SaraHaira Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hello! I've been browsing here for some time and thought I'd check to see if I'm even in the right place;) Regardless, I'm very grateful for the information I've found here, like Control Unleashed for example. "Look at that" is saving our lives!! Jolene came to us from a shelter whose best guess was that she is an Aistralian Cattle Dog mix. That seems likely, considering her coloring, but she's much leaner than most ACD's and seems to have some BC characteristics. People ask me often what she is. It, of course, doesn't matter to is what our Jo is, we love her no matter what makes up our mitt! But I figured this was the place to get a consensus! Thanks for taking a look and for all of the info I've gleaned so far:) Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Oops- bigger pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 One more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borasaurus Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Welcome! She looks like a McNab/ACD to me. What's her behavior like? Something about the shape of her face reminds me of my dog, Kieran. I'm from CA, too, but pretty far from you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Oops- sorry for the double posts of photos; I just figured out how the thumbnails work Borasaurus- she's got a ton of energy- people always comment on her speed and height when jumping for balls. But she has never destroyed anything in the house (we got her at about 10 weeks) and she settles pretty well. She loves playing with the soccer ball- she crouches in the grass waiting for you to kick it and just stares at it quite intensely until you do. She's super quick- teaching her has been pretty easy, though she can be stubborn. I'm originally from San Diego, if your part SoCal is anywhere near there:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borasaurus Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Oh, hey! I used to live in San Diego. I moved to LA area. I want to move back to SD - it's more dog friendly than here. What brought you to NorCal? You can PM me if you don't want to write it publicly. I think McNabs can be similar to border collies. They were originally from NorCal. I don't really know much about them, but from pics (and what others have said to me), I can see McNab in my own dog and something about your Jo is similar to mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 No problem! My husband works in Silicon Valley, so... We're here:) Our town is very dog friendly, but I do miss San Diego:) People have suggested McNabb- I had never heard of them until recently, so who knows! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfisher7151 Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi there! Your dog is beautiful! I don't know about everyone else, but I see a LOT of BC in her. There's something about her face that seems really BC to me. I would have gone to say that she could be purebred, but given the docked tail I wouldn't be surprised if she's a heeler mix too. My bet would be BC/heeler. I see a ton of them in my area, and they all look very similar to your girl. Whatever she is, she's gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I see a lot of BC in her, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Welcome! And Thank you for adopting from a shelter. Jo looks like a great dog - and she is gorgeous. I would concur with an ACD X BC. Her coloring reminds me of ACDs (although I have seen some BCs with similar coloring), but her leaner body, particularly her head, reminds me of a BC. The stumpy tail? Some BCs from western ranches might have their tails docked, so I wouldn't put much significance to her tail - other than it is really cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 The docked tail could be suggestive of McNab, or, as others have said, some people do dock border collies' tails, so it doesn't prove anything. As for her coloring, there's nothing unusual about a heavily ticked border collie, and it doesn't necessarily mean she's an ACD mix. But she also could be. The leaner build doesn't support it, but it would depend on how much ACD's in the mix and which parent(s) she tends to take after. IDK how (or if) McNabs' working style may differ from border collies, i.e. whether they use "eye" or if they crouch like many (but not all) border collies do. Some say they're calmer and less excitable then border collies, but not all border collies are excitable. All this goes to say that we're probably not going to be able to tell you just what Jo is. If I saw her pictures and was told she was a purebred border collie, I wouldn't question it. But she could also be a mix of any of the three breeds. Like you said, it doesn't really matter just what she is, just that she's a great dog and you love her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 For comparison, here are a couple of pictures of my Star, who is a working bred border collie. His coloring and ears are a lot like your Jo's. Jo looks like a great dog. Good job, adopting her from a shelter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I would never look at her and guess ACD cross. She looks border collie to me. Heavy ticking is not only the province of cattle dogs. And she's not at all built like an ACD either. I think she's lovely. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teresaserrano Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Whatever she is, she looks like a fantastic beautifull dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks everyone! Interesting to hear input from people with so much BC experience. We actually met a McNab/BC today that looked a lot like Jo- ticking and all. So maybe we've been giving the assumption that she must be part ACD to much heed after all! She was brought into the shelter by a family with 4 small children (no wonder- she pretty much ate us alive with her shark teeth for the first month) who, I believe, said they had found her around 6 or 7 weeks. I had always been suspicious that they had probably got her from a backyard breeder or ranch, especially if her little nub was docked, not natural. (I do have tail envy, especially for the white tipped ones, but her nub furiously wiggling is pretty darn cute) As soon as I saw her photo online, I knew she was mine. I drove 2 hours to see her, and then they made me come back the next day to get her. She was worth it! She's already such a great dog and we love her so much:) I'm going to take all of your words for it and huess that I've got some sort of a BC. I look forward to having such a great resource in all of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Welcome aboard! It will be fun to hear more about Jo. My Daisy -- the dog in my avatar -- came to me 10 years ago as a rescue from southern Utah. She also has a docked tail. I think at least in Utah and eastern Oregon it's not that uncommon that border collies have docked tails. Daisy can also wag her nub a mile a minute! And of course after all this time, it's just how Daisy is. Your vet can probably tell if it's docked or natural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I think that the ACD broadness is fairly dominant, so I wouldn't have guessed ACD based on anything except her coloring, and as others have said, that isn't strictly an ACD color. I really think she is at least part BC, possibly BC/McNabb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borasaurus Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I guess I thought ACD because in the third picture she looks stockier. It's hard to judge in photos. McNab because of the location, but then again just because there are more Mcnabs there doesn't mean there are less border collies, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurelin Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Maybe it's the area I'm in but ACDs seem to come in all shapes and sizes around here. Some are stockier than BCs but some aren't. Most are docked. I've met tiny petite < 30 lb and 15" ACDs as well as some that are probably 70+ lbs and almost labby in build. Basically anything speckled around here is called a 'heeler'. I rarely see dogs that look like show type heelers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MossyOak Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfisher7151 Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Most heelers I know around here are very athletic and lean. The only bulldoggy ones you see here are always really old. Most BC/Heeler mixes I've met look quite a bit like BC's. Many can and will take after the finer bone structure of the BC. I think I thought Heeler mostly from her stance in the last one. She looks to be a pretty upright dog. Though I've met McNabs that were really upright too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraHaira Posted March 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Well I won't count out that she may have some ACD in her as well, although most of the ones I see are much shorter and stockier than Jolene. I also have never seen one with as much black as her- usually all blue, or big spots of black at most. Although I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule;) The third photo shows her standing very alert (waiting for her daddy to whistle for her to run back down the hill), but when she runs she crouches really low, even pushes her ears back all the way. When she's waiting for a ball to be kicked or thrown, she lowers her head and crouches, just a bit- not as much as I would expect a BC to, necessarily. She also gets obsessed with waiting behind other dogs at the dog park who's owner is about to throw the ball for them. She crouches or lays down and barks at them incessantly and then just chases them while they fetch. The park we go to has a ton of geese that we pass walking in- she lowers her head and just stares at them as we pass. Maybe none of this is attributed to her breed, specifically! It all just makes me wonder;) Of course I couldn't get a great photo as she was doing it, but this is sort of how she lowers her head and waits for the soccer ball to be kicked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.