Your dog is a ‘mix,’ but what mix?
Your dog is a ‘mix,’ but what mix?
Why identifying your crossbreed can help you understand your dog
When you get a dog from an animal shelter, more often than not, crossbreeds are not identified. One worker told me that when they used to try to guess the breeds and document them on adoption papers, dog adopters would later tell them the puppy grew up to look like a completely different breed. I didn’t know much about Dachshunds when I adopted my dog Junee, but random men kept yelling, “Is that a hot dog?” at me whenever I walk her. So I settled on Dachshund Mix.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about her was less Dachshund and more of something else. She started to gain a little weight, but her legs were getting longer instead of stumpy. Adult Standard Dachshunds are somewhere between 16 to 32 pounds and stand at 9 inches. She’s blowing past that height at 13 inches in five months. The more she leaped into the air like a kangaroo, I was growing nervous. Dachshunds are notorious for back problems and aren’t supposed to jump on furniture. Meanwhile, mine was leaping onto my couches like a kangaroo.
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I had to get to the bottom of this, and trying to narrow it down by dogs popular in each state wasn’t really working. Her face looks more like a Doberman Pinscher but her puppy body was started out like a Dachshund. But when she walks, she may as well be a lawnmower, considering the way she shoves her nose in the ground and takes what feels like years to finally release herself in the yard.
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If a squirrel, a bird, a bunny, a boy on a bike, a maintenance worker, a lightning bug or piece of litter rolls by, she’s lost interest completely in why she was barking her head off to come outside and release herself. I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing headphones wherever I go. If I get to the end of one song, I’m over the yard excursion. She can try again in 30 minutes. I have stuff to do!
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I suspected she was some kind of Hound dog from this behavior alone, plus the dog owner who walked by and said, “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog” (thank God he left out the Elvis impersonation). But a couple of ladies seemed skeptical, wondering how a Hound dog could possibly mate with a Dachshund. She’s not a tall dog, but she definitely is losing her initial Dachshund physique and that narrow front end is nonexistent. So I went off into the world of crossbreed apps to read the best guesses.
I got nothin’ but a Hound dog: My crossbreed hunch may be right
There are countless dog apps to identify dog breeds on Google Play and the Apple Store, but I needed to find one that was Android friendly. (That leaves you out of the mix, Microsoft Fetch!) I settled on Siwalu Software GmbHEducation’s Dog Scanner. (With 32,536 reviews and counting, and a 4.5-star review, it had to at least be decent.) My suspicions were immediately confirmed. No matter what other results came up, Hound was in the mix and Transylvanian Hound (another dog breed I had no familiarity with) showed up no matter which image I used. Meanwhile Kaynel’s Scan Dog mobile app was determined to make her a Coonhound.
Why does the crossbreed mix matter?
I run across dog owners who just say their dog is a “mutt,” a “hybrid*” or a “crossbreed” and leave it at that. But as a prior owner of a purebred German Shepherd and a hybrid dog (Black Labrador Retriever and German Shepherd), it’s helpful to know the habits, energy level, diet and socialization habits of these dogs.
Without knowing what kind of breed you’re dealing with, it’s pretty much a guessing game. And one glance at the Transylvanian Hound as a puppy filled in quite a few puzzle pieces for me. (Interestingly, the short-legged Transylvanian Hound is reportedly extinct, so I’m not ruling out Dachshund altogether.) And considering her startling reaction (compared to other dogs) to seeing a full-breed Doberman Pinscher walking by us on our walk, I cannot ignore that she tangled my entire wrist in a dog leash trying to get close to this tame, completely uninterested dog.
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Honestly, I’m so sold on my annoyingly nosy dog that her breed is more of a fun fact. She’s attached to my hip, leg, neck and hair no matter where I go. (I’m not kidding. She’s pawed through every single neatly brushed ponytail I’ve had since I got her, and I’m starting to embrace a disheveled dog owner look.)
But being prepared for the idea that she could be a minimum of 55 pounds versus a maximum of 32 pounds matters. Knowing she could shoot up to 22–26 inches after bypassing Dachshund’s maximum of 9 inches a few weeks ago makes more sense to me now. And understanding why she both despises the sound of lawnmowers but acts like a living one throughout an entire walk is a happy bonus, too. As she grows and changes, I’ll learn more. I’m not always sold on artificial intelligence, but this is one of a few times where it comes in handy.
Do you know what your dog’s breed is?
* A purebred dog is an animal bred from parents of the same breed or variety. A crossbreed/hybrid dog is a dog from the parents of two varieties or breeds within the same species. A mutt is a dog from the parents of usually undetermined breeds.
Shamontiel is a dog lover to her core: 500 completed walks with 84 dogs, eight dog-housesittings and six dog boardings at the time of this publication.
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