Help...What is My dog?

[JustJo]

Help! Are there any terrier people in our group? I have been trying to figure out what breed of terrier Rockie is mixed with in order to try and understand a bit of her personality. I am completely uneducated in terriers and never really planned on having one until I rescued Rockie. The vet thinks she is a terrier/collie mix and the rescue group came up with wolfhound/terrier mix (which I don't see wolfhound at all).

I guess I am thinking that if I knew what breed of terrier she has in her I could read about the personality traits of that breed and try and understand her a bit better and approach her training in the proper way. Kind of like doing a genealogy trace.

She weighs 55 lbs; is around 20" at the shoulder, her tail is curled on the end but stands straight up like a terrier's. She is gold colored and marked like a herding dog, with four white socks, white tip on her tail, and a small white stripe down her face. Her coat is entirely wire-haired.

I attempted to go to some terrier websites, but they only want to discuss pure-breds.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Jo


http://photos3.flickr.com/3765236_5d201c8c3e.jpg

http://photos3.flickr.com/3765232_f16b7c97ad.jpg

[ChihuahuaCat]

I don't know if this helps but try this:
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/
Try going to the breed selector and entering all the traits of your dog. It might help. :p

[Hanajunsmom]

Wow that is a tough one. I will see if I can figure it out. Rockie is ADORABLE. I love her ears. Good luck!

[swtnikki]

I'd say a wheaten terrier. If you don't know what one looks like, here's a piccie below.
http://www.allpets.com/petcyclopedia/dogs/docgrafx/softwhea.jpg

[JustJo]

Nikki -

Wow! That looks so close!! The coloring is perfect...the only thing is is that I believe the Wheaten has a soft coat and Rockie's is wirey. Can a Wheaten Terrier have a wiry coat also?

I'll go back and look again. I really need to educate myself on terriers because I have never had one and they definitely have a different personality that any other dogs i have owned before.

thanks again!!

[swtnikki]

Yeah, no prob. :) Looking at the pics again, she looks like Sandy, the dog that was in Annie. I dunno about the coat though..maybe there's another breed mixed in that gives Rocky her wirey coat. I'm usually good at telling what kind of breed a dog is too. Sometimes when me & Kenny take a walk, he'll say, "Aww, look at the doggie" & I'll tell him the name of the breed. :p

[princessnmi]

What about a border terrier? Hopefully this link will work so that you can see a picture of one...Rockie is so cute...but she's got me stumped.

http://www.puppyfind.com/?act=search&profile=1&subject=Border+Terrier&sc=b&cont_subject=&more=15&post_flag=&page=4


heres the link...hope it works

[swtnikki]

What about a border terrier?
Hmm...we might be onto something here. Wheaten *for color* + border *for coat* + little collie mixed in = Rocky. I think us two figured out the mystery mix. :cool:

[Hanajunsmom]

Here is a picture of my Shaggee girl after a hair cut. The vet said that she looked like a soft-coated wheaton terrier with maybe some lab in her? I don't see the lab but who knows. It is a mystery. What are some of your dogs personality traits? Does he sing and talk to you? Just curious!

[doggie99933]

wow this is s tough one!! i would say she is a wheaten terrier/mix! but what do i know! thats my best guess!! GOOD LUCK!! :)

[Magnum]

A Border Terrier has a distinct dark muzzle, but their coat can be red, grizzle and tan, blue and tan, or wheaten. Border was my first guess too because of Rocky's ear shape, coat, fine nose and slender legs. I love terriers and think Rocky has an adorable face. :D

[iLuVpEtS]

My mom said to go to yahoo.com and use the search ingine and put "terrier breed pix" and it brings up a BUNCH of pix of terriers, it helped us find the breed of a rescued wheaten we have named smokey. I will try to post a pic of cookie, (our irish wolf hound) is black though. But it looks like her!shehttp://images.snapfish.com/3429944323232%7Ffp4%3Evq%3D3252%3E398%3E869%3EWSNR CG%3D323282394%3A523vq0mrj[IMG]

:rolleyes: I hope this works, I have never done this with this site so it might not. I guess I will see when it is posted. Uh? Well, I appoligize if it does not!

[iLuVpEtS]

http://images.snapfish.com/3429944323232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2343%3D489%3D95%3A%3DX ROQDF%3E2323732%3A3%3B432ot1lsi
Okay tried a doferent way. Sorry it did not work last time! Let see how this is!

[iLuVpEtS]

YAY, I found out how...It was easy once I knew how to do it. LOL I am dumb. LOL Well, if you notice in the last she has a little smill on her face..LOL In the next I am posting she is submissive. Jst letting you kno because we did not beat her or anything she is just wierd like that. LOL. I am hopeing to get around to posting some other pix of my babies her in the next few days. I might be to busy but I will see.http://images.snapfish.com/3429944323232%7Ffp7%3Evq%3D3252%3E398%3E869%3EWSNR CG%3D3232823948583vq0mrj

[Magnum]

OMGosh, look at BOB.....I saw this pic on the net and thought "please have Bob's mix listed"....Rats!!!! It just says Terrier mix...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/BuBair/Bob.jpg

[princessnmi]

I found these pics on a Border Terrier breeders web page...let me know what you think

[JustJo]

You guys are the BEST!! I went to the Internet and looked up the Wheaten, Border, and Irish Wolfhound. Firsat I want to say that this has been a blast attempting to find out my rescue dog's genealogy. I'll bet there are quite a few people on PetLover's that have wondered the same.

I'd like to list the personality traits I have noticed in Rockie that appear to be "terrier" traits since I have never seen them in any of my other dogs (sheltie, lab, Great Dane) and which have raised my curiosity having never dealt with this type personality before:

She is quick to bark at ANYTHING, quick to chase, aggresion towards other animals and dogs of the same sex, feisty, scrappy, independent, a digger/escape artist, persistent, and clever. She is not immediately friendly towards people until she gets to know them.

Thanks to Nikki, Krystle, and Molly I went to Wheaten first. According to what I read that is similar to Rockie is that they do have the typical aggression towards other animals but get along fine with other family pets, dig holes, bark a lot, and they are diggers. The Wheaten traits that do not match up with Rockie are that they have separation anxiety and do not like being left alone, they are more congenial than other terriers and after barking to announce strangers they then welcome them as long lost firends, and that they are very stubborn.

Thanks to Princessnme and Magnum (By the way Magnum - "Bob" is strikingly similar looking to Bob) I went to several Border terrier sites and found that like Rockie they are pretty easy to groom compared to other wire-haired terriers, they are sturdy and tough, and they are diggers. The Border Terrier traits that don't seem to match her are that Border terriers are much less aggressive to strange dogs than other terriers, are much more sociable to strangers, and they don't shed much.

Thanks to Hailee I looked up the wolfhound (which the rescue group had her listed as a wolfhound mix) and Cookie's face looks awfully familiar to Rockie's. I was amazed to find some similarities with the wolfhound. They were (of course) the wiry coat and whiskery face, playful and silly, aggression towards other dogs of the same sex, chase and seize cats (the rescue group would not adopt her out to a home with cats - she HATES cats!), very protective instincts twowards strangers. I won't list what wasn't like her because she obviously doesn't have the size problems of wolfhounds.

This has been great and I want ot thank anyone who wants to try and figure Rockie out.

One thing I forgot to add about her is that she has the weirdest color of eyes!! They are a yellow/green which I have never seen before except in cats. The only breeds I am aware of where yellow eyes are considered okay are the Austalian Shepard, Wire-Haired Griffon, Weimeriner (sp?). I know that yellow eyes are usually a BIG default in most other breeds. Here is a better pic of her eyes.

http://photos2.flickr.com/3765233_ca91c83f96.jpg