# Shepherd Collie mix?



## [email protected] (Oct 26, 2018)

The rescue where we adopted Kaiser said he was a collie Shepherd mix, but his file says Bernese mountain dog Shepherd mix .. I don't see it! What do you think? He is almost 6 months old. I definitely see the Shepherd body but his face seems more collie.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

He has very short hair for any of those mixes!
I'd think more along the lines of some sort of hound mix.

Rescues often have no idea what a dog's parents were, and just have to guess. I don't see Berner in this dog at all, and I have known a LOT of Berners!

I really don't see collie, either, unless it was a smooth collie. Rough collies have a TON of coat!


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Agree with Sunsilver :wink2:
He sure is cute!




Moms


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

He's going to be a beautiful adult no matter the mix!  Thanks for sharing...


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## Katsugsd (Jul 7, 2018)

Cute pup! I agree with the two above. 


A lot of shelters/rescues in my area label dogs as shepherd because of the black and tan as a puppy, bonus points if the puppy has pointy ears. I have a friend who got a "shepherd mix" from a rescue and it is very much a hound/lab mix (the bark and fully grown body is a dead giveaway) at 2.5 years old.
My guess is also hound mix. If you're interested enough to pay for it, they do have DNA testing. Very cute though!


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

If mountain dogs are common in your area, I’d say a Swissie was a possibility.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

The only thing that I see in that dog which might be from a Berner is the blaze on the face:
This is my GSD, Tasha, with a Berner puppy. Both of them had just been swimming, and are very wet. The Berner occupied itself with herding logs around the pond! :grin2:
You can see the Berner's hair is much longer than Tasha's.


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

I don't see any collie in there. Cute, though!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Don't see either one. Swiss MDs are not common and are not running loose breeding mixes. Mostly hound (Beagle?) or Pit mix. 
Without knowing the parent dogs, shelters go by coat color: they may mention GSD because of the coat's color and BMD because of the blaze . Most likely a mix of all dogs running the streets in the area where he was found instead of a mix of two purebreds. 
Nice pup though! Enjoy him for who he is.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

On looks alone, mixes can fool you. Choose what you like to call your dog. I had one that I started referring to as a "certified street stray" because I got tired of say "don't know."
Cute pup, very close coat.


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## Orphan Heidi (Sep 21, 2018)

Sunsilver said:


> The only thing that I see in that dog which might be from a Berner is the blaze on the face:
> This is my GSD, Tasha, with a Berner puppy. Both of them had just been swimming, and are very wet. The Berner occupied itself with herding logs around the pond! :grin2:
> You can see the Berner's hair is much longer than Tasha's.


What breed is that cute dog on the right in your photo? Is she a full GSD? She looks like a first cousin to my

new rescue, Heidi? Even has the same happy smile.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

*This is my GSD, Tasha, with a Berner puppy...* 

Here she is at a younger age. Her pigment was faded in that photo due to the very strong sunlight washing out the picture. She lived to be 14. She was a rescue a friend found running loose in the streets, but I have no doubt she was purebred. She has what's known as a reverse mask.


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## GSDchoice (Jul 26, 2016)

I have known three shepherd collie mixes - Tex, Bongo and Charlotte...
All of them had thick, medium to long fur. All had pointed ears. All had a bushy tail. (That makes sense, since both breeds have that in common.) So I think his short coat rules out that particular mix.

Interesting thing that all three of them did...they liked to lead the way and walk in front of me, then look back over shoulder at me as if to say, “come on! This way!” It felt like being herded from the front...

Congrats on your mysterious but beautiful new pup!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

The coat is very short so yeah. Maybe beagle in there. Just a guess . Really really cute boy!


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## czgsd (Jan 12, 2004)

My older dog is a GSD/collie mix (DNA confirmed, so I could tell strangers that I'm sure he's not part wolf or coyote), and I've seen others. Some are even bred and sold as "shollies". (not mine, who was rescued from a shelter, but whose origin is known) They have upright ears, and don't look at all like the OP's pictured dog.


BTW, my GSD puppy is also named Tasha. I'm curious to know the reason for that name in the other GSD's mentioned in this thread. (not that there has to be much reason)


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Cz, my room mate (and landlady) found her when she was showing a house in Scarborough. Since she loves dogs, too, she asked around, and was told the dog had been running around loose in the area for a couple of days.

She managed to lure her into her car, with some food, and brought her home.

I already had a GSD, who was on her last legs with spinal problems, and when S. showed me the dog, that was her 'sales' pitch. "I know you're going to have to put Lilli to sleep soon, so I thought maybe you'd want another dog, to make it easier when the time comes!"

My response to that was "The last thing we need in this house is a THIRD dog!" (S. had a collie mix.)

Then, I might have said, "Well, I guess we need to come up with a name for her. We can't just keep calling her 'hey, you!"

After a few minute's thought, the name Tasha just popped into my head. "Let's call her Tasha," I said.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"I dunno," I said. "Just came to me...Just seems to fit."

"Yes, it does!" S. agreed. So, Tasha it was.

She was totally untrained and turned the house upside down. She immediately figured out how to get into the closet where the dog food was stored. I bought a large Rubbermaid bin to put it in. She chewed the handles off it within 3 days. After that, I had to store it in the garage!

She was a hard-tempered dog, and quite a challenge to train. If she didn't want to do something, she'd try to find a way around it. For instance, it was amazing the number of times she'd decide she just had to have one more pee when you called her. Then, once she'd finished her business, she'd conveniently FORGET that you had called! :rolleyes2:


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

GSD/Collie is a common cross and has been for at least as long as I have been around. They breed pretty true to form and as was mentioned usually are built like collies, with medium coats, tipped or erect ears and shepherd shaped faces. Although I have seen black/tan and even black ones, they seem to favor the yellow dog coloring often with white markings and sometimes with the greyish bitch stripe and muzzle. Someone years ago experimented and determined that if you cross a male collie and a female shepherd you got yellow pups, if you did it the other way you got black and tan. I cannot speak to that but it seemed to hold for him every time he tried it. I may have that backwards. He was a friend of my step fathers and crossed those two breeds repeatedly for years. 

Overwhelmingly it is a cross that seems to revert to something near the feral dog look.


The dog in question looks to be more of a Rottie or Bully cross, possibly some hound, but I see nothing that looks GSD or Collie and it is highly unlikely that a cross of those breeds could produce a dog with down ears.


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## Orphan Heidi (Sep 21, 2018)

czgsd said:


> BTW, my GSD puppy is also named Tasha. I'm curious to know the reason for that name in the other GSD's mentioned in this thread. (not that there has to be much reason)


My late Tasha was named after Tasha Tudor, a little old lady artist who lived and painted in

her enchanting garden and her quaint little cottage in New England. My Tasha, also a rescue from

a local shelter, was the kindest, most obedient dog, got along with everyone, all dogs, cats,

chickens, horses. I used to say she was a golden retriever hiding in a GSD coat.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

In our local shelter and various rescues: if it is black and white, it is a Border Collie mix. If it is yellow with floppy ears, it is a Rhodesian Ridge Back mix. If it is black with floppy ears, it is a Lab mix. If it is brindle, it is a Dutch Shepherd mix. If it is spotted, it is a Dalmatian mix. And you can guess it, if it is black and tan, it is Rottie or GSD mix. Oddly, there are no Pits or Pit mixes mentioned (????) Wait, some of them are Terrier mixes but all these purebred mixes have one look in common: sleek coat, floppy or tipped ears, stocky built and heavy jaws. Hmmmmm......


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