For dogs of unknown ancestry (shelter dogs, etc.), which breeds are the hardest to identify?

Question

Of course, it's impossible to say with 100 percent certainty if any such dog is a purebred, but many are much easier to identify than others.

So, are there any breeds that are nearly impossible to identify without a pedigree or else breeds that look so similar to other breeds that it's usually misidentified by shelters, vets, etc.?

For example, I saw a dog at the shelter that was labeled Poodle mix, but I had a suspicion it was a rarer breed. I took a picture and sent it to purebred rescue and found out it was indeed a Puli. If this dog were brushed and clipped like a Poodle it would be very difficult to any but the most experienced to say that it's actually a Puli not a Poodle.

I asked a similar question before, but now I'm hoping to get feedback from shelter workers and rescues.

Sophy -- I have found the same thing. Which motivated me to start a project to help in this area... This project is, in turn, the motivation behind this question.

I guess what I'm trying to get at... if someone told you "I saw a dog at a shelter that was ... breed", on which breeds would you be MOST likely to distrust it without proof (like a pedigree)?

There are a few champion standard corded Poodles. I've always wanted one. I think the corded Poodles are awesome. Yeah, I wasn't totally sure about the Puli, which is why I sent the Puli rescue a picture and they confirmed it "definitely" was a Puli.

Anwen: Are you going to share which spitz you have? I love rare breeds. Or better yet, let us guess! Give me clues.

Answer 1

If you don't know what an Anatolian Shepherd looks like, you'd probably say "large Lab mix".

Tollers are probably hard to ID because they're still pretty rare and can probably be mistaken for a "Golden mix".

Tibbies are probably misidentified as "Peke mix".

Bubblezz - what shelter? Please IM me so I can pass the info on to NASRN if they are not already aware.

Answer 2

I've never worked in a shelter... but really do believe people given the task of identifying breeds in a shelter need some serious education.

I've pulled Samoyeds from shelters listed as:
white chow mix
white shepherd mix
siberian mix
malamute mix
akita mix (beautiful bisquit and white Sam, I had to produce pictures to prove that one, cuz according the the shelter Samoyeds are only ever pure white)
wolf hybrid (that one took a lot of convincing on my part as the shelter looked at a picture of a show Samoyed and didn't believe me until I brought in another byb rescued Sam with AKC registration that looked like the dog's brother... long legged needle nosed long earred... lol).

While walking through a shelter to pick up a Samoyed, I identified a young pup (maybe 5 mos old) misidentified as a weimariner as a blue great dane pup... and the moment I said that the shelter worker said "Oh my gosh, that dog's owner has been calling every hour for 3 days!". It just didn't look like a Dane to the shelter worker because it was blue and uncropped.

Just because they're dog lovers doesn't mean they have a clue about what breed(s) the dogs are... maybe a few dogshows.. or a mandatory watching of Eukanuba and Westminster are in order.

BTW.. as an aside.. do you know that cording a poodle (like a puli or a komondor) is allowable .. although you probably wouldn't get away with it in the show ring.. lol

Answer 3

I have a little known Spitz breed and very few people could identify it. I think most people do well if they can identify them as a Spitz breed. I've had my own dogs identified by vets as Terrier Xs , Labrador Xs, Corgi xs and even Chihuahua xs (despite the fact that the dog in question stood 18 inches at the shoulder!)
I think the hardest to identify are those dogs which are customarily clipped, stripped or other wise have their coats groomed to make a definite shape. Like Poodles, Terriers and Schnauzers. Left in the rough they are pretty unremarkable. The only people who can identify them are real breed experts and no-one can say with 100% certainty that a dog is purebred. I've seen one dog of my breed who could have entered a championship show and not attracted any comment - I also know that her dad was a Border Collie!

Answer 4

Obviously its harder to identify rare breeds that you don't often see in shelters - such as a Puli. But more often it seems, shelter workers mistake more common breeds for rare breeds. I can't tell you how often I've seen black lab mixes with longer coats called "Flat Coated Retrievers." Since Flatties aren't all that common, the chances the dog is one (or a mix of one) is about nil. More likely it is a lab or golden mixed with a border collie.

And a lot of time, shelter workers will call a dog a lab mix or whatever when the dog clearly has pit bull in it because they don't want to advertise the pit part. But you look at the dog and have any experience at all, you can tell.

Some shelters really are into false advertising.

Answer 5

I've only been volunteering for my rescue of choice for about 10 months, in that time we've gotten a DOZEN calls from the Weim rescue letting us know they found a natural eared fawn doberman... and once a cropped dog with STANDING EARS! You'd think the tan would give it away. WTF.
I have an acquaintance that has a boxer/beagle mix, when she tells you that, you AUTOMATICALLY see it. Otherwise, she's labeled as a APBT mix.
OOOH GOT ONE!

Bouvier Des Flanders! mislabled as a giant schnauzer, or a large terrier mix. Possibly Irish wolfhound for the really imaginative... I don't volunteer in all breed rescue but if I did, I would soooo be able to give more accurate descriptions. I did see a genuine long haired weim one time, in a shelter, I let the people know that it was actually a pure bred dog, showed them on the internet and called them back with a breeder in the area. The breeder ended up finding out who's dog it was, it had supposedly been stolen and then was picked up as a stray. They're extremely uncommon in the US but there are a few breeders out there.

Boreboels are often mistaken for english mastiffs and bull mastiffs

Hmm I'm gonna think on this one, I'm sure I'll come up with something good. I'm a dork about rare breeds.

Big Surprise....

Laura, could you imagine if they got in a Thai Ridgeback, they all look like they have mange and are extremely rare in the US, anybody that has one that ended up in the shelter (unlikely in my opinion) would DEFINITELY be looking for it.

Answer 6

The first breed that came to my mind after I read your question were Chinooks, which look like some German Shepherd Yellow Lab mixes. I've had friends who've owned Chinooks, and I'd say 99.99% of people who've seen their dogs have mistaken them for "mutts". Chinooks are not common, so I can see why people would assume that a purebred Chinook is a mutt.
If a Chinook were to end up in a shelter (some probably have) he or she would be labeled as a Shepherd mix.

Answer 7

I think any rare breed or rare breed mix is probably misidentified. They are usually identified as lab mixes or shepherd mixes. But I think Most bully breeds (American Bulldogs, Boxer Mixes, Bull Terrier mixes, some Mastiff mixes etc.) get mislabeled as just "Pit Bulls." I have visited a lot of animal shelters through volunteer work, and searching for a dog of my own. Most of the dogs are listed as 'lab mix' 'shepherd mix' or as a "Pit Bull."

As someone said earlier, Anatolian Shepherds often get called German Shepherd/lab mixes. A Bernese Mountain Dog mix, or Greater Swiss Mountain Dog mix often gets labeled as a rottie or doberman mix. They usually identify the dog as one of the more common breeds that he resembles.
There are so many possibilities it would be very hard to determine which breeds get misidentified most often.

Answer 8

On my area things are either Labs, Sheps, Rottis, or Pits...or their mixes.
The shelter people are CLUELESS if it is anything other than those. I get calls almost weekly by people claiming that they have a Newf...of mix. 9 times out of 10 it is NOT and is a Chow or mix.
That is another reason people can be unhappy with their adopted shelter dog......they are really getting something they did NOT want or were not prepared for!!!!


*** The cat thing is funny. I KNOW that shelter list them as things like Russian Blues, Snowshoe, Bomaby because that SELLS THEM BETTER!!!!!!!!! You put a black cat in the paper, nothing. Call it a Bombay, and people come out of the wood work!!!!!!

Answer 9

Mixed breeds are too often mis-ID'd as these purebred dogs:

Leonberger, flat coated retriever, anything matted (Shih Tzu, Lhasa, poodle, Maltese)

These purebred dogs are often mis-ID'd: APBT, Staffordshire terriers, white boxers, American bulldogs, OES with tails, bearded collies, anything matted (Shih tzu, Lhasa, poodle, Maltese), extremely poor quality breed du jours (Shih Tzu vs. Lhasa, etc.)

Recently there was a dog about to be put down at a high kill shelter in CA due to a "skin condition." The dog did not have mange. The dog was a Xolo. They didn't know the breed and didn't bother to do a skin scraping.

Answer 10

This takes me back to 'racism', where entire nations are persecuted because of the colour of their skin. When in fact all homo-sapience originate from Ethiopia.

IOW every Homo-Erectus has the African Black gene within their hereditary background. The Food gatherers travelled to different corners of the world and through centuries of different diets, climate changes and cultural evolution, societies arose and cultures were established. Borders, boundaries and suspicion was born.

The ancestor of the Canine Familiaris, is the Wolf, therefore in essence we trace back all origins of the dog to that of the American or the European Wolf. Mixing this with today's many varieties, for instance the Labrador mated with the Poodle turns into the Labradoodle, which breed when accepted by the Kennel club, is then registered as a 'pure' bred????

Hitler believed the Aryan race were the Superior Human 'pure' bred. Boy, did he get that one wrong.

In my opinion it is far more important that educated people with lots of money to spare, should support such care which maintains the PetWorld Culture and focus their precious energy on sowing the seeds of unconditional love. Many 'pure bred' breeders, keep their animals in confined spaces in back yards and breed, in-breed, over breed, all for the money.

All animals, as are all humans, raised in an environment of dignity; supreme? Perhaps! In intelligence? Maybe! The real Treasures of the Heart constitutes of compassion and being capable of giving unconditional love. Arrogance lives in the nature of all life, as it lives on the other side of the coin of Fear. Nervous, neurotic and paranoid beings evolve from division, whereas confidence, kindness, all embracing love is born in harmonious protected environments. Tolerance in animals is no different to that we observe in humans.

The King Charles Spaniel is a very laid back and gentle dog. Most Retrievers and Labradors, likewise. Such loving animals. People breed dogs to fight and others enjoy nervous dogs. These are all pedigree dogs? What of the Australian Dingo? Still Wild, yet pedigree in nature? What of a dog mated with a fox? Rare breed that's for sure! Pedigree?

Answer 11

at or shelter its either something exoctic (like a rott mix is labeled moutain dog) or if it's large and one color its a lab mix,
small a terrier mix anyhting else is a shepard mix.

We came across a bichon that was cut like a poodle once.

The workers here do not knwo their breeds.

edit*
I agree with raven



edit*
one ofthe other shelters had a nearly full blooded corgi marked as shepard mix.
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