When you walk a mixed-breed dog, you spend a lot of time letting strangers tell you what breed you really have.
My mutt's been labelled a Greyhound, Akita, German Shepherd, Border Collie, Pointer, "Coyote Dog" (apparently bred in the southwest U.S. to chase and kill coyotes—typically a cross between a Greyhound for speed and a Pointer or other hunting dog for stamina), English Shepherd, and Spaniel.
They may be right. I looked into getting her DNA tested. On one Web site, pics of some clients' dogs are posted along with their blood lines. Time and again, some Mastiffish canine would prove to descend from Chihuahua ancestry. I decided against the testing. I wanted to spare people from hearing that the 65-pound animal leaning into them was a Papillon-Beagle mix.
My husband and I tried making up breeds so we wouldn't have to play the guessing game with strangers. Long ago, on a trip to some Greek islands where dogs ran loose and mated freely, we saw lots of dogs that looked just like ours. So one time we said she was a "Santorini Hound." And to the couple who noted her as "most unusual," my husband declared her a "Cartoon Hound." They believed him. We felt bad and reverted to the truth.
However, sometimes we meet someone who sheds a bit of light on the breed dilemma. A woman asked me yesterday if I had a Smooth Collie. I said I didn't know but thought perhaps there was some Smooth Collie in her.
"Does she exhale loudly and go 'Hrrrmph' when you haven't done what she wants?"
"Yes, yes!" I cried, like I'd finally found my dog's long-lost sibling.
We chatted for a bit about Smooth Collie traits while my dog basked in the attentions of the woman. But then it was time to part ways.
Hrrrmph, indeed.
