail, so there's at least something else going on in there. Looks chow-like to me. We adopted him from a rescue called Save a Mutt. It's in VA. All but 2 people who have met him said chow. The 2 that didn't really didn't have an opinion (they don't know much about dogs). The ones who said chow were a vet, a vet tech, 2 dog trainers and 5 random people at PetSmart. And my husband and I both think chow mixed with something...maybe BC. We are going to have him tested to hopefully determine what his mix is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hmm...Where did you get him from? That tail certainly doesn't remind me of a lab or BC tail, so there's at least something else going on in there. Looks chow-like to me. We adopted him from a rescue called Save a Mutt. It's in VA. All but 2 people who have met him said chow. The 2 that didn't really didn't have an opinion (they don't know much about dogs). The ones who said chow were a vet, a vet tech, 2 dog trainers and 5 random people at PetSmart. And my husband and I both think chow mixed with something...maybe BC. We are going to have him tested to hopefully determine what his mix is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Your pictures are way to huge for me to see clearly. But the muzzle in the second pic looks poodle to me. what did i do wrong when i posted the pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildo Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 what did i do wrong when i posted the pics? The pictures are huge. Nearly twice as big as my monitor screen itself. You could try resizing them to a more standard 800 x 600 and that would be easier to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Nichols Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Sometimes it's really hard to figure out until the puppy grows up. Often the dog's final size and coat type will make a difference. For instance, if the dog ends up being 28 inches tall and 100 pounds, could be the father was a Newfoundland or some large breed. If the pup ends up being 16 inches tall and the coat becomes more wire-like, then maybe dad was some form of terrier. Ultimately it's probably a guessing game. With mixed breed litters even when you know who the parents are, the puppies often come out very different from each other. But, no matter what mix the puppy is, he's sure a cutie! : ) Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildFlower Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 his tongue has spots on the underside and near the back, blue spots on the sides. i know other breeds can have spots too so i'm not really going to use that to determine. The color blue on the tounge is what would indicate chow as one of his breeds not the spots. As Kathy (Bordercenetrics) pointed out, only chow's have blue tounges. He's definitely very cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Sometimes it's really hard to figure out until the puppy grows up. Often the dog's final size and coat type will make a difference. For instance, if the dog ends up being 28 inches tall and 100 pounds, could be the father was a Newfoundland or some large breed. If the pup ends up being 16 inches tall and the coat becomes more wire-like, then maybe dad was some form of terrier. Ultimately it's probably a guessing game. With mixed breed litters even when you know who the parents are, the puppies often come out very different from each other. But, no matter what mix the puppy is, he's sure a cutie! : ) Congratulations. Thanks! He is a cutie. He's very lovable and learning his commands pretty quickly. He's a wonderful pup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 The color blue on the tounge is what would indicate chow as one of his breeds not the spots. As Kathy (Bordercenetrics) pointed out, only chow's have blue tounges. He's definitely very cute! thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hmm...Where did you get him from? That tail certainly doesn't remind me of a lab or BC tail, so there's at least something else going on in there. Looks chow-like to me. I'd go with Chow mix as well. Your pictures are way to huge for me to see clearly. But the muzzle in the second pic looks poodle to me. Looks chow to me too. Is his tongue black or spotted? Just a note, as it is a very common mistake. Chows have BLUE tongues, not black. Lots of dogs have black spots on their tongues. If your pup has any blue on it's tongue, it has Chow in it. That is the only breed with blue tongues. If not, it could be anything! Also, most of the pups in the litter may have had Lab characteristics, so the litter was described as BC x Lab. But mixed puppies can have more than one father. If Mom went traveling during her heat cycle, she could have mated with multiple dogs. (Just to complicate the situation. Smile) Kathy Robbins so do any of you see any possible border collie characteristics or just chow mixed with something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 FWIW, my computer automatically resizes pictures. While it's still downloading, the pic looks huge, but if I wait for it to download completely then the picture resizes to one that is normal sized. I don't think it's actually my computer doing this, but rather the board software, so at least from my perspective you don't need to do anything to your photos. If the mom was known to be a border collie, then you can assume your pup is half border collie. The question would be what the sire was. As someone else noted, a litter can have more than one sire, so it wouldn't be entirely impossible for your pup to be a chow mix and others in the litter to be lab mixes. Or the sire could have been a mix himself, and some pups show greater characteristics of one of his ancestors, and yours shows greater characteristics of another ancestor. It's all a guessing game. Just be aware that if you do genetic testing to try to figure out the breeds, you might get a totally off the wall answer. Apparently the tests aren't all that accurate, unless something has changed recently. As for the likelihood of chow vs. anything else, chows were common enough a while back. Anything's possible. We are a culture of people who want purebred dogs and we go through cycles where certain breeds are very popular. It's not impossible for a chow to have been roaming around in VA, though as someone else noted, it could also have been a labradoodle or similar, since those are certainly more popular nowadays than chows are. Anyway, it's a cute pup, no matter what the actual breeds in the mix! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 The pics don't resize for me, so I'm just looking at the thumbnails, but my very first thought was poodle. Doesn't sound likely considering the rest of the littermates, so who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 A very cute pup indeed. And wanted to add I wouldn't waste my time if you mean by tested being a genetic test to find out his breed. They are sorely lacking in accuracy. Pick a breed you like and he looks like and voilà there you go! Cute is cute no matter what the breed! Congrats on your new pup! And your pics did for me exactly what Julie mentioned, looked huge but then resized themselves after the were finished loading. So were perfect for my viewing pleasure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Crazies Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 For kicks... allow me to show you some pictures of my Linc as a puppy. There may, indeed, be a border collie somewhere in your puppy's woodpile. Ten weeks: All border collie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Mom Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 For kicks... allow me to show you some pictures of my Linc as a puppy. There may, indeed, be a border collie somewhere in your puppy's woodpile. :lol:/> Ten weeks: All border collie. thanks! what a beautiful pup!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 4, 2013 Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 thanks! what a beautiful pup!! :)/> That's not how we referred to him! But in Linc's defense, he did grow into a quite handsome dog. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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