Winnie the…? Journey to Identify and Market a Rescue Dog

Mixed dogs can often be easy as pie to identify, but if not they are almost impossible. Winnie has proven nearly impossible.

Read more about the continuing mystery here!

Here, again, are her stats:

Height: 15 inches

Length: 23 inches

Ribcage: 20 inches

Weight: 24.5 lbs

Age: 8 months

Tail: Sloping, increasingly bushy, slight flip at tip

Ears: Pointed, wide-set one ear tip floppy

Muzzle: Slim, long

Build: Slim, not a lot of muscle

Bark: A funny little chortle that sounds like she is trying to make words. Could be hound.

Color: Brindle

Coat: Medium, Wiry, Thin

If Winnie was my personal dog, I would probably pony up the $60 for a doggie DNA test because I am just so durned curious about what she is.

We started with an Australian Cattle Dog/Shetland Sheepdog Mix:

Australian Cattle Dog

Shetland Sheepdog

Shetland Sheepdog/Cattle Dog Mix

I don’t hate this guess, because while Winnie has a wiry, mottled coat and bushy tail (Cattle Dog), she has slim, dainty bone structure, small size at 25 lbs and a calm demeanor (Sheltie). But she is a great lap dog and doesn’t need a lot of exercise – the exact opposite of a Cattle Dog and sometimes also of a Sheltie. And on further research of a Cattle Dog, they can be brindle but that is atypical – meaning there is an additional breed at work. There has to be to make her as small as she is. And mainly listing her as a sheltie/cattle dog wasn’t working in her favor, because people are expecting a heavier double coat and a dog that could go cross-country skiing – not Winnie. Her coat is thin.  And as a friend in rescue pointed out, “If people want a Sheltie, Winnie will not suffice.”

So we move on. First, I searched dogs that are typically brindle. It turns out that for a dog to be brindle, most likely one of the parents is brindle. Of course, any kind of pit bull comes up first, but that’s not really useful either. Winnie has thin bones, a thin snout, and no musculature really at all, leaving this big-boned breed out.  Most dogs in shelters are inaccurately identified as chows and pits, and to call Winnie a pit mix would be no less silly.

Brindle Pit Bull

Then there is her bark – really more of a chortle, the same kind of bark that our former Beagle/Retriever mix Birdie sported. It’s so robust and rounded she could almost be making words – definitely the quality of a hound. There are only two brindle hounds, this one a breed I have never heard of and am not sure how one would end up in California – The Tennessee Tree Hound. It’s also muscular when full grown, and so not likely to be a Winnie predecessor.

Tennessee Treeing Hound Puppy

The other kind of hound that runs brindle, the Whippet, is a closer fit, size wise. Those dogs are much thinner and taller than Winnie, but it’s possibly there somewhere. But Whippets are not typically running about in low income neighborhoods creating unwanted puppies, so I consider the likelihood equally slim. And again, anyone looking for a Whippet and Winnie will not suffice – her coat is too long!

Brindle Whippet

Brindle Whippet Mix – But mixed with what??

So where does that leave Winnie?

Winnie

Well, I found one other dog that would be close, but they’re trying even less and just saying Terrier/Hound Mix.

Terrier/Hound Mix

To call her simply a Terrier/Hound is not very scientific, but it leaves the door open for about fifty different breeds to have a hand in Winnie’s make-up. But that is, after all, the most truthful, and we might find the right home for her by being open-ended as possible. Someone looking for a Terrier/Hound is going to be fine with her size and be fine with a wiry coat and not mind a little barking chortle and a long snout and funny pointy ears with one tip flopped over.

But then I looked and Terrier and Hound, while designations within Petfinder’s admin system, are not actually options when people are searching for a dog! So I went back to Sheltie being the primary breed, because it is the closest to her size, temperament, and build and then Whippet for the secondary breed, because it best describes her size and build and possible life activity spectrum- phew! The best thing about choosing these is that she also has less “competition” because there are fewer of these dogs. People who start out looking for a purebred animal will probably settle for a great dog that is not as specific – Voila! I’ll let you know!

Update! Even though I almost panicked and changed her breed from Whippet to some kind of terrier, a lovely couple found her by searching for Whippets, just interested in a dog of that size and shape. The bonus? Their last dog was a cattle dog! They saw the resemblance too. Meant to be! So it wasn’t a bad guess, and I am glad they found her before I changed it to Sheltie/Terrier! In the future I will just make the dogs multiple listings under any possible breed matches. But that’s not the least of my discoveries today, this one brought to the table by a friend in rescue:

Here are pictures of an African breed of hound called a Basenji that is known for its chortle. They average 22-26.5 pounds.

Purebred Basenji

Winnie

Basenji Mix Online

There is also, however, a Taiwanese dog called a Formosan Mountain Dog or Tugou (which according to the reading, there is a difference) that are actually a good deal of the Basenji mixes Stateside.

Formosan Mountain Dog from Wikipedia

Brindle Basenji Mix

Formosan Mountain Dog!

To Conclude:

I learned a few things from this. First, that Winnie is likely a Taiwanese Formosan Mountain Dog or a Basenji or a mix of the two. But that isn’t the most important thing. If I hadn’t randomly chosen Whippet, even though I wasn’t sure, we would not have found the home that ultimately will be hers. And they love her because she is exactly what she is. So from now on when I have a mystery breed dog, I will be making multiple listings with every possible combination, because we wouldn’t want to miss out on a technicality!