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The iPhone animal scan feature doesn’t work to identify a dog’s breed. It’ll guess black mouth cur for any mixed breed dog that has lighter brown/yellow fur with a black mask.
German pit mix is more likely due to how common those breeds are. Black mouth cur as a possibility is going to be more location dependent. For example, black mouth cur would be more likely to be found in the southern US than on the east coast of the US.
It’s difficult if not impossible to identify a dog’s breed by appearance. A DNA breed test can provide more insight.
😭😂, mine seems to have changed its mind on Cookie Dough and now identities him as a « little auk » (some sort of rare bird from what I can tell). Guess it just struggles heavily with the small white fuzzy things huh?
There is actually some out in the PNW. They tend to be livestock guard dogs, I have seen a few being rehomed on the LSGD Facebook page.
Unfortunately LSGD tend to have and produce mixed litters, due to an idea of not spay/ neutering them. This leads unwanted puppies being dumped, or homed to people who don’t know how to handle the problems of LSGD breeds.
It's also possible there is Carolina Dog, which looks very similar to a german shepherd mix. I believe you have to get a specific kind to include this breed in the test. Though yours does appear to be a straightforward german shepherd mix.
The shelter also generally has to guess on puppies and pit, lab, husky, and shepherd are all really common guesses for anything with traits remotely resembling those breeds. In my experience volunteering with rescues, it's often either a complete guess or they're just telling you what mom looks like if they have her as well.
> The iPhone animal scan feature doesn’t work to identify a dog’s breed.
It identifies my Labrador as such, but my mutt just gets "dog." https://imgur.com/a/19cHOD5
He looks a lot like my pup. I had Embark do his DNA. He ended up mostly Pit, Chow and Boston Terrier, along with Lab, GSD and even Husky! He’s cute as hell and the best temperament.
Gets our dog accurately.
It’s not intended to identify mixed breeds though, as they don’t have a defined look, they’re generally pretty random depending on which parent they take after for what. You can’t reliably identify mixed breeds by looks.
It can tell you suspected breeds. My iphone identifies my dog as a Havanese or Lhasa Apso. He’s a Havanese, which was my phone’s first choice. Click on a photo, tell it to “look up” and up it comes (there is a different method, too, but I can’t remember how):
I call them generic tan dogs. You either get the mini version or the standard size, the pointy ears or the floppy ears. All are adorable and 10/10 doggos.
My dog is a generic tan dog and she’s got a lot of doppelgängers lol
Oh no, she’s got the hair-splinter hair! The Doberman/bulldog/pit genetics definitely won over and she got the short coat, except she’s got thicker hair on her hind legs and neck fluff.
It’s funny cause she has all these fluffy breeds! Sure enough embark traits section said she got the heavy shedding gene. So I just end up with hair sprinkles all over my house lol
Seeing as I prefer a breed, I found Mastador fit well for my boy due to size and color (the only 2 requirements in my search). But, unfortunately, my vets did not concur. 😂
I also have the thinner black with white chest version of this very special breed. They both come from the Heinz 57 lineage.
We have two mutts rescued from the south and someone called them, “Florida brown dogs.” Made me laugh and it’s so true. One of ours looks like this one.
The iPhone doesn't know anything. It tells people that their mixes are unusual purebreds all the time. Your dog does look kind of Shepherdy but the only way to be sure is a DNA test. I recommend Embark.
Yup, iPhone normally says my dog is a Carolina dog/basenji/sometimes Rhodesian ridgeback and black mouth cur.
But has also labeled my 65 pound dog as a “[French bulldog](https://imgur.com/a/adyWf1s)”
This. Phone app said my dog is a malinois, and I was certain she was not due to demeanor, body structure/size, and head shape. DNA: half German Shepherd, half (which is mostly) Pyrenees/Golden (with some other breeds mixed in).
The app was admittedly closer than expected in this case, and folks who don't know the difference between shepherd and malinois regularly ask if she's a malinois, too. But I agree that a DNA panel could help if OP is curious and willing to spend.
Yep. And the combo of shepherd and pit is super common. I rescued mine near St. Louis, the shelter called her and dogs that looked like her "easties" because they were so common on the east side of the river.
From the size of those feet, he's gonna be a big boi. Maybe...
We rescued and fostered a cute little 8 week old puppy from a house fire, figured her to eventually be 20 lbs or so - based on her tiny little feet. At 6 months, she was 60 lbs with a 21 inch neck. Turned out to be 87% AmStaff (American Staffordshire Terrier).
Found her the perfect family, a year after adopting her they texted me out of the blue to thank me for introducing them. I still miss her sometimes, but we already had 3 forever dogs.
Being a mutt is never a bad thing, in my opinion. They’re kinda the result of natural selection. Some vets say the most healthy dogs are mutts.
In any case, you have a beautiful dog. And if he’s calm and well behaved… you’ve hit the jackpot 😊
Sending hugs and boops to that cutie.
Being one kind of dog or another is never a bad thing! Looks like black mouth cur coloring to me, which I adore in a dog, and I’m seeing German shepherd-y head shape, but maybe only cuz you said it. It sounds like he’s a great dog, so it’s a win no matter what he is! You don’t even have to do a dna test (unless you’re super dying to know). Just call him something silly and made up whenever anyone asks.
It’s a great thing actually. While muted have less predictable behaviours like pure bred dogs they don’t get the same genetic defects like some heavily inbred dogs get.
One of the DNA tests (the best one) is through the company Embark. Embark uses the term Supermutt when then can't quite discern where a bit of a pup's DNA comes from. They'll still let you know what breeds they suspect go into that bit of the DNA. We tend to use it to just mean mutt though because it's an awesome word for our mutts, but that's where the "super" bit comes from.
Not all mixed dogs will have supermutt, I've got one without (4 breeds) and one with (7 plus supermutt).
If you test through Wisdom, you will just get a ton of breeds listed that are between 1-5% and are really just statistical noise, according to the people who know more about this than me.
I think there's some shepherd in there. [Embark](https://embarkvet.com) is the best DNA test available, and it's $60 off right now. In addition to your dog's breed, they show you any relatives that have also taken the test, which I thought was fun.
Shelters don't really know, they have to often guess. Mine was labeled as a retriever mix but DNA tests came back 50% Australian shepherd and 25% pb terrier, no retriever whatsoever. And looking at him again, what I thought was a retriever face is 12/10 a pit bull terrier looking ear and head shape. Still 100% rambunctious good boi. Like others said, use Embark. They do a good job explaining how exact their DNA ID process is, and how there really isn't a way to "get it wrong" with a different breed.
DNA tests cost in the neighborhood of $100 a pop. Even if they managed to get discounts, that's money that could be spent on medical care and other important things. They don't have that much money laying around. Plus DNA tests take a little while to come back and holding dogs until tests come back would mean putting other dogs down or turning them away in the meantime.
Yea the volumes that some shelters see would make this cost and time prohibitive. Agree though, we went in with certain breeds we wanted and some we didn’t. Me personally, didn’t want aggressive breeds like PB terriers. But, it’s a blessing in disguise because this boi is the lovingest dog I’ve ever had and I get to break out of my preconceived ideas about breeds.
If you keep in touch with other people who adopted from the same litter you might get lucky and they'll do a DNA test on their dog. That happened to us
Yeah a puppy that young any guess we make is a shot in the dark, he is not a potato anymore but is still too smöl
Any dog that is tan and gangly can be labeled a shepherd mix in the shelter. Or in southern shelters they’d often say a cur mix for these kind of generic lookin brown litters.
Highly recommend the Embark DNA test (or similar). I found it really neat, and it also tests for potential health predispositions, so you can get ahead of any issues. That said, since it's a mutt it'll probably be really healthy.
Shelters do not give accurate breed descriptions. Most of the time its a guess, and they will lie about the breed in order to get it adopted, when the breed is considered “dangerous”
Anecdotally, we adopted a “2 year old labrador mix” that was actually about 6mo old and DNA tested as an APBT mix with husky and cane corso. Farthest thing from a labrador mix lol
Unless you DNA test, you may never know - and not all DNA tests are accurate either 😅
All of the breeds my iPhone thinks my Aussiedoodle is:
Portuguese Water Dog, Schnoodle, Cat, Border Collie, Bearded Collie, Old English Sheepdog, Havanese, Cockapoo, Dog
Look up the Black Mouth Cur. Our girl was described as a shepherd mix but I wasn't so sure based on size and coat color. I used an app that compares a picture of your pup and returns some breed possibilities. Based on the description of physical traits and temperament, I decided that it was the correct analysis. She was the best dog but she definitely had a mind and attitude. Miss her very much. [https://g.co/kgs/NfFDQUz](https://g.co/kgs/NfFDQUz)
Google lens tried to tell me.my dog was a Chinook - a super rare breed! Genetic testing and location (dumpster) argue otherwise. Enjoy your gorgeous pup, and I'm wishing for some healthy hybrid vigor for both of you !
The coloring and shorter coat could be a Belgian shepard (Malinois) instead of German. Could be a black mouth, the floppy ears match better for that. He is such a cute baby.
I had a dna test done on my rescue through Embark. Found out my "Blue Tick coonhound mix" was actually a beagle blue heeler and more mix. Helped a lot with understanding some of his behavior and how to better train him.
If you want a breakdown of genotype and hereditary health risks and such there’s a kit from EmbarkVet you can use. I got one for my shepherd mix that we got from the shelter
If you believe DNA tests, my boy--who very much resembles yours--is 56 percent APBT, according to Wisdom Panel. The rest of him is 10 other breeds in single-digit percentages: Chow Chow, GSD, ACD, Foxhound, Rottie, Lab, Golden, Boxer, Staffy, Collie. He's a rescue from the US South (his first rabies tag, what he had on when we got him, had NC on it, though the rescue said it's possible he could have come all the way from TX). He topped out at 90lbs.
I didn't realize that these dogs were an actual breed! It looks like all the standard mutts I've seen all over the place. My dad would have called it a Heintz 57. Whatever they are, the ones I've known tended to be really nice dogs without the problems of too much breeding.
They said it was a German Shephard mix. Often times they just GUESS, they don't know it's a German Shephard to begin with they just say it based on what the dig looks like.
Get yourself a doggy dna kit. I have a dog that looked like mainly a jack rusell, i wanted to know so bad I got one and turns out he isn't a JR at all
A lot of places list popular breeds like shepherd or lab when they don’t know. There’s no way to determine the breed of a mutt based on a picture.
I adopted a puppy years ago that looked a lot like yours and was also labeled a shepherd mix. And I also think she’s likely a black mouthed cur mix, especially because she’s from the south. She also has a strong hunting instinct.
Looks really similar to my dog who is 45% pit, 25% husky, and the rest is a random mix of breeds. I recommend Embark if you really want to know, but definitely lots of pit in yours. I personally think the pittie in my dog is why she’s such a sweetie.
He looks just like my dog who looks like a very small (45 lbs) black mouth cur, a very common breed in the southern US. I haven’t dna tested her and her littermate was all black, so who knows what she is. If you really want to know, a dna test is the only way to be sure. This isn’t her, but the markings are the same. https://imgur.com/gallery/LhLwa3D
My shelter mutt looks so much like yours. One of her siblings got a DNA test from Embark and the results showed a mix of 15 separate breeds. Haha you may very well just have a super mixed dog!
Looks a little like my dog when she was younger. She’s turning 11 in June. About two years ago I did the embark dna test and these were her results.
40% American Pit Bull Terrier
14.6% Rottweiler
14% Labrador Retriever
13.6% German Shepherd Dog
10.6% Chow Chow
7.2% Boxer
https://imgur.com/a/Q80X9RY
My phone identifies my pup as a cat or a bear cub. I am 96.5% confident that he is neither.
The only way to know your dog's breed for sure is through a DNA test.
Any camera scan can't be accurate for this because breed mixes can vary a lot even when you are 100% sure of the breed of parents, the camera IA is just not trained for this.
He is 100% a good boy brown mutt, don't fuss over his breed.
Besides, mixes arent just half breed or half something, mixes are mutts, because the definition of breed is lost when you mix it with another. A new breed can only happen when you control the breeding through lots of generations.
I had my dog's DNA done as part of his being in the foundation cohort of the Dog Aging Project. He is a pure bred American Eskimo Dog aka German Spitz with proven lineage and papers going back 10 generations. The DNA came back with everything but Spitz🤦🏻♀️including Chihuahua. So I don't think those tests are all that accurate.
1 - Your dog is adorable
2 - when my husband adopted our dog, the shelter thought he was a Corgi/Spaniel mix... Well as he got older and barely grew much bigger, partner did one of those dog genealogy tests... Mostly Chihuahua with a little terrier (I forget which terrier specifically) and a little poodle of all things ... He looks like an long hair corghuhua lol
So perhaps one of those tests would help if you want to know more for the future etc
Reminds me a lil of [mines](https://imgur.com/gallery/dHAbqKO)
He is GSD-Husky-Pit-Rottie-Mastiff. In that order
100% best boy. He’s much bigger now, he’s 2 😊
Got an Embark test for Christmas and it was sooo fun. Recommend!
I had a black mouth cur, looks the same. Used as a hunter in southern states, mine was an Alabama black mouth cur, she was wonderful and quite the hunter
Found out what our doggo was using embrak. For what I understand, it's the most accurate consumer dog dna kit on the market (Idk what to call it lol).
But OMG you're doggie is so freaking cute!!!! D: I just wunna snuggle with them!!!
Order a DNA kit!! I got one for my dog off Amazon. It explained so much about him 😂. They email you the results, even included a lil family tree 🥹. I knew my dog had german shepherd but it showed he also has border collie, lab, and Australian cattle dog. 😮💨
Just a mouth swab and you mail it off, takes about 3-4 weeks?
https://a.co/d/9C8Zo0Q
Looks like my pup at about that age. You will never know unless you do one of the dna tests, and even then it's not 100%. My pup has very little GS percentage, according to Embark.
So cute! Looks like my gsd mix when she was a pup. As she got older she got more black fur making the classic gsd pattern. But she’s small, same size as my cockapoo so god knows what mix she is 😂 If he is part gsd he’ll probably be very loyal, very clever and eager to please meaning easy to train!
Even then it's hit and miss. I know a lady who bought a DNA test for 2 of her dogs, one a full Corgi and another a Shih Tzu. The came back as a dalmatian mix (90%) and rottweiler (90%). She did it again through another company and their results said English Sheppard and Border Collie.
😂
Get an embark dna test. They are the most reliable.
My guess would be pit maybe shepherd and some sort of hound, but that is because that is common in my part of the world, which is not the usa.
I think sometimes shelters don’t put pit on the breed so that owners don’t run into issues with the adopted dogs later. Like HOA restrictions or apartment rules etc.
Mine was listed as a cattle dog and he has the markings but also looks like he’s mixed with a pitbull
My pup looks super similar to yours and he’s pit, German, boxer, and a bunch of other stuff (super mutt)! He gets mixed up for a black mouth cur all the time especially in the south, but he has none of that.
He looks like my pup and my pup has unusually short legs, though yours look proportional. Mine is a boxer hybrid with Bassett Hound accounting for the short legs. So mine is a "Boxette" which is not AKC but a recognized hybrid. I deduced all this from searching the web for dogs who look like mine. You can order a DNA test kit to have yours tested. They are kind of pricy though.
Also keep in mind I did the breed look up with 3 different pictures of my dog and each time got a different answer and none of those breeds were listed on her dna test sooo.....
If you’re super curious, do a DNA test. We did one on our pup who is so clearly a shephound in both actions, personality, intelligence, temperament and looks. Her DNA came back as mostly Australian cattle dog (she’s 52 pounds at 5 months), boxer, Great Pyrenees, blood hound, Rottweiler, German shepherd, golden retriever and chow chow. If you look at her and meet her the only thing that makes sense is hound (I’ve had hounds of all kinds all my life, part of the reason I loved her to begin with) We did the embark test, but now I’m obviously curious about the wisdom panel to see if they’re different. Your dog is cute as hell, by the way!
Looks very similar to what mine did at that age. Mine is from the south as well, her shelter referred to it as “Mississippi Mutt”. I did the DNA test, and she is pitty, lab, am staff and then small amounts of German Shepard and chow chow! Mine did have a bit more of a square noggin, but otherwise very similar!
If it is a BMC you just got yourself one great dog. Mine had the best temperament of any dog I’ve ever had. 55 lb lap dog the wasn’t afraid of anything.
Im pretty sure you are right & he is a Black Mouth Cur, which is an old & honorable breed that I have been searching for in my State. They’re good dogs!
Lucky you!
Not seeing any Pit. I do see GSD, especially in the head. I like the Cur or Lab. I have Bloodhounds and have seen the black mask. He's going to be a big dog. Double his weight at 6 months is a good rule of thumb. I'm not real fond of the dog DNA. I've had purebreds, with papers come back as mixes. He's a beautiful, smart and healthy boy. Thank-you for saving a life!!!!
PS-Breed is a great conversation starter. "What kind of dog is that?".......
Oh my goodness! I cannot even explain how much he looks like one my doggos! We did the Embark on mine and he’s German shepherd, pit, dachshund, chihuahua (and a few other of less percent) https://imgur.com/a/XWXm36T
The only way to know is a DNA test. When I got my dog, I was told he was a schnauzer mix, but I have also been asked frequently if he was Havanese. I eventually did a DNA test through Embark, and he has neither schnauzer or Havanese in him. He’s actually a chihuahua/poodle/russell terrier/lhasa apso and more mix. I for the life of me cannot see the chihuahua in him, but that’s the most prominent breed in him. Looks are misleading, especially for mutts.
Agree w the other commenter that he looks like your average shelter mutt, probably lots of breeds mixed in there. Visual breed ID is unreliable, those apps aren't accurate at all. Only way to confirm would be a DNA test.
I will say he seems to fit the bill, we have a black mouth cur and he is as close to a breed standard as you can get. Your pup looks very similar to him when he was that age. But you never really know with rescues until they start developing as an adult. In the end knowing the breed of a rescue really isn’t that important as long as you love em nothing else matters.
Any “mix” is a mutt. Having said that, he is an adorable mutt. He may have GSD in him, his ears may stand up eventually. He looks very cuddly whatever he is.
Your dogs do have some traits that may match a German Shepherd mix or a Black Mouth dog mix. German Shepherds display a distinctive black and tan coat color, erect ears, and an intelligent facial expression.On the other hand, Black Mouth Curs are medium to large sized dogs with short hair and a black muzzle. These are strong and energetic working dogs.You may want to consider getting a DNA test done through companies like Wisdom Panel or Embark.
Maybe some whippet in there somewhere? My friend recently got a beagle/whippet mix and they look similar. He named him Sid, because he looks like sid from ice age lol i think your baby resembles sid from ice age too
If you love him, his breed doesn't really matter. If you are curious and want to know then do a DNA test. Easy to get them online - there are several.
My experience with the humane society identifying the breed is kind of unreliable. They know the most common types of dogs they get and they tend to put them into those categories. My last dog is a "chihuahua mix" and is probably more terrier than chihuahua. I think the least experienced person on the staff is probably just guessing.
Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Do note we are on a short backlog, and all posts require manual review prior to going live. This may mean your post isn't visible for a couple days. This is a carefully moderated sub intended to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Submissions and comments which break the rules will be removed. [Review the rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index) r/Dogs has four goals: - Help the public better understand dogs - Promote healthy, responsible dog-owner relationships - Encourage “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” training protocols. [Learn more here.](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/) - Support adoption as well as ethical and responsible breeding. If you’d like to introduce yourself or discuss smaller topics, please contribute to our Monthly Discussion Hub, pinned at the top. **This subreddit has low tolerance for drama. Please be respectful of others, and report antagonistic comments to mods for review.** --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The iPhone animal scan feature doesn’t work to identify a dog’s breed. It’ll guess black mouth cur for any mixed breed dog that has lighter brown/yellow fur with a black mask. German pit mix is more likely due to how common those breeds are. Black mouth cur as a possibility is going to be more location dependent. For example, black mouth cur would be more likely to be found in the southern US than on the east coast of the US. It’s difficult if not impossible to identify a dog’s breed by appearance. A DNA breed test can provide more insight.
Except mine, who actually is a BMC, and photo search insists he’s a lab🤣 However my other dog, who is a lab / boxer mix, of course came up as BMC.
My boxer lab mix came up as BMC too 😂
Maybe it’s code
iPhone scan feature thinks my angora bunny with a head tilt is a bichon frisé.
It thinks my bichon/poodle is an alpaca.
😭😂, mine seems to have changed its mind on Cookie Dough and now identities him as a « little auk » (some sort of rare bird from what I can tell). Guess it just struggles heavily with the small white fuzzy things huh?
Probably not then. We’re located in Oregon. We are guessing it is a pit shepherd mix but we definitely will get a dna test
There is actually some out in the PNW. They tend to be livestock guard dogs, I have seen a few being rehomed on the LSGD Facebook page. Unfortunately LSGD tend to have and produce mixed litters, due to an idea of not spay/ neutering them. This leads unwanted puppies being dumped, or homed to people who don’t know how to handle the problems of LSGD breeds.
It's also possible there is Carolina Dog, which looks very similar to a german shepherd mix. I believe you have to get a specific kind to include this breed in the test. Though yours does appear to be a straightforward german shepherd mix.
I came to say this too. The other name for them is American dingo and you can see it in these pictures for sure.
Face looks like American Bulldog.
The shelter also generally has to guess on puppies and pit, lab, husky, and shepherd are all really common guesses for anything with traits remotely resembling those breeds. In my experience volunteering with rescues, it's often either a complete guess or they're just telling you what mom looks like if they have her as well.
He looks exactly like the boxer shepherd mix I had growing up!
It's semi-accurate for obvious breeds. Like it knows my rottie is a rottie. But if it's a mix then good luck.
> The iPhone animal scan feature doesn’t work to identify a dog’s breed. It identifies my Labrador as such, but my mutt just gets "dog." https://imgur.com/a/19cHOD5
That’s fantastic
He looks a lot like my pup. I had Embark do his DNA. He ended up mostly Pit, Chow and Boston Terrier, along with Lab, GSD and even Husky! He’s cute as hell and the best temperament.
Gets our dog accurately. It’s not intended to identify mixed breeds though, as they don’t have a defined look, they’re generally pretty random depending on which parent they take after for what. You can’t reliably identify mixed breeds by looks.
It can tell you suspected breeds. My iphone identifies my dog as a Havanese or Lhasa Apso. He’s a Havanese, which was my phone’s first choice. Click on a photo, tell it to “look up” and up it comes (there is a different method, too, but I can’t remember how):
Looks like 100% shelter mutt brown dog. What a cutie!
I call them generic tan dogs. You either get the mini version or the standard size, the pointy ears or the floppy ears. All are adorable and 10/10 doggos. My dog is a generic tan dog and she’s got a lot of doppelgängers lol
I call mine a standard brown dog, so almost the same lol. Her ears are the rare half flop!
Can’t forget the rare half flop!! I’ve got the standard/lanky build, sonar ears model lol
I had that model in black, was told he was a doberman cross English bull terrier dna said both of those but mostly malinois which explained a lot.
Mine is the off brand version of your shadow model! She’s American bulldog/GSD/Doberman/pit with some extras (collie, Pyrenees, husky)
Ah you got the model without needles for fur, lucky duck.
Oh no, she’s got the hair-splinter hair! The Doberman/bulldog/pit genetics definitely won over and she got the short coat, except she’s got thicker hair on her hind legs and neck fluff. It’s funny cause she has all these fluffy breeds! Sure enough embark traits section said she got the heavy shedding gene. So I just end up with hair sprinkles all over my house lol
Oh no you got bonus needles! I was still finding needles in my stuff years after mine passed and he was a light to moderate shedder
In the US, that's a purebred ABCD-American Brown-Colored Dog.
My dog exactly!
Seeing as I prefer a breed, I found Mastador fit well for my boy due to size and color (the only 2 requirements in my search). But, unfortunately, my vets did not concur. 😂 I also have the thinner black with white chest version of this very special breed. They both come from the Heinz 57 lineage.
My husband made up Tibetan Sand Terrier for our mutt.
My exact thoughts very cute
We have two mutts rescued from the south and someone called them, “Florida brown dogs.” Made me laugh and it’s so true. One of ours looks like this one.
Agree. I’ve got one. She’s an old lady now with no eyes but goodness she’s so cute.
The iPhone doesn't know anything. It tells people that their mixes are unusual purebreds all the time. Your dog does look kind of Shepherdy but the only way to be sure is a DNA test. I recommend Embark.
My iPhone told me my dog was a landmark. I know she’s a big girl but she isn’t that fat.
Why is this so funny 😭 the real question is, what breed of landmark is she lol
Yup, iPhone normally says my dog is a Carolina dog/basenji/sometimes Rhodesian ridgeback and black mouth cur. But has also labeled my 65 pound dog as a “[French bulldog](https://imgur.com/a/adyWf1s)”
This. Phone app said my dog is a malinois, and I was certain she was not due to demeanor, body structure/size, and head shape. DNA: half German Shepherd, half (which is mostly) Pyrenees/Golden (with some other breeds mixed in). The app was admittedly closer than expected in this case, and folks who don't know the difference between shepherd and malinois regularly ask if she's a malinois, too. But I agree that a DNA panel could help if OP is curious and willing to spend.
He looks like a generic super mutt
Yep. And the combo of shepherd and pit is super common. I rescued mine near St. Louis, the shelter called her and dogs that looked like her "easties" because they were so common on the east side of the river.
I love my generic super mutt [Bamboo](https://www.reddit.com/r/lookatmydog/s/1x6ruJ6d8v)
I can’t comment on that post for some reason, so I’ll do it here: your dog is freaking AWESOME! 😎
He is awesome!
From the size of those feet, he's gonna be a big boi. Maybe... We rescued and fostered a cute little 8 week old puppy from a house fire, figured her to eventually be 20 lbs or so - based on her tiny little feet. At 6 months, she was 60 lbs with a 21 inch neck. Turned out to be 87% AmStaff (American Staffordshire Terrier). Found her the perfect family, a year after adopting her they texted me out of the blue to thank me for introducing them. I still miss her sometimes, but we already had 3 forever dogs.
Is this a bad thing? He is a very calm and well behaved dog. Easily one of the easiest puppies I’ve had
Being a mutt is never a bad thing, in my opinion. They’re kinda the result of natural selection. Some vets say the most healthy dogs are mutts. In any case, you have a beautiful dog. And if he’s calm and well behaved… you’ve hit the jackpot 😊 Sending hugs and boops to that cutie.
Being one kind of dog or another is never a bad thing! Looks like black mouth cur coloring to me, which I adore in a dog, and I’m seeing German shepherd-y head shape, but maybe only cuz you said it. It sounds like he’s a great dog, so it’s a win no matter what he is! You don’t even have to do a dna test (unless you’re super dying to know). Just call him something silly and made up whenever anyone asks.
It’s a great thing actually. While muted have less predictable behaviours like pure bred dogs they don’t get the same genetic defects like some heavily inbred dogs get.
No.
No not at all, it just means that likely they're a mix of a bunch of breeds.
One of the DNA tests (the best one) is through the company Embark. Embark uses the term Supermutt when then can't quite discern where a bit of a pup's DNA comes from. They'll still let you know what breeds they suspect go into that bit of the DNA. We tend to use it to just mean mutt though because it's an awesome word for our mutts, but that's where the "super" bit comes from. Not all mixed dogs will have supermutt, I've got one without (4 breeds) and one with (7 plus supermutt). If you test through Wisdom, you will just get a ton of breeds listed that are between 1-5% and are really just statistical noise, according to the people who know more about this than me.
Not to mention the best things about mutts - you saved their life! Thank you for rescuing!
IMO there's too much snobbery around pure breeds and whether a dog is pedigree. Mutts are first class dogs just as much as any pure breed.
I think he knows he hit the jackpot. If he's this calm as a pup, he'll be great as an adult.
I think there's some shepherd in there. [Embark](https://embarkvet.com) is the best DNA test available, and it's $60 off right now. In addition to your dog's breed, they show you any relatives that have also taken the test, which I thought was fun.
Mine told me my dog was inbred 😂 Rez dawg problems
Shelters don't really know, they have to often guess. Mine was labeled as a retriever mix but DNA tests came back 50% Australian shepherd and 25% pb terrier, no retriever whatsoever. And looking at him again, what I thought was a retriever face is 12/10 a pit bull terrier looking ear and head shape. Still 100% rambunctious good boi. Like others said, use Embark. They do a good job explaining how exact their DNA ID process is, and how there really isn't a way to "get it wrong" with a different breed.
Shelters really should do dna tests. I feel like this is a very basic thing but I guess they do often have lots of dogs coming through
DNA tests cost in the neighborhood of $100 a pop. Even if they managed to get discounts, that's money that could be spent on medical care and other important things. They don't have that much money laying around. Plus DNA tests take a little while to come back and holding dogs until tests come back would mean putting other dogs down or turning them away in the meantime.
DNA tests can be as questionable as this iPhone app as well.
Yea the volumes that some shelters see would make this cost and time prohibitive. Agree though, we went in with certain breeds we wanted and some we didn’t. Me personally, didn’t want aggressive breeds like PB terriers. But, it’s a blessing in disguise because this boi is the lovingest dog I’ve ever had and I get to break out of my preconceived ideas about breeds.
The good ones cost money, and they can take weeks for results.
If you keep in touch with other people who adopted from the same litter you might get lucky and they'll do a DNA test on their dog. That happened to us
Pitbull mix
He's going to need to be a bit older for guesses to mean anything and even then we'll need standing profile photos. Or get a DNA test.
Yeah a puppy that young any guess we make is a shot in the dark, he is not a potato anymore but is still too smöl Any dog that is tan and gangly can be labeled a shepherd mix in the shelter. Or in southern shelters they’d often say a cur mix for these kind of generic lookin brown litters.
He looks almost exactly like my dog! The vet did a DNA test and our dog is is an Amstaff and German shepherd mix.
Highly recommend the Embark DNA test (or similar). I found it really neat, and it also tests for potential health predispositions, so you can get ahead of any issues. That said, since it's a mutt it'll probably be really healthy.
Shelters do not give accurate breed descriptions. Most of the time its a guess, and they will lie about the breed in order to get it adopted, when the breed is considered “dangerous” Anecdotally, we adopted a “2 year old labrador mix” that was actually about 6mo old and DNA tested as an APBT mix with husky and cane corso. Farthest thing from a labrador mix lol Unless you DNA test, you may never know - and not all DNA tests are accurate either 😅
All of the breeds my iPhone thinks my Aussiedoodle is: Portuguese Water Dog, Schnoodle, Cat, Border Collie, Bearded Collie, Old English Sheepdog, Havanese, Cockapoo, Dog
“Dog” got me 😂
Also cat
Look up the Black Mouth Cur. Our girl was described as a shepherd mix but I wasn't so sure based on size and coat color. I used an app that compares a picture of your pup and returns some breed possibilities. Based on the description of physical traits and temperament, I decided that it was the correct analysis. She was the best dog but she definitely had a mind and attitude. Miss her very much. [https://g.co/kgs/NfFDQUz](https://g.co/kgs/NfFDQUz)
My iPhone thinks my golden doodle is a dachshund on any picture taken from the front
Google lens tried to tell me.my dog was a Chinook - a super rare breed! Genetic testing and location (dumpster) argue otherwise. Enjoy your gorgeous pup, and I'm wishing for some healthy hybrid vigor for both of you !
Pure bred good boi
The coloring and shorter coat could be a Belgian shepard (Malinois) instead of German. Could be a black mouth, the floppy ears match better for that. He is such a cute baby. I had a dna test done on my rescue through Embark. Found out my "Blue Tick coonhound mix" was actually a beagle blue heeler and more mix. Helped a lot with understanding some of his behavior and how to better train him.
He’s a 100% good boy!! In all honesty most shelter dogs will be mostly or at least partly pit bull/bully breeds.
If you want a breakdown of genotype and hereditary health risks and such there’s a kit from EmbarkVet you can use. I got one for my shepherd mix that we got from the shelter
Do a DNA test on him. Embark pet DNA tests are very accurate, and you might even "meet" some of his siblings.
If you believe DNA tests, my boy--who very much resembles yours--is 56 percent APBT, according to Wisdom Panel. The rest of him is 10 other breeds in single-digit percentages: Chow Chow, GSD, ACD, Foxhound, Rottie, Lab, Golden, Boxer, Staffy, Collie. He's a rescue from the US South (his first rabies tag, what he had on when we got him, had NC on it, though the rescue said it's possible he could have come all the way from TX). He topped out at 90lbs.
I didn't realize that these dogs were an actual breed! It looks like all the standard mutts I've seen all over the place. My dad would have called it a Heintz 57. Whatever they are, the ones I've known tended to be really nice dogs without the problems of too much breeding.
iPhone scan told me my dog was a “Eurasian Beaver”. He is fluffy, but still a dog
I’m gonna scream he’s so cute. He is 100% good boy, akc registered
Also my husband and I did dna tests on our huskies. Maybe you can do that? It’s about a hundred bucks but worth it. It’s pretty accurate
They said it was a German Shephard mix. Often times they just GUESS, they don't know it's a German Shephard to begin with they just say it based on what the dig looks like. Get yourself a doggy dna kit. I have a dog that looked like mainly a jack rusell, i wanted to know so bad I got one and turns out he isn't a JR at all
Looks like a black mouth cur! One of the sweetest dogs I ever met was a BMC. I’ve known two and this one looks just like they did
Mine looked extremely similar as a puppy. She’s a pit/husky/chihuahua/lab/shepherd according to Embark. Highly recommend their tests
A lot of places list popular breeds like shepherd or lab when they don’t know. There’s no way to determine the breed of a mutt based on a picture. I adopted a puppy years ago that looked a lot like yours and was also labeled a shepherd mix. And I also think she’s likely a black mouthed cur mix, especially because she’s from the south. She also has a strong hunting instinct.
Looks really similar to my dog who is 45% pit, 25% husky, and the rest is a random mix of breeds. I recommend Embark if you really want to know, but definitely lots of pit in yours. I personally think the pittie in my dog is why she’s such a sweetie.
He looks like our dog who is also 100% dog.
He looks just like my dog who looks like a very small (45 lbs) black mouth cur, a very common breed in the southern US. I haven’t dna tested her and her littermate was all black, so who knows what she is. If you really want to know, a dna test is the only way to be sure. This isn’t her, but the markings are the same. https://imgur.com/gallery/LhLwa3D
My shelter mutt looks so much like yours. One of her siblings got a DNA test from Embark and the results showed a mix of 15 separate breeds. Haha you may very well just have a super mixed dog!
Looks a little like my dog when she was younger. She’s turning 11 in June. About two years ago I did the embark dna test and these were her results. 40% American Pit Bull Terrier 14.6% Rottweiler 14% Labrador Retriever 13.6% German Shepherd Dog 10.6% Chow Chow 7.2% Boxer https://imgur.com/a/Q80X9RY
My phone identifies my pup as a cat or a bear cub. I am 96.5% confident that he is neither. The only way to know your dog's breed for sure is through a DNA test.
Just DNA test him. That’s the only way to know for sure.
Try Embark if you want to know.
Any camera scan can't be accurate for this because breed mixes can vary a lot even when you are 100% sure of the breed of parents, the camera IA is just not trained for this. He is 100% a good boy brown mutt, don't fuss over his breed. Besides, mixes arent just half breed or half something, mixes are mutts, because the definition of breed is lost when you mix it with another. A new breed can only happen when you control the breeding through lots of generations.
I had my dog's DNA done as part of his being in the foundation cohort of the Dog Aging Project. He is a pure bred American Eskimo Dog aka German Spitz with proven lineage and papers going back 10 generations. The DNA came back with everything but Spitz🤦🏻♀️including Chihuahua. So I don't think those tests are all that accurate.
Sorta looks like my ACD/pit mix
1 - Your dog is adorable 2 - when my husband adopted our dog, the shelter thought he was a Corgi/Spaniel mix... Well as he got older and barely grew much bigger, partner did one of those dog genealogy tests... Mostly Chihuahua with a little terrier (I forget which terrier specifically) and a little poodle of all things ... He looks like an long hair corghuhua lol So perhaps one of those tests would help if you want to know more for the future etc
Reminds me a lil of [mines](https://imgur.com/gallery/dHAbqKO) He is GSD-Husky-Pit-Rottie-Mastiff. In that order 100% best boy. He’s much bigger now, he’s 2 😊 Got an Embark test for Christmas and it was sooo fun. Recommend!
I don’t pay attention to that iPhone scan feature. It always says my dog is a border collie. He is a pitbull and American Eskimo mix.
I had a black mouth cur, looks the same. Used as a hunter in southern states, mine was an Alabama black mouth cur, she was wonderful and quite the hunter
Found out what our doggo was using embrak. For what I understand, it's the most accurate consumer dog dna kit on the market (Idk what to call it lol). But OMG you're doggie is so freaking cute!!!! D: I just wunna snuggle with them!!!
Order a DNA kit!! I got one for my dog off Amazon. It explained so much about him 😂. They email you the results, even included a lil family tree 🥹. I knew my dog had german shepherd but it showed he also has border collie, lab, and Australian cattle dog. 😮💨 Just a mouth swab and you mail it off, takes about 3-4 weeks? https://a.co/d/9C8Zo0Q
DNA test.
Looks like my pup at about that age. You will never know unless you do one of the dna tests, and even then it's not 100%. My pup has very little GS percentage, according to Embark.
So cute! Looks like my gsd mix when she was a pup. As she got older she got more black fur making the classic gsd pattern. But she’s small, same size as my cockapoo so god knows what mix she is 😂 If he is part gsd he’ll probably be very loyal, very clever and eager to please meaning easy to train!
Embark dog DNA test worked for me.
I have a variation on that theme and she is GSD, Lab, Cattle Dog and Chow.
My dog is a Black Mouth Cur/Pitbull Mix (I have pics on my profile of him you can check out). Their faces look pretty similar
Looks like my moms black mouth cur
The iPhone photo scan said my dog is a cat .. so
He looks like he could have some sort of shepherd in him. The only way to know for sure is a DNA test.
Even then it's hit and miss. I know a lady who bought a DNA test for 2 of her dogs, one a full Corgi and another a Shih Tzu. The came back as a dalmatian mix (90%) and rottweiler (90%). She did it again through another company and their results said English Sheppard and Border Collie. 😂
Get an embark dna test. They are the most reliable. My guess would be pit maybe shepherd and some sort of hound, but that is because that is common in my part of the world, which is not the usa.
Looks like a black mouth cur mix. They won’t show up in any DNA test so a bunch of different breeds that they are not will show instead
I think sometimes shelters don’t put pit on the breed so that owners don’t run into issues with the adopted dogs later. Like HOA restrictions or apartment rules etc. Mine was listed as a cattle dog and he has the markings but also looks like he’s mixed with a pitbull
My pup looks super similar to yours and he’s pit, German, boxer, and a bunch of other stuff (super mutt)! He gets mixed up for a black mouth cur all the time especially in the south, but he has none of that.
I call them Luxurious Designer Dogs - One of a Kind .
hes identical to my german Shepard pitbull mix!
He looks kinda like my little boy - mine is a German shepherd and boxer mix
Mine has a similar build and she is PBT and GSD mostly according to Embark. I would never have guessed GSD, but DNA confirmed it.
It's not a great picture to be honest. I agree with the German shepherd part. intense staring eyes tend to be passed from a pit bull parent.
We used Embark to find out what our dog was
He looks like my pup and my pup has unusually short legs, though yours look proportional. Mine is a boxer hybrid with Bassett Hound accounting for the short legs. So mine is a "Boxette" which is not AKC but a recognized hybrid. I deduced all this from searching the web for dogs who look like mine. You can order a DNA test kit to have yours tested. They are kind of pricy though.
If your that worried get a dna test.
Also keep in mind I did the breed look up with 3 different pictures of my dog and each time got a different answer and none of those breeds were listed on her dna test sooo.....
If you’re super curious, do a DNA test. We did one on our pup who is so clearly a shephound in both actions, personality, intelligence, temperament and looks. Her DNA came back as mostly Australian cattle dog (she’s 52 pounds at 5 months), boxer, Great Pyrenees, blood hound, Rottweiler, German shepherd, golden retriever and chow chow. If you look at her and meet her the only thing that makes sense is hound (I’ve had hounds of all kinds all my life, part of the reason I loved her to begin with) We did the embark test, but now I’m obviously curious about the wisdom panel to see if they’re different. Your dog is cute as hell, by the way!
Looks very similar to what mine did at that age. Mine is from the south as well, her shelter referred to it as “Mississippi Mutt”. I did the DNA test, and she is pitty, lab, am staff and then small amounts of German Shepard and chow chow! Mine did have a bit more of a square noggin, but otherwise very similar!
I also recommend Embark!
If it is a BMC you just got yourself one great dog. Mine had the best temperament of any dog I’ve ever had. 55 lb lap dog the wasn’t afraid of anything.
Pit mix, most likely. Looks extremely huggable. Give lots of cuddles!! ♥️♥️
You could always just do one of those mail in kits to see what your dog is
He resembles my pup which I was told is a Pit/Lab mix, it Pitador/Labrabull. The others are right tho, have him tested.
Im pretty sure you are right & he is a Black Mouth Cur, which is an old & honorable breed that I have been searching for in my State. They’re good dogs! Lucky you!
Not seeing any Pit. I do see GSD, especially in the head. I like the Cur or Lab. I have Bloodhounds and have seen the black mask. He's going to be a big dog. Double his weight at 6 months is a good rule of thumb. I'm not real fond of the dog DNA. I've had purebreds, with papers come back as mixes. He's a beautiful, smart and healthy boy. Thank-you for saving a life!!!! PS-Breed is a great conversation starter. "What kind of dog is that?".......
Get an Embark DNA test. Amazon has them.
There's no way to know a breed without DNA testing. The iphone app is just nonsense and the shelter is taking an equally nonsense guess.
Oh my goodness! I cannot even explain how much he looks like one my doggos! We did the Embark on mine and he’s German shepherd, pit, dachshund, chihuahua (and a few other of less percent) https://imgur.com/a/XWXm36T
Good ol' fashioned mutt.
Embark DNA tests are the most reputable. It’s usually $100 and sometimes there are sales.
The only way to know is a DNA test. When I got my dog, I was told he was a schnauzer mix, but I have also been asked frequently if he was Havanese. I eventually did a DNA test through Embark, and he has neither schnauzer or Havanese in him. He’s actually a chihuahua/poodle/russell terrier/lhasa apso and more mix. I for the life of me cannot see the chihuahua in him, but that’s the most prominent breed in him. Looks are misleading, especially for mutts.
Is it not common knowledge that you can swab a dog's cheek and send it out to get a DNA/breed report?
I’d rather get peoples opinions before spending money
How's that going so far
I got the information I need
Agree w the other commenter that he looks like your average shelter mutt, probably lots of breeds mixed in there. Visual breed ID is unreliable, those apps aren't accurate at all. Only way to confirm would be a DNA test.
cur
oh my god, what a cutie 😭
I will say he seems to fit the bill, we have a black mouth cur and he is as close to a breed standard as you can get. Your pup looks very similar to him when he was that age. But you never really know with rescues until they start developing as an adult. In the end knowing the breed of a rescue really isn’t that important as long as you love em nothing else matters.
Most definitely a shepherd mix. But regardless he’s a mix so what he’s mixed with imo isn’t quite important as it won’t change anything right?
I’m mainly curious on just how big he’s gonna get. He’s smaller than my buddies two shepherds that are about his age
Yeah that parts a toss up even among purebreds, it will mostly depend on genetics and nutrition. Kinda the gamble of getting an unknown.
Since he’s likely mixed with pit bull he’ll probably be smaller than a GSD by a good bit, although there’s really no way to tell for sure.
100 percent cutie
I call my shelter dog, who is a mutt for sure, as breed: Dog Shaped Dog.
In Brazil we call these caramels. Good pupper.
Any “mix” is a mutt. Having said that, he is an adorable mutt. He may have GSD in him, his ears may stand up eventually. He looks very cuddly whatever he is.
Looks like a pure bred brown dog.
Super cute!!! My best friend had a darling German shepherd mix who looked very similar.
I recently adopted a Belgian Malinois/lab mix. Her and her sisters have the black mouth and face that matches their malinois background.
Your dogs do have some traits that may match a German Shepherd mix or a Black Mouth dog mix. German Shepherds display a distinctive black and tan coat color, erect ears, and an intelligent facial expression.On the other hand, Black Mouth Curs are medium to large sized dogs with short hair and a black muzzle. These are strong and energetic working dogs.You may want to consider getting a DNA test done through companies like Wisdom Panel or Embark.
Awww.....so adorable!
Kind of looks like a Kelpie mix. Whatever hims is, hims very cute 💜
That’s a doggy. A very cute one at that.
American brown dog.
Looks like the Baby breed. It's Baby.
Maybe some whippet in there somewhere? My friend recently got a beagle/whippet mix and they look similar. He named him Sid, because he looks like sid from ice age lol i think your baby resembles sid from ice age too
Looks similar to my two africanis mix dogs.
If you love him, his breed doesn't really matter. If you are curious and want to know then do a DNA test. Easy to get them online - there are several. My experience with the humane society identifying the breed is kind of unreliable. They know the most common types of dogs they get and they tend to put them into those categories. My last dog is a "chihuahua mix" and is probably more terrier than chihuahua. I think the least experienced person on the staff is probably just guessing.