Just for fun. Do you think...

[burke-a-bee]

my dog is this type of breed?
My dog:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/4...c13d8fc2_m.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/30...56000fc877.jpg

Breed (random picture):
http://www.bristoltn.org/images/pics/CRW_0051.JPG

http://www.dogsindepth.com/herding_d...linois_h02.jpg

Okay minus the floppy ears..I think it's from a lack of calcium.

[rhubarbarin]

Looks like a Belgian Malinois.. beautiful breed, but rare.

Your dog does just almost exactly like one, but chances are much higher yours is just a garden-variety German Shepherd mix!

[thekimballs]

Your dog is beautiful, but no, not a Malinois. Your dog is definitely a Shepherd mix, but the ears are because there's something else there that had floppy ears.

Malinois are not out there making a lot of mixes--there are not that many of them in the US. And they have a very distinctive head and jaw that doesn't look like the Shepherd head and jaw (they look like their mouths are hinged at their ears).

[oursweetboys]

Actually, it's possible that there could be some of the Belgian Malinois in him/her, though I understand the PP's first inclination to be shepherd mix.
Your dog looks very much like a couple of dogs who live down the road from me that are Chinooks. I assumed they were shepherd mixes until I spoke with the owner. Apparently, they are considered to be an AKC Stock Service Breed(not registered). It seems that they originated in the early 1900's by crossing a Husky with a Mastiff type dog and then breeding the offspring with Belgian and German Shepard type dogs. Here's a link...
They seem to vary quite a bit but some of the pics do resemble your dog. Do you live in the North East by any chance? This is where the breed originated. I suppose though, that since the Chinook was created by crossing shepherds, your dog could be a common shepherd mix that happens to resemble a Chinook. Regardless, you have a beautiful dog!!

[burke-a-bee]

Om my...he definately has the head of a Chinook and body of Malinois. I've never even heard of a Chinook. Our dog trainer, who trains Malinois commented that she thought he was Malinois but thought calcium was the reason his ears were floppy. We adopted him from the pound in south Florida. Now I'm convinced he's Malinois and Chinook. I would think striaght up Shep mix but I had a white shep and he was fuller. This guy has more of a slender body and head.
Thanks.

[oursweetboys]

My neighbor's Chinooks definitely have a more slender body and head than a German Shepherd Dog. It sounds like the Malinois is one of the breeds that was originally used to create the Chinook breed.

[thekimballs]

I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but the chances of somebody having an unspayed/unneutered pair of those dogs and not taking care of the puppies themselves is REALLY small. Chinooks are so rare that most people have never even heard of them--I live in NH and have never seen one in real life; there's not a large population period, much less a large population of carelessly bred ones. And Malinois are the same--when your dog was born, there were maybe a thousand? Maybe two thousand? Malinois registered across the entire US. These are breeds that just don't contribute to the homeless dog population with any regularity.

Shepherds, labs, border collies, poodles, of course pit bulls by the thousands, hounds, the more common terriers, and the failed sales of the purebred and designer dogs bred by bad breeders--these are what end up breeding together to create the dogs found in shelters.

He's a very, very handsome shepherd mix, maybe shepherd/lab or similar. The masking gene is dominant, so a shepherd/yellow lab mix gets a mask.

There are lots of shepherds and Labs that are tall and skinny like that: I grew up with no-brand Shepherds and Labs and plenty were very narrow in the head and body. Like this guy:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Dog_Casey.jpg
and this guy:
http://www.southlandkennel.com/images/joejanuary.jpg

[burke-a-bee]

Oh your not bursting my bubble. I'm just looking for an opinion. Yours is lab/shep mix. Got it. Check.
The chances of someone having an unspayed/unneutered pair of those dogs and not taking care of the puppies is not that small where I lived. You'd be surprised. I've seen many rare pure breed dogs at the shelter not picked up by their owners because they didn't want to take the time. I believe he ended up at the shelter partly because of his fear of loud noises. Maybe a runaway.

[it's just apples]

I agree completely with thekimballs. Your sweet dog actually looks just like my lab/shepherd mix female, except that my dog is black. She has littermates with the same masking color that your dog has. It's a pretty common mix with some pretty diverse outcomes. Like thekimballs stated, it would be almost unheard of for a rare breed mix to just show up.

[SevenVeils]

Well, I don't agree that the only dogs in shelters are certain mixes.

That said, though, I don't agree that your dog is a Malinois mix. I used to have a friend with a Mal when I was growing up, and I used to fool around a bit in Schutzhund so I've seen quite a few of them IRL, live and close up.

Oh, and lack of calcium doesn't cause floppy ears!

[mom0810]

There are lots of Shepherds and Malinois that have ears that DON"T go up either because of genetics or poor health. I would not rule Malinois out just because of the ears being droopy. I have seen (and bred) some Shepherds whose ears, for whatever reason, just did not stand. Sometimes they fall during teething and just never go back up.

Same is true of any breed with prick ears. Malamutes, Sibes, Pems, Cardis, Shepherds, Geez, the list could go on all day. Drop ears do not mean another breed is in there. Just could mean his ears did not go up. Lots of people who show the above breeds end up taping ears because they are not standing. If the ears never get taped, they just will never stand back up.

[mom0810]

Oh, and it's pretty common knowledge among breeders of dogs with ears like Shepherds or Mals that a lack of calcium CAN make the ears drop. It's something I was taught like 25 years ago.

[SevenVeils]

Originally Posted by mom0810

Oh, and it's pretty common knowledge among breeders of dogs with ears like Shepherds or Mals that a lack of calcium CAN make the ears drop. It's something I was taught like 25 years ago.

Heh. Well, if that is true then I stand corrected