Bear the Wundermutt!

[PythonChick]

Here is a game for you. Based on the following pictures, what do you think Bear is a mix of? Background: Bear came from the local pound eight and a half years ago. These pictures are of him at about three years old. Don't worry if have no ideas, we don't really know either!

[HypoPita]

I think he looks like a mix between a german shepard and a boarder collie. The face seems pretty distinctively german shepard, colorwise, while the front view looks the shape of a boarder collie. And the long black hair and the light chest say boarder collie to me. Looks great whatever he is!

[sekaiNdobes]

What a cutie! I love fuzzy mixes, some of the best dogs I've ever known have been furry mutts!

I can't exactly tell from the photos, but does Bear have short legs? That last photo just screams "corgi" - my bet is a Sheltie/Corgi/Whoknowswhatelse mix. Perhaps some Border Collie, perhaps some Shepherd...

But if I had to label him purely on those photos, I'd say Sheltie/Corgi, with something else that gave him those drop ears. Those are awfully heavy ears to be coming from a corgi, sheltie, border collie or GSD. Hmmm...

[Jamie-n-Heith]

I was thinking shep/corgie/shelti too.... you know they are doing DNA test on dogs now IDK how expensive it is but it would be interesting to find out who got it right.....

[aaramire]

He looks like a Corgi/ English Shepherd mix to me, hes got the head and the ears of an English Shepherd but those short legs.... hmm.
Here is a pic of an ES that looks kind of like Bear. I have shown these dogs for a couple years, and it surprises me how many of them are out there that people are calling shepherd mixes. They are not an AKC recognized breed so I guess that may be part of it.

http://www.englishshepherdcentral.com/images/max4.jpg

[PythonChick]

He does indeed have very short legs. I only just realized now I should have given some size reference. He weighs about 40 pounds in those pictures, so he short but stocky, and he has a REALLY deep bark.

All these guesses are awesome! Thanks for commenting everyone. I like to call him me make believe corgi, but there is actually another breed we think may have contributed two of the man features so any people are talking about. Lets see if anyone can guess what it is!

As for the DNA testing for dogs, I have seen the results of some of those things, and people are largely dissatisfied with them (disclaimer: my general impression). I think the markers they use aren't really distinctive enough as of yet, or else I would totally get it done on him.

[sekaiNdobes]

I agree with you, those genetic tests are, for the most part, a joke.

A friend of mine had her 100lb black and white lab/dane/something mix tested... he came back as Boston Terrier/Maltese.

I guess they got the color right.