Shaded sable with raccoon eyes

Petitina said:
What a cutie! Call me crazy, but I'd guess sheltie spaniel mix for the father. I would also say your pup is at least 75% sheltie. What's his personality like?

I would take the genetic tests with a bit of a grain of salt - they're still not perfect and unlikely ever will be. But they're still lots of fun!
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Note:

Earlier in this thread we (my daughter and I) guessed Corgi and or an Aussie for what Riley's dad is other than a sheltie.

I change my mind and agree with you, my guess now is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel in the mix with sheltie. I saw a picture of one with the exact same coloring as Riley's dad!
 
Mally's Mom said:
Note:

Earlier in this thread we (my daughter and I) guessed Corgi and or an Aussie for what Riley's dad is other than a sheltie.

I change my mind and agree with you, my guess now is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel in the mix with sheltie. I saw a picture of one with the exact same coloring as Riley's dad!
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I too agree with the spaniel bet :wink2:

Can't wait to hear the results!!!
 
To me, dad doesn't appear to be a purebred sheltie. Spaniel wouldn't be a far fetched guess. I've seen plenty come through petfinder with that look to them that were supposed to be sheltie/spaniel mixes
 
Hmm... I had never considered spaniel, but they've got the coloring too.

Anyway, the picture of Riley's dad is somewhat deceiving. We were given that picture before we went to see the puppies. My husband was freaking out and saying "that's not a sheltie!!!!" When we saw him in person, both of us thought that he looked like a sheltie (we aren't experts, but we know what shelties look like). It looks like he has a short muzzle in the picture, but it's long and sheltie-like in person. He's ears are flopped down, but shelties can have that too. I wish I had another picture that looked more like him.

The breeders believe that Riley's dad is 100% sheltie. We asked if he was purebred and they said yes. I'm sure they wouldn't have bred them, if they didn't believe it. Whether it's true, I don't know. In seeing him in person, the only thing that seems off is the coloring. It really could be any breed that has similar coloring.

As far as Riley's temperament, he's a pretty typical puppy. He LOVES being underfoot to the point where it's hard to talk him on a walk without tripping over him. He also loves to hide under anything, our couch, our bed, even a chair, or me squatting. He is attached to both me and my husband. If he sees either of us leave, he will go into a frenzy being upset if he's not distracted. He also gives a frenzied greeting when either of us return, and has done it to a lesser degree for other people. He loves fetch and tug-of-war, but only inside. Outside he's too distracted to play with toys. He eats dirt and other outside debris, he licks concrete (especially cracks). He digs in the dirt just enough to get his feet dirty. He's never tried to chase a car, person, or squirrel, but he did chase after a cat once (only went 15 ft before coming back). He's not a huge barker unless he's playing certain games, and he'll quiet down easily. He barely barked at all until he was about 12 weeks old. I thought shelties were big on barking, but neither of his parents barked while we were there either.

DNA might not be perfect, but it's our best bet at finding out the truth!
 
RileyPuppy said:
The breeders believe that Riley's dad is 100% sheltie. We asked if he was purebred and they said yes. I'm sure they wouldn't have bred them, if they didn't believe it.
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Well, d'you really think they would've told you, "No, he's a mutt"? :wink2:

You know his breeders far better than I do... maybe they really were innocent and hadn't a clue that daddy wasn't 100% Sheltie. But... in looking at the picture...

Here's the thing: having looked at many, many, many Shelties, I've seen the myriad ways that they go "off" when they're incorrect. There's the AOACs with the gargantuan heads... the Sables that look like coyotes... the Pom-Shelties, with no foreface... the anteater Shelties, with needle noses. They're all lovely companions and dearly-loved by their families - I would never argue otherwise. What I'm trying to say is that in the closed gene-pool of a breed, there are only so many genes... so there are only so many ways that a Sheltie can depart from the ideal. And Riley's dad is leagues outside of what I have seen among purebred Shelties - which leads me to believe that he isn't purebred (and that his owners must have been fairly clueless if they thought that he was). I could certainly be wrong... but I'm going to join the chorus and put my money on some kind of beagle cross. :smile2:

I certainly hope you didn't get fleeced. It does sound like you got an awesome little puppy, and that's what really counts.
 
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But why are they breeding him if he's not even registered (I'm not counting ckc papers, if he's ckc registered- ckc registers everything)?
 
Thanks for the input!

I do think that the breeders believe the dad is a purebred sheltie, although they may not be that knowledgeable about shelties. They may have gotten duped themselves? They own 8 poodles and 2 shelties, so maybe they're more poodle people.

I know they've bred Riley's mom 3 times (she's 6 yrs old), but this is the first time with Riley's dad. I know they aren't breeding for profit... obviously, or they'd sell registered dogs. I think it's more of a hobby, something they enjoy.

I still say that Riley's dad looks much more like a sheltie in person than in the picture, but obviously that's not something that any of you can judge. In any breed of dog, of course the gene pool is limited. That's why I made the post, to see if this coloring was in the gene pool.

Since it's not, more than likely there's another breed in there. Perhaps there's a small chance that it's a genetic anomaly or spontaneous defect of some sort. Since Riley's only function to me is that of a lovable pet, I don't mind what breed he is. I do think it's interesting and I'd like to know though. I'd like to think that if he is a mix, that he may even be healthier than the average purebred.

It makes me think of an episode of Judge Judy, where a lady was suing a guy that sold her a 'teacup chihuahua'. It grew to something like 11 lbs, so she had it DNA tested. It came back with 6 different breeds, but none of them were chihuahua. That dog looked very chihuahua-like, only huge! You really never know what breed a non-registered dog has in it unless you have it tested.

I'm excited to find out!
 
Results are IN!

No other breeds are detected in Riley's DNA. His DNA is within the range of what is expected for a purebred sheltie.

They do three different cluster analyses. Two of them, he was more toward the center, away from the edge.

He is, however, at the edge of the cluster for the "closest breeds analysis". Apparently, the 2 closest breeds to sheltie are collies and long-haired dachshunds. He's on the long-haired dachshund side of the cluster, not the collie side.

Because of this, the test states that this may be the result of a foreign or rare family line which has been bred away from the purebred Shetland Sheepdog families in their database, or it could indicate that he is a mixed breed dog from so many generations ago that a different breed can no longer be detected.

I'm a little surprised, but I still wish I had a better photo of his dad. I agree his dad looks very mixed breed in that photo. Not so much in real life. Anyway, so there you have it!
 
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