Frannie

Frannie,

Sorry to bother you but from your response to Kittlyloves thread on other pets it seems you are an experienced dog person and I was wondering if you might have some words of wisdom? Is there anyway I can figure out exactly what my dog is? She is a mutt but not your heinz57. I would say she is only a mix of 2 (maybe 3). I have had two vets say GSDog/Husky but I want to say she is GSDog/Akita (but she only weighs 46 lbs.) I say Akita because my parents have a Rottweiler/Akita and they look similar and I saw a picture of a GSDog/Akita on an Akita Rescue site and they look just alike! I am really interested for behavioral reasons and training purposes (especially with the cats). I have been reading on the net about the behavioral traits of GSDogs, Huskies, and Akitas but behaviorally Huskies and Akitas are very different (as well as the training techniques that should be used). She is very intelligent but very hard headed. Are there people to contact on this? I wonder because I want to make sure my training approach with her is the right one (I have a feeling it isn't. Anyone else have any insight?

Frannie is at work but called me and asked me to let you know she will respond tonight.

Can you post a picture of her? We do a lot of dog rescue and I am pretty good with breeds -

Currently I have no developed pictures of her full grown but my fiance and I just finished up a roll of film. He took several pictures of her on it. I will get it developed this weekend and have them put some on disk so I can post a pic of her but in the mean time here is a detailed description and the picture I found on the net of a GSDog/Akita.

Libby's tail sits curled over her back the majority of the time. It only seems to relax when she is chewing on rawhides or other toys. She seems to have the GSDog coloring but the black looks more like salt & pepper. Her chest & neck are a cream/white as well as the bottom of her tail (just as the picure shows on this dog). She also has multi-colored claws (some white, some black, some half & half). She is very thin and lean with a long and narrow ribcage. Her waist is very small. She is very active but very affectionate. When she runs in the back yard she is very fast and likes to take long leaps sometimes while she is running.

The only difference I can find between Libby and this dog is that she is more narrow & thin and doesn't show the black as strong on her face and head. It just seems that Libby would be a much bigger dog since Akita's & GSDogs are big dogs and at 1.5 years old Libby is only 46 lbs (her weight would fall more in line with a Husky). From the Huskies that I have seen, their tails don't seem to curl as tightly though. Someone once suggested maybe she was part chow but I know that is not right because one of my neighbors had a GSDog/Chow and the two dogs didn't look anything alike (plus Libby doesn't have any black on her tongue).

Just want to say what a beautifull dog.Hope you dont mind me putting my two cents in and I am not an expert but she looks to me like she has some Akita and possibly some Norwegian Elk Hound from the coloring in her and the way she holds her tail. And there may be some Huskey. You say she is hard headed and that is a trait of a Huskey though they are very wonderfull dogs. We had a beautifull Huskey for ten years. But he had the stubborn streak. Akitas I have been told have this too. Thats just what i see. Whatever she is you have a gorgeous dog there.

She looks like an Akita/GS Dog mix to me. I am by far an expert but I grew up with a GS Dog and I see many breeds walk through the door at the vet clinic. Dang, I wish my dog's mix would just walk out and smack me in the face. Till this day I don't know what he has in him besides chow. She's a very pretty girl

Sandie & Elinor,

Thanks! That's what I say but both vets she has seen say it's probably Husky because Akita's are not that common and because of her size. I just want to tell them to go look at the Akita rescue sights on the net and tell me they are not common or show them the picture and say "Tell me she isn't what this dog is!" Just in case anyone was wondering the dog I posted in the picture from the rescue sight is a male named Tenchi and I did make an inquiry about him to the organization but he already had a home I guess I will approach my training with her on the basis she is a GS Dog/Akita!

Well, I mean anything is possible..I actually see more Akita's than Huskies in the clinic these days. If you really want to go over all the possibilities, I would go to www.akc.org and read the breed standards for the different dogs. It really will give you a good idea. You touch and feel her everyday so, you can read and see what the differences are.

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night but we went out for dinner and didn't get home until late. As for the picture, he's beautiful. Does your baby's tongue have black on it as that's one of the signs of an Akita. As for my two, they failed training as Huskies are hard to train or should I say stuborn. My female, Cookie is the alpha. She also looks more like a wolf than a huskie. She has long legs, is narrow on the body and doesn't have the huskie coat although I've been told that huskies have 3 different types of coats. Both of my huskies came to me as puppies and they were fine with the cats until Cookie started with one and he swiped at her and now she's not thrilled with the cats although she's getting better. Once we move back to the eastcoast she will be retained and will be reintroduced to the cats. As of now, my cats have their own room and they run the house when she's locked up. I don't take chances of endangering any of my animals. Don't get me wrong, my cats have TV, radio, beds, ceiling fan and other things including beds and cat trees. When you can, post the picture of your baby and I'm sure Rene can help as she's very familiar with the dog breeds.

Frannie

I don't think she has Akita or Chow in her - But perhaps Norwegian Elkhound/Shepherd mix - just a guess.