What in the world is my dog??

[Nanners]

I see a lot of breed guess threads here, and I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring... This is my pup Granger. He's 7 months old, and flirting with 50 lbs. I'm not sure of his height, but he's pretty tall. His mother (who I saw, she was with him at the rescue), is definitely just your garden variety lab/pit mix, but what on earth is the rest?? My vet thinks maybe catahoula, but I hear dane from people, too. What do you think?

ETA, the first pics are more recent, the others are from right after we got him, at 16 wks.

http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/JoMama2boys/

[Catubodua]

def. catahoula, with pit. i don't see lab at all. he looks like such a cutie

[angie7]

I have been heavily involved in the Dane breed for many years and happily have one laying at my feet right now but I don't see Dane. That coat is very unique, def. not a lab coat but a cataloula I can totally see. The only thing that would throw me off with that is they are not a popular breed but that varies depending on where you live too. I see a lot of pit so I'm guessing that the father was either full pit or at least 1/2.

[beanma]

Wow! He's really striking. What interesting coloring. Are his eyes blue? If so I'd think catahoula is a good guess 'cause they often have blue eyes, don't they? If it was just a trick of the camera maybe could be some pointer in there giving the funky spots or possibly some blue tick coonhound. I definitely see the pit bull.

[Nanners]

His eyes are cracked. Each is half blue, half brown. What I think is interesting is that they are identical, each containing the same amount of blue and brown, and split in the same spot. Also, his toes are webbed practically to his claws, but he isn't a fan of the water. He's so gentle, and laid back. He's astonishingly calm and tolerant. I like Danes, I think they're nice dogs, but I truthfully am relieved to hear the opinion of a Dane owner that he is not part Dane. I just don't have the room for an enormous dog. Of course, I'd make it work, but it wouldn't be ideal. The vet thinks he'll top out at 65 lbs or so. I agree that he doesn't look labby at all, but his mother was definitely part lab. Around here, most dogs you see, esp in rescues, are at least half pit. I've owned pits in the past, and he has many of their tendencies, excluding, fortunately, the tendency to chew up everything not nailed down, and half of what is nailed down. I've had dogs my entire life, there has always been at least one canine family member, and I can say conclusively that this is the BEST dog I have ever had. He's wonderful. We're working towards CGC and eventually therapy dog status with a local group right now, and I am very excited, because he's going to be sooo good at it!

[Catubodua]

good for you!

we've got our CGC and just passed our Therapy Dog test. i'm just trying to finalize all the paperwork to send in to get our ID and vest.

[Girl In The Fire]

Probably a cathoula mix as others have said.

A little bit or recent APBT history...Several years ago there was a "fad" where merle APBT's started popping up out of the blue. They result looked exactly like your dog. Merle has never been a color in APBT's going back hundreds of years so obviously something, most likely catahoulas, were mixed in. The fad seems to have died off after breed clubs changed the breed standard to make merle a DQ fault and registries stopped registering merle dogs.

ETA: Congrats on the CGC. Did you do the TDI test? If you did read the paperwork about the insurance carefully, they changed it a few years back, I don't remember the details but it was rather restrictive regarding visiting and what kind you could do.

[Catubodua]

thanks!

and, no, i went through Delta Society. i will keep this in mind and read the insurance stuff carefully.

as of now, even once i get the stuff done, i may have to wait on doing visits. many nursing homes in my area require a TB test before you can volunteer there and right on the paper it says if you are preggers or breast feeding you can't have the test.

[gumby74]

I am wondering if maybe there is some australian cattledog mixed in there? In any case.....very sweet looking!

[Breathless Wonder]

Looks just like the catahoula/ pit mix I'm currently fostering!

[Girl In The Fire]

Delta Society is a great organization, I stopped using TDI and will only use Delta Society. You don't have to visit nursing homes and medical settings exclusively, there are a ton of other opportunities out there. Are there any therapy groups near you that you can join? They usually do different types of visits in non medical settings.

[SevenVeils]

I see Catahoula, Pit and Lab. I don't see any Dane, but you should know that Catahoula mixes are often mistaken for some kind of Dane mix.

Even if he happened to be part Dane, 7 months and 50 lbs will never turn into an enormous dog.

[angie7]

Originally Posted by SevenVeils

Even if he happened to be part Dane, 7 months and 50 lbs will never turn into an enormous dog.

Yep! I had a male Dane that was 120lbs at 6 months!!!

[Nanners]

The therapy group I would be working with goes to schools, as well as to medical facilities and nursing homes, they also do community outreach at parades and fairs, etc. The woman who runs the show suggested not doing the CGC test 'till he's a year old, and taking it from there. As of right now, I feel pretty confident about everything CGC tests for, except for his other dog manners. He gets really excited by other dogs, and wants to play. Strangers are no problem, nor is obedience or separation. I've never heard of Delta Society. I'll be looking into it.

[Nanners]

Originally Posted by angie7

Yep! I had a male Dane that was 120lbs at 6 months!!!

Wow... that's a lotta dog!