Quote:
Beautiful dogs, Ilia! And now I want to do one of those DNA cheek swab tests on Willow - We found her on I-90 7 years ago, and nobody was ever able to tell us what she is. From the neck down, she looks like your dogs; strong, musculcar, built like a tank!
But but but does it really matter now? Would you love her any more or any less if you found out what she is? JMHO but I don't know nuthin.
No, it does not really matter. It would not change my opinion of her. To me, she is, and always will be the very best dog in the world (unless you happen to love Jack Russels terriers - she would like to eat those. She doesn't have issues with other small dogs)
It is just a curiosity - vets, friends and dog-sitters all guess at her breed, but all are stumped. I've heard pitbull/lab, but she is far too large to be a pitbull; lab/rotweiler, lab/ridgeback, GSD/Basenji.... She's 85 pounds, and looks just like Illia's dogs from the neck down (even the color and the docked tail). She is between the male and female in muscle mass. Their heards are a bit different. Willow's is the same color as her body, and looks a bit more lab-like, but her face is much too broad for a lab. She is calm, loyal and protective, gentle, and yet she can scare the poop out of some strangers that approach our house. She does not bark unless there is a good reason. I don't know if her traits are from the breeds she is or if she is just thankful to be with a family that loves her. Her previous owner was very abusive. She used to roll her end under and pee whenever anyone reached toward her, and she'd slink away from garden tools.
When we found her, Olivia weighed only 32 pounds, yet from that first week we had her, Olivia could walk her on a leash, on a trail or the street, and Willow would NEVER pull at the leash, so good! If I was walking her on a trail and the kids ran around a bend where Willow could not see them, Willow would nearly dislocate my shoulder trying to get to them! When we camp, we can leave her loose (so long as the ranger does not notice), and Willow will not leave the camp site. She's fabulous! My other dog is good too, but no comparison to Willow. Shasta digs huge holes in the yard (the chickens use them for dust baths), chews every dog bed to shreds in 10 minutes, and tries to play fetch with the chickens.
