Guess Tessa's Mix-Awaiting DNA test results

[ruthcatrin]

Ok:

Apollo at 5 months





and at 7months:



No wet pics sorry. I didn't even get him his pool for another month after this, and somehow I never really took any wet pics of him.....next time we give him a bath I'll get some, though I don't know how much good they'll do you with the age difference. But yah, the fluff makes it hard to judge size!

 

[ruthcatrin]

3.5 months



4.5 months:




And 6 months:



and I think thats the best of the bunch for the age range. I've got tons of pictures, but no wet ones and alot with his feet or legs hidden....

 

[ruthcatrin]

looking at her head, and Apollo's head in those pictures.....Apollo has a much sharper "stop" than she does (that "break" at the end of the muzzle between the eyes), and it makes her muzzle look really long, but otherwise the shape isn't that different from his at the same age.

 

[Catia]

Tessa's fur is not near that fluffy or thick. We need some female TM pics too--hint hint

Gordon Setter face & TM on the black & tans looks so similar to me, I'm not that good at knowing what I should be looking for.
But seriously what would the chances be of a gordon setter TM mix--if that came up in her genetic profile I'd about crap!!!
Though, in a country/rural setting, where most of both breeds are, I suppose it's possible--but who'd be giving them up to a shelter???

I still hold firm that I think Tessa was trapped, due to the scarring on her rear foot (spring trap) & how weird she is about having her tail touched, I think her tail was caught too, she has a weird crook in her tail & the fur changes there.
And the fact that her fur & some whiskers was clippered. I'm thinking she was a mess & had to be clippered.
Also, I have no real way of knowing that the back story on her was true, or that the copies of the papers from shelter in Virginia was actually for Tessa, there were no pics of her from there-could be from any dog.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

There are plenty pics of Mooshi in my photo albums. here is one when she was about 9 months old.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

 

[Catia]

tessa's snout isn't as long as it seems in some of those pics-it isn't as long as a gordon's, I just like getting shots of her lips & those jowls & am not a photographer, it's a cheapie digital fujifilm camera from walmart.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yah, I think the reason her nose looks longer to me is cause she doesn't have as sharp a stop as is normal for a TM, so it lengthens her face.

If she really was trapped, instead of coming in as a dumped litter, that really opens up the possibilities too......

 

[Catia]

LOL with Apollo, he looks like the same pooch throughout his age progression--with Mooshi-she looks like 2 or 3 different pooches especially with her coloring.

 

[ruthcatrin]

lol! Her blue totally changes as her adult coat came in. Where Apollo's color change from puppy to adult wasn't nearly as dramatic (his color dimension and shading changed ALOT, but overall his color is very similer). His facial markings changed drastically though. At 10 weeks when we picked him up he had no black on his face at all. A month later he had a distinct bandits mask. And by now its faded to a widows peak and cheekbone highlights!

 

[Catia]

I have no idea what a sharp stop is-I think people with pedigrees have better eyes for that stuff.

Watch her be basset hound setter mix lol-& now she's done growing--I saw a basset/yellow lab mix at the shelter-was like 75-80 lbs looked like a lab til it stood up-had full body size of a lab with but only knee high. I met a guy a few weeks ago with a husky chiuaua mix-odd looking dog.

On the trapped thing, usually animal control & rescue places use box traps, not spring traps-her scarring looks like it is from the jaws of a hunter's spring trap-the ones with those big zig-zag teeth, that's what I mean when I say trapped & scarred from it.

 

[ruthcatrin]

The point where I put the red arrows



its basically the point where the nose meets the face. TMs are supposed to have a fairly sharp stop in comparison to alot of breeds.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Mooshi at 8 weeks old, her coat almost changed week by week!

 

[Catia]

ahhh--I was looking at the end of her snout trying to figure out what you meant!

it's still hard for me to see much difference even with the arrows, I don't have trained eyes for that stuff, but I do see Tessa has more of a slope of space at the spot where her eyes & beginning of her snout begins.

This darn test takes too long!

 

[ruthcatrin]

....Tessa has more of a slope of space at the spot where her eyes & beginning of her snout begins.

This darn test takes too long!

Thats it exactly, and yes it does! The whole board wants to know now!

 

[taraann81]

ahhh--I was looking at the end of her snout trying to figure out what you meant!

it's still hard for me to see much difference even with the arrows, I don't have trained eyes for that stuff, but I do see Tessa has more of a slope of space at the spot where her eyes & beginning of her snout begins.

This darn test takes too long!

the closer to a 45 degree angle the sharper the stop...imaginong a little angle thingy running up the forehead.and down the.muzzle, helps me see the difference. Altgough if you dont k.ow what I mean by "angle thingy" that wont help lol

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

angle finder/ruler/L shaped ruler?

 

[taraann81]

angle finder/ruler/L shaped ruler?

yes, any of those would have been better words

 

[Catia]

Just checked the Wisdom site, says 14 days remaining--what do they do--sit it on a desk in a pile for 20 days then do the test on the 21st???
Note: when they say 3 weeks--they mean 3 weeks from date received-does not include shipping time & the priority mail took longer than it should have.

OK, so as far as odd behaviors, if she lands up being some kind of hound-do hunting dogs do weird scanning/surveying types of things? Anyone have any experience here outside of mastiffs?

Obviously she LOVES retrieving *in water*. I taught her fetch at 11 weeks, but she seems not too much into it--add water & completely different dog.
Took her to the lake yesterday evening for a good deep swim, after getting home, she wanted to lay outside in the yard--in the rain & chew a her bone...Wasn't a hot evening, maybe 73 degrees.

So she's some type of water pooch & what???

Also, on barking--she only barks when she wants let in, or sometimes at the cat or one of her toys-she's not a big barker-thank goodness-because she likes to go outside at night.
She still has some puppy bark sound but it is changing-but she doesn't have the higher pitch of a lab--have a lab barker across the street.
When did your pooches get their dog bark?

 

[NYDDB]

Okay, I may switch my idea: how about Newfoundland Dog and Gordon Setter? I know, the odds are slim, but I so see Newf in her (my friend's Newf had the same coat feathering on his back, and it was thick and fluffy in areas.) Plus her love of water screams Newf/Lab (but I don't see Lab in her.)

A touch of TM would be cool... and explain some of her personality characteristics.

It's true- we are all in suspense!