SearchThe black dobe
Paisley was adopted from a local rescue and when the foster brought her to my home he said that he couldn't figure out if she was 100% doberman, or if she was just mostly doberman. I was okay with it either way, but now I am very curious.
I ask about the "black dobe" because, although as a puppy she had quite a bit of tan color on her, as she is growing that tan is becoming less and less. She no longer has any on her chest (although pictures of her at about 10 weeks old shows that she DID have the butterfly markings). Also, the tan coloring on her muzzle and legs is fading into what is becoming a beautiful, mostly black dog. I read here on the site that some (not-so-pawsome) breeders actually breed for a black doberman.
She also has natural ears (she was too old for cropping, but they did dock her tail). But her ears don't "hang" like a hound's. Instead they are described as "perky". They are more like half-prick and give her a softer face. If you pick her ears up, however, she has more of the dobe look. I'll happily post pictures (if I can figure out how).
Her fur, too, is lab-like in thickness. But I have met a dobe before that had thicker fur.
The last difference is her blocky head, but I've been told that some German bred dobes can have the not-so-long snout.
So, do you think she is just really badly bred? Or perhaps she IS mixed? And with what, we can't seem to figure that out. She is too much dobe to figure out the rest...lol.
This is the breed of dog I think she looks like she could be mixed with...but it's a rare breed. Not something I would see in East Texas...The Beaucrean
If you're really curious.. you could purchase one of the DNA kits they sell nowadays. You can always postulate but you'll never know 100%.
I was convinced a mix dog I fostered was chihuahua/yorkie.. his new owners did the DNA test and he came back as pom/yorkie...!
You can see the doberman in her and I swear her face just reminds me of a jack russell.
Skye is a mix as well. She's a lab; shar-pei; dobe.
8 1/2 weeks
My sister calls her a Shadobradore.
Her head does seem a little wider than a dobes, but those eyes scream dobertude ^.^
She sure is a pretty lady.What a sweet face she has and her coat is awesome!! The girl has great legs!!
The DNA test is great for that. She definitely has Doberman in her I would think from the pictures she is crossed with a lab mix. She looks very cute sitting by her friend by the Christmas tree.
I'm thinking along the same lines as RND, possibly a Lab gene or two in the pool....it's the ears and muzzle that makes me think that. She's gorgeous, though.
I thought lab too, or possibly rottie? Those seem like more likely crosses than a Beauceron, although those are beautiful dogs! (I had to look them up, I've never heard of them before. Seems along the same lines as a shepherd) I never knew you could do a DNA kit on a dog, that's neat! Whatever she is though she's beautiful! A lot of cross breeds are healthier too and can live longer, since the mix in DNA makes it less likely for them to acquire common breed illnesses.
Thanks guys! Her friend is my Texas Blue Lacy dog, Gunner.
In person she looks nothing at all like a lab. Her feet are all wrong and she lacks a certain amount of thickness. Her head and chest don't fit either. She also doesn't act like a lab. At all (unless you count the fact that she enjoys swimming...). From what I'm reading here, she acts all doberman...
I don't think it's jact russle terrier either. Our neighbor has a full jrt and it's all wrong. I'm usually pretty good at distinguishing breeds. I def want to do a DNA test.
On second thought, I just googled doberman/lab mix and she does look a lot like some of those pups. I guess you can get any genes from either side! Lol.
the problem is that the country is filled with lab mixes. I doubt that 2 purebred dogs got together and she was the product. In our particular city Lab mixes and pit bull mixes are the what fills the shelters. So while she may not resemble a purebred lab she may have certain characteristics that do. The DNA test will tell all. I've never known anyone that has done it so I do hope if you decide to do it that you share the results, it will be interesting for all of those that took a guess.
BTW I don't know if you know this or not but it is widely believed the Beuceron, German pinscher, Rottweiler, Weimaraner,and the Manchester terrior were all used to create the Doberman. Just thought I'd add that seeing you thought she looked like the Beuceron. Many people do not know that they are in the background of the Doberman.
I"m sure there is more than one company that does it so check around. To give you an idea this company canine heritage that I looked at on the internet does the cheek swab dna test for 79.95 they have 100 different breeds that they test for.
http://www.canineheritage.com/index.html
Biopet offers a dna test for only 59.95 but tests for 62 possible breeds
so I guess this is good info to know when you are looking at which company to use for the DNA test. You don't have to go to the vet to have this done either. You simply order the kit, swab the cheek with the swab and send it in yourself. Really simple and easy.
I looked at that website, but they don't offer a handful of popular breeds (i.e. pitbull) and even though I'm willing to bet Paisley is at least 50% dobe, what I've read about that particuar site isn't that endearing. Plus, I don't like that it doesn't say much about their regulations, etc...
What do you think about this test? It has over 185 breeds...
ETA: Finding this interesting... wisdompanel.com doesn't offer the 'pitbull' either. They say it's because of the significant diversity of the breed...i.e., pitbulls are SO diverse that they can't even be considered a steady breed. Hmm...very interesting. Wonder if this could be used to combat breed bans... sigh, I digress...
Id say go with whatever one offers the most breeds would be the best. That is interesting about the pit bull. I bet quite a few of the mixes have that in them. I'm sure she has quite a bit of Doberman in her.
K. I bought the wisdom panel one, it was only $50 on Amazon. We'll see what turns up. There were some seriously mixed reviews...hopefully it won't just tell me 50% doberman 50% unknown. Lol. Guess that's always a chance!
Um, just to clarify so I don't look silly - I wasn't saying she could be a jack, her head just made me think of one :)
I remember when these DNA tests first came around... they were with the lab we used at the hospitals and they were $$$. I'm glad they are cheaper and it'll be interesting to see what comes back
The reason that pitties are considered to have "significant diversity" is because there are 3 breeds that are considered pitt bulls
1. American pit bull terrier
2. Stafforshire bull terrier
3. American Staffordshire terrier
There are more, but these are the most popular to be mistaken.
I ike those Staffordshire bull terriers....I call them...'pocket pits"..LOL
hahaha... nupe, that's hilarious!! 
Pits are sweeties <33333 Zelda plays with Pit/Lab mixes almost all the time. One's a black and white one named Gracie and the other one is a full black girl named Maya both very very sweet dogs <33
And i'm definitely thinking your little dobe is a Dobe/Lab mix :3 </is pretty good at picking out breed characteristics in mutts besides really fluffy dogs like chows in most cases>
Haha! Zelda, we just did a DNA test. I put the results in another thread, but just so you know it says she is:
1/4 Flat Coated Retriever
1/4 Alaskan Malamute
1/4 Australian Cattle Dog
and
1/4 unknown mutt.
I have no idea WHAT I think she is at this point. HAHAHA!!!!
But you KNOW she is beautiful and loving and ALL YOURS!!
LOL. Wow, that's a lot of bloodlines XDDD I'm sure she's a doberman somewhere in that "unknown mutt" 1/4th. I just know it XDDD
you have to be careful with some of those breed tests. i have seen show breeders take their champion dogs to do these so called DNA tests and this dog was akc registered with tons of blue ribbons and the breed test came back that she was a border collie pit mix.....the dog was an american staffordshire terrier. its even posted on youtube!
I know this thread is old, but I'm relatively new here and I find genetics interesting and it was one of my favorite aspects of being a vet tech, so I though I would share some of what I know about it here.
The thing with the OTC DNA breed tests is that they test for breed on a genetic level and are intended for identifying mixed breeds, NOT for confirming purebreds. It is NOT recommended to use them to confirm purebred status, especially on relavitely new breeds and breeds that were created by crossing breeding. There are separate tests for confirming purebreds. Since the test works on the genetic level, if used in a purebred that was created by cross breeding (Doberman, American Bulldog, Am. Pit Bull Terrier ect), the test will come back with mixed lineage showing the breeds used to create the breed.
Every breed has genetic markers with some variance among indivduals within the same breed. The test works by isolating these specific markers. The sample is then ran through a database until a match or matches is found. These are the results that are sent in the mail. There are A LOT of determining factors involved in how much a mixed breed will resemble its breed make up. Definiately more than I want to get into here. I would have to write a book, lol!
(These pictures go from most recent to a couple of months ago)
6 months old:
7 months old:
5 months old:
4 months old: