Friday, February 4, 2011

Zipper the Magical Mystery Mutt

Update: Thanks for all the guesses on Zipper's DNA! According to the test results my coworker got, Zipper is @ 75% Husky (which means one of his parents was a pure bred husky). The results also came back that he has 20% (or so) Sheltie. This was surprising because the assumption was always border collie, and last but not least the other significant breed which Zipper had in the mix was American Staffordshire Terrier! Staffies get around!
 
Even though both of my dogs are purebred dogs...I love mutts! I am lucky enough to share my office with another “pet person” that can talk about her dog and cat all day long and then listen to me talk about mine! I asked my friend and office mate if I could use her wonderful mutt, Zipper, so I could participate in the Magical Mystery Mutt Tour... a blog hop hosted by Will My Dog Hate Me?, Peggy’s Pet Place and I Still Want More Puppies.

First, I want to share that many people do think that Sharona is a mutt and try to guess her mix. She is an American Staffordshire Terrier, but her body type is a little different than folks would expect. She is taller and much thinner than what people assume a pit bull type looks like. Because she is so skinny a lot folks guess she is part greyhound. I usually politely tell them that she’s just skinny, but I am thinking to myself, “really with that big block of a head? You think she’s a greyhound!?” These conversations usually lead into a chat about pit bulls and that pit bull is not a breed but a type of dog. Which really, most pit bulls are just mystery mutts with an unfortunate bad reputation! I am glad for the chance to tell people what wonderful dogs many pit bulls can be.
Skinny Sharona.
Okay, enough about my dog, today we are talking about Zipper! I only have one photo of Zipper (I missed the requirement for the 2 photos, my bad). But as you can see he is very handsome.
Artsy Zipper.

Zipper is a medium/small sized dog. Some of Zipper’s personality traits include; intelligent, shy with strangers, loyal (he is a dog after all), and athletic. Zipper has double coat and he sheds (a lot, I have pet him and can attest to this one. Lots of fur flying off him!).

So what do you think? What are your best guesses on what Zipper is made of? I can give you this hint, he recently had a DNA analysis and the results were somewhat surprising…

Be sure to mosey on over to the blog hop hosts ( Will My Dog Hate Me?, Peggy’s Pet Place and I Still Want More Puppies) and leave your best guesses on some of the cutest mix breeds on the internets!

17 comments:

  1. Wow! I have know idea but I feel like the pretty eyes are saying some sort of Aussie mix.

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  2. thanks for stoppin by my blog have dog blog will travel. now, winnie is cuter than any dog has a right to be, adorable, spoiled I bet, too.

    zipper, have't a clue, looks like there could be australian shepherd in there but gosh who knows what else.

    as far as your other dog being staffie mix... are you sure? there is a big difference between staffies and pit bull terriers never mind American pit bull terriers. Sharona does seem to be a mix, too. I am no expert.

    Here's what a pure bred American Staffordshire looks like, ALOT chunkier than your skinny mini. My cici gets her svelte good looks I think because of her partial Dalmatian (and her spots all over her skin).

    http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/americanstaffordshire.htm

    to me, Cici looks more like an American Pit bull terrier than a Staffie... see the difference?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier

    and the pit bull terrier looks like the Target dog (without the red eye)... strange looking dogs.

    curious to know if you did the Find the Pit at my blog.

    have a fun mystery tour !

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  3. @CeliaSue, Sharona is quite tall and lean for an Am Staff, but I have seen other Am Staffs that look more like her and are less like the stocky breed in all the AKC type books and websites.
    The one skinny photo is a little misleading, she is a bit skinny and tall, but otherwise fits her breed to a T.
    I do think Cici could be a Am. Pit Bull Terrier--as the quiz shows, it's hard to distinguish the types from photos that's for sure!

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  4. I would have guessed Border Collie and Aussie or Husky (those blue eye, ya know). I'm no expert though. I'd love the hear your DNA results.

    I'm sponsoring a Super Dog Sunday Photo Blog Hop this weekend. Hope you can join in with your pups. Here's more: http://www.allthingsdogblog.com/2011/01/why-join-in-super-dog-sunday-blog-hop.html

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  5. Zipper is beautiful! I'm guessing husky and Australian shepherd. Tell your office mate thanks for sharing Zipper with us today!

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  6. I second the Aussie shepherd votes. Could there be some Border Collie contributing to that coat?

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  7. Wow, Zipper is a looker. There must be some Husky and border collie in her?

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  8. Sharona has such an awesome expression in that photo. My dog Shiva gives me that look all the time. I think she is part Am Staff as well and she is equally skinny. People tell me all the time they think she is part whippet. It's funny.

    Anyway, on to Zipper. I am positive Zipper must have some Border Collie. It's hard to tell from just the one photo and this angle. Her fur does seem to be similar to that of a husky but I'm not convinced that is it. Obviously I'm no expert. I love her name!

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  9. Hi there, my first time here, I think :)

    My guess would be that Zipper is Australian shepherd (coloring), border collie (coloring) and husky (eyes). Mostly herding dog, anyway!

    As for Sharona, our staffies here are a lot lower to the ground and CHUNKY beasts :p maybe they're different from the staffies where you are. There are so many different breeds, crossbreeds and country differences these days. Hard to keep up.

    Have a great day!

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  10. I'd go with the border collie guess too, but really I'm clueless. One of the reasons I wanted to do this blog hop was so I could get a breed education from others. And I am!

    Thanks for joining in.

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  11. We haven't seen much of Sharona. Mr. B is supposed to be an Am Staff also. I'm going with border collie also, but don't the eyes indicate Aussie? And thank you so much for supporting Shy; we have been so humbled by the response from the dog blog community.

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  12. My first thoughts on Zipper are border collie. People mentioned the eyes - if they were 2 different colors I would lean towards husky or Aussie, but just being blue is not a clue.
    Zipper has a muzzle a bit like my Godiva and she is made up of at least 5 different breeds. No help there. So can I guess sheltie too?

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  13. Zipper is gorgeous! I'd guess maybe Aussie and border collie?

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  14. I'm with the majority--I see Australian shepherd and husky or spitz.

    Will you announce the DNA results?

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  15. @dogsmom: Wow, I am impressed with your Sheltie guess.
    @Pamela: The results were: Husky, Sheltie and Am Staff (plus some more that were statistically insignificant or something like that!)

    Thanks to everyone for the comments.

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  16. My guess would be Cattle Dog and Husky. What a beautiful dog!

    It's so funny, because when I looked at Sharona I saw Am Staff right away. She's got the head and face of one. I could see how her body would through people off, but her cute face and head give it away. Now I have to ask, is she named after the song "My Sharona"?

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  17. Okay, so this is what I get for taking so long to blog read! I was actually relieved when I saw it at the top of your post. I'm horrible at guessing dog breeds.

    I'm also lucky enough to have a co-worker who loves to talk about her dog as much as me. Like you, I can spend hours talking about my furry loved one!

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I'd love to know what you think! Thanks.