[goathiker]

I know that some people have been waiting for this thread. The puppy I first called Luka has evolved into Lula because she doesn't have any German shepherd, Belgium malinois, or Dutch shepherd temperament.
Turns out that she is a bit more exotic than that. She is a mix of Calupoh and Mexican street dog.

She is literally the sweetest, smartest, and most trainable dog I've ever owned. OMG she's high energy though. She has literally no prey drive, she just goes forever. Thank goodness I taught her to fetch already. Puppy push ups bore her to death. She's more interested in zooming around like an idiot and bring me the dead things that the cats leave.
She is very pack based and being raised in this mixed household of 10 dogs on the same property is developing her social skills well.

14 weeks old 29 1/2 lbs.

 

[goathiker]

We had our first strangers at the house today. She was properly reserved but, not afraid. They had a young child with them that I used as a training tool. She was willing to sniff his hand entwined with mine.
I would have worked with him further but, his mom was already frustrated at his behavior.

Reserved but, zero aggressiveness. Scary looking but, not dangerous. Exactly what I want.

 

[Tanya]

Aw. Pictures. Sounds wo derful. Like Nikita's Swiss Shepherd. Doesn't bark. Protects his momma. Herds horses well. And runs.

 

[toth boer goats]

:great:

 

[goathiker]

This is when I first got her on the pillow of my twin sized bed.

 

[goathiker]

This is her this evening. For context the mastiff is 120 lbs.

 

[GoofyGoat]

Love the ears in the first picture. She has intelligent eyes too.

 

[ksalvagno]

Getting so big!

 

[SalteyLove]

How did you find out she is those alternative breeds? Are those common in the area you got her? So interesting! Can't believe she gained and grew so fast! She is beautiful

 

[toth boer goats]

She is cute.

 

[goathiker]

How did you find out she is those alternative breeds? Are those common in the area you got her? So interesting! Can't believe she gained and grew so fast! She is beautiful

I don't for sure lol. I'm just listening to the gossip from others who have gotten puppies from them.
I'll be sending in a DNA test soon. It should be here next week.
The breed does make sense though. I raised and bred German Shepherds for several years, even sold some to police departments. This dog just doesn't have that temperament.

 

[goathiker]

So, now we find out...

 

[ksalvagno]

That will be fun to find out.

 

[Moers kiko boars]

Very nice looking girl. Glad she is intelligent and not aggressive! Good qualities!

 

[SalteyLove]

Do you think the test will pick up on some of those less common breeds she might be?

 

[goathiker]

Yes, it tests for 350 different breeds including village dogs from every continent, wolf, and coyote.
I was really choosy about researching all the available tests.
This one also tests for 180 genetic health conditions.
It was not cheap however lol.

 

[goathiker]

Okay, the test is in the mail. As long as I slopped up enough slobber into the sponge we should know in about a month. If I didn't submit enough DNA they will send a replacement swabs to try again.

It's rather interesting so say that the dam is village dog and lab, while dad is a village shepherd (village dog and German shepherd). Even with the same parents some will show more DNA from one breed or the other. One puppy might be 34% labrador while the next might only be 16%. It just depends on which genes were passed to that cell pairing.
Here is the litter that she came from.

 

[goathiker]

Most of the puppies were long since reserved the choice I had was between Lula in the right lower corner and the black and white beside her.
There was literally nothing that drew me to the black one. She was stiff and unresponsive, while Lula was scared but relaxed into my arms.
I was truly trying hard not to pick by color but, I was really happy that the sable was the best pick lol.

I would be really curious to see what the white one looks like now. He was a gorgeous puppy.

 

[SalteyLove]

That's really neat to read about the test. We used one on our dogs probably ten years ago but sounds like a lot of advancements have been made since then!

 

[goathiker]

Got an update from Embark.

Tallulah's DNA Analysis Update: Processing is about to begin.

Tallulah's swab is at our lab and has started processing! The first step in our process is for our genomicists to extract the DNA from the swab.

Your furry family member's results should be ready in one to three weeks.