PolitePaws

You tell me about 1 feral dog population living in the middle of sydney??? Some people posted some really interesting things based on their knowledge of breeds close to their heart. Others seem to have nothing better to do with their time than go off topic with random comments. Dont worry I won't bother posting anything here ever again.

How funny, because I have had a few picts of GSD X Labs sent to me. There may be something else in there for sure, but it's interesting that so many GSD x Labs look like her.

Um okay so what for all of the puppies that spend their first 8 weeks of life in a whelping box and are not handled by people? MANY puppies experience this but are not scared of people for life. Thats just a silly comment. Also the first 3 weeks are really not that important, but the 4-6 weeks are. Plus I never said I think she is a first gen X. But I would say there are more likely only a few breeds in her rather than hundreds. Also what about the desert dogs that are taken from community dogs as young puppies and adopted into loving families? They are actually feral born and can make great pets. Your opinion is nether backed by facts or useful, but feel free to continue voicing it.

My first thought on seeing this girl was "feral dog". They do exist in urban settings. Sabling or grizzling of coat is something that feral dogs tend to develop over generations. Just out of interest, what were the issues she exhibited at six weeks? If born "wild" I'd certainly expect to see a few in a domestic situation. Fear of unknown humans would be a key one. Are her ears now pricked? ETA: I finally found a suitable picture of a feral dog that hadn't been shot (this one is sleeping). Note the body shape and colouring: If you read my above comments I have listed her issues at 6 weeks. Ohnostly she was not born feral in Maroubra which is in Eastern suburbs of Sydney. She would be a puppy from an accidental mating where someones dog got over the fence. Her behaviours are not feral, they are those of a dog who has had either bad experiences before I got her, or NO experiences at all. In the Eastern Suburbs cross breed dogs are far less common, as are working breeds. Just take a look around at the dogs you see in the area, and the puppies that come through puppy classes. This is especially true for larger dogs which are less commonly crossed than the toy breeds. You see heaps of large pure breed dogs in the Eastern Suburbs, it's really nice actually :)

And just to clarify when I say bark, I don't mean barking like crazy, Just 1 or 2 serious barks with lots of growling. She generally doesn't bark, not even in play. She does howl in the morning when she wakes up for like a minute. Just 1 single long howl. I have listened to husky and saluki howl, and it sounds more like what a Saluki does, but who knows what happens to vocalisations when you start to cross breeds.

As per earlier posts she is she is 6 months old 19kg, and stands 55cm at the shoulder. Behaviourally she is hypervigilant outside the house, which leads her to working herself up quickly around strange environments, people, dogs, kids etc. Basically she is scared of everything, unless she knows the person or dog then within seconds she has flipped and is trying to lick them and wiggle them to death. She is very easily distracted by moving things, and startles easily which causes her to suddenly bolt. When she was 6 weeks old she would think she saw something (even if nothing was there from 100m away) and she would raise hackles and growl/bark in a very offensive manner, before switching to run away mode. Which is really strange. If there was actually a person there the response was 10 fold. She also had very bad resource guarding of food and toys at 6 weeks, hated being handled, touched and restrained and generally wouldn't follow commands or even make eye contact. I have put lots of work into her, and most people can't believe she is the same dog. She can now walk past a person on the street, she gets overly excited with dogs once they come within 5m, she will give me food and toys with no problem (give and take), and will leave an item when asked. Her default behaviour when stressed is to now give me eye contact rather than barking and growling at the thing, or running away. This allows me to then move her away or focus on calming her and doing some more classical conditioning. She also knows sit, drop, come, wait, stay, bed, crate, switch (turn light off), leave it, give, take, let's go (walk on), this way (change direction), auto stop when I stop, and name recongnition. She will perform the ones possible outside at a park say as long as there is a 100m distance from strange people or dogs. And the walking is quite good until she gets too close to a dog. Also she loves chasing her flirt pole, and will run around in circles after it forever. I have only seen this very high chase drive in sighthounds. Also she is very good at catching dry food or a ball in her mouth. and is generally very food motivated. No food is given in a bowl, only hand fed during training (we use it with all training including on walks), or soaked, stuffed and frozen in Kong's etc. She also stays in a crate when we are not home and she is very happy in there. (I have videoed her numerous times). Hope that helps!

We call her our little super model. We also have a super model Chihuahua who has legs that go on forever ;p

She is actually quite big as you will see from the post below. And she much preferred the purple nail caps over the black ones ;p I think she is a girly girl! They are soft paws, which are little caps you glue over the nails.

Alyosha thats heaps interesting. I agree that maybe the GSP, Pointer or Dob could all account for those features. As her deep slim chest reminded me lots of the greyhounds we used to foster, I figured there must be sighthound in there somewhere. But these breeds could easily be the contributing factor. Arcane it's interesting that you should mention GSD, as I contacted the owner of the below pup and it is a GSD x Lab. This puppy is very similar to ours (Sally) in the physical shape and movement at 13 weeks old. I do have videos of Sally too, but don't time right now to upload. But can do later tonight. Dunno if that link will work...Attached is a GSD X Lab as well...

Alyosha thats heaps interesting. I agree that maybe the GSP, Pointer or Dob could all account for those features. As her deep slim chest reminded me lots of the greyhounds we used to foster, I figured there must be sighthound in there somewhere. But these breeds could easily be the contributing factor. Arcane it's interesting that you should mention GSD, as I contacted the owner of the below pup and it is a GSD x Lab. This puppy is very similar to ours (Sally) in the physical shape and movement at 13 weeks old. I do have videos of Sally too, but don't time right now to upload. But can do later tonight. Dunno if that link will work...Attached is a GSD X Lab as well...

I am having trouble finding good picts of stacked husky and kelpie puppies to compare... Dunno if anyone knows of any? Also one thing is her hips are very narrow and she doesn't have much waist definition even though her weight is quite lean. Oh if anyone wants particular photos like close ups or different angles I am happy to provide :)

Hey everyone, Thanks for your responses so far :) Some more info, she is 19kg, and stands 55cm at the shoulder. So he is already at the top of the range for Husky height at only 6 months. And way taller than a kelpie. The Saluki was not just due to colouring but also due to similarities in her physical shape when younger. Her head shape is not right for a husky, the flatness on the top which almost has a peak at the back. What other breeds have this head shape? Now at 6 months she looks less like a saluki, but also still not much like a husky... I thought that putting this to everyone here may be more accurate than a DNA test ;p The photos attached are a saluki and Sally at 9 weeks old. She does now have a double coat around her shoulders and rear (I know it's odd but the main body is single). And her coat is very soft and smooth, which is not what a husky usually feels like. Hence why I am wondering what may have bought in those modifications to the coat. One other thing to consider is the area she was found was Maroubra in the eastern suburbs. This will impact on the chances of what cross she is, as it's much less likely she is mixed with a working breed.

last ones...

more picts...

Hey Everyone, I was hoping to use everyone's combined skill and experience to offer opinons on what breed our current foster puppy is. She came into my care at 6 weeks of age and is now 6 months. She has behavioural issues that have been apparent since 6 weeks of age, and as such is not suitable for re-homing as yet. And by the looks of things we may never be able to give her up as she is growing on us ;p Below are pictures of her as she has matured... Some physical attributes that are not shown very well in pictures are her very long legs, her very deep chest, excess skin around her neck and shoulders, and the fact her head almost come to a point at the back. Cheers in advance! Lisa