Saturday, February 5, 2011

Mystery Mutts - Today it's all about Frankie:)



We are joining the Magical Mystery Mutt Blog Hop being hosted by Will My Dog Hate Me?Peggy's Pet Place, and I Still Want More Puppies.  Thanks guys:)

The idea is for people to guess what breeds are in your Magical Mutt.  If you want to join in the fun, details on how can be found at any of the hosts blogs:)

Now on to some details about Frankie -


He is nearly 3 years old and I've had him for a bit over 2 years.  He is approx 21" at the shoulder and weighs about 50 lbs (could stand to lose a couple of pounds!)  Colour is kind of a chocolate/red or red/chocolate:)  Eyes are golden.  His chest is very deep and broad and he's an all over powerful guy.  He has a lot of spare skin around his neck and shoulders.  His coat is single but quite coarse over his shoulders and on his back, shorter and finer elsewhere and in the winter it develops crinkles along his back!  But they go when he gets his Summer coat, weird huh?

Last Winter
Tail carriage depends on what he's doing, whether it's hanging down, straight out or curled up.  His ears vary too but mostly they're nicely tipped on top although sometimes they can look like this -


As to his nature, well, he's a character.  Very clever, stubborn, independent at times, affectionate, energetic but more able to chill out as he's maturing.  He likes people and most other dogs!  I'm very glad he's neutered, lol.  Occasionally we will come across a dog he doesn't think should be in 'his' park and he will jump on them and verbally abuse them which has caused me some embarrassment but it hasn't happened for quite a while (touch wood) He loves to go to new places and is a great explorer.  He is a good watchdog (but not a guard dog!) and will often have conversations with me but he isn't an annoying barker.

His favourite things to do are fetch sticks from the river


Play with his Greyhound buddies



He's there in the middle of his girls:)
and hunt!!  I don't have any photos of that.  But he's caught 6 possums at the park/river where we generally go every day.  His nose is always working (unless he's playing with his Greyhound girls!) as he catches up with the 'peemail' at the park.  He is totally anal about this when taking him on a walk around town on the lead!  So we don't do that very often.

In the hands of the right person he could excel at agility, tracking and rally O.  I don't think he's really cut out for obedience, lol.  Not enough fun for him.  But I think he's pretty happy to be living with me and just learning a few tricks and doing some rally and mostly having fun together.

I'm often asked what breed he is and I just say he's a pig dog from Taumaranui, which is where he was found wandering the streets.  It's a rural town and I expect there is a lot of pig hunting goes on in the area.  Really I have no idea what his make up is.  Like most muttley dog owners I'd love to know:)  So, what do you think he could be?

11 comments:

Alison said...

Hello! So exciting to be your first comment.
I think Frankie may have some Weineramer in him, my brother has a Weineramer and the eyes are very similiar. The red coloring says Red Coonhound to me and when I googled it to see some photos of Red Coonhounds, I thought Frankie definitely looks like one! That explains his keen hunting abilities and his strong nose. The last photo you posted of Frankie made me think of one of my dogs that is American Staffordshire Terrier. But I feel like I have been guessing that a lot on this blog hop...either Am Staffs really get around or I am biased!
Regardless, Frankie is a very handsome guy!

Carrie, with Tanner and Oliver said...

Wow. Frankie is stunning. His wide white collar, broad white chest and cute white socks are just chuck-your-cheek precious. I want to reach across the website and hug him, and I can tell he and my Tanner would be fast friends at the dog park. Enjoy him!

Edie said...

I've been trying to go through all the entries on this blog hop but have got to admit I jumped the line when I saw the title on the post. What can I say? I'm a sucker for dogs named Frankie. Of course your Frankie couldn't look more different -- muscular and dark where mine is fluffy and white --from mine, but both are extremely handsome in their own inimitable fashion.

As for the identity of your Frankie --I'm afraid I have even less of a clue than I do about the identity of mine!

houndstooth said...

Well, I feel like a doof! I thought pig dog was an official classification! Ha ha ha! I guess because Jet calls Bender a pig dog, too.

Um, I'd guess maybe a border collie-lab cross. He's got some of the lab build, but the coloring is more typical of a Border Collie.

Unknown said...

I guess I'm getting tired because I don't have a good guess. Maybe part flatcoated collie mixed with ????

I'm finding the dogs from the southern hemisphere particularly hard to identify. Do you really have that many different breeds from us in the north?

georgia little pea said...

i just read pamela's comment! oh dear, i think she went through my mutt georgia and now with frankie - is FEELIN' IT! i gather you're from the southern hem then, and judging by the name Taumaranui, Frankie must be kiwi!

happy to meet you. georgia is a pigdog too, but she looks quite different from frankie.

i would say frankie has bullarab in him, possibly labrador, staffy and maybe even greyhound, if he was bred to hunt pigs. the coarse seasonal fur crinkles is interesting. georgia has that too but she's [apparently] part W.......d. sorry, can't reveal yet :p

heh-heh. i like stumping our northern cousins :) have a great day!

Sue said...

I don't know what's in him, but he is lovely. Song and I have a soft spot for him:)

Peggy Frezon said...

He is a great dog! I'm not sure why, but the first thing I thought of when I saw his face is Basenji. I know he is quite a bit larger. Then I thought I saw a little of some type of pittie in his face and his muscular body. I also thought of weimeraner. wow. This is all over the place!

Kristine said...

I didn't think of it until I saw Peggy's comment, but I agree, there may be some Basenji in him somewhere. Basenji/Border Collie/maybe some type of bull dog? He is super cute and super fun. One of those dogs I know Shiva would get along with very well. Maybe too well. ;-)

That last photo cracked me up!

Anonymous said...

I am feeling very uneducated that until this tour I was not aware of pig-dogs, From the stout body and beautiful feet I was thinking along the lines of bull mastiff, even tho the head is all wrong. Wait- you said 21"? He looks so much larger in all the photos.
Then I am going to go along with the Basenji thoughts.

2 dogs + 1 cat + 2 humans said...

He is so lovely :) Mutts are the best I reckon ;) I am going to guess that he has a bit of kelpie in him (the ears and the colouring is very kelpie like), then something a bit more stocky, dare I say it, AmStaff/Pitty, to give him the red skin, and maybe Weimerana or Viszla. It is so hard to tell.
Did you know that there are doggy DNA tests that you can get done? My boss had one done on her dog Jessie, who has featured a few times on our blog.... turns out that Jessie has about 47 different dog breeds in her DNA, the most predominant being german shepherd and then greyhound.... yet Jessie is only Snoopy sized!

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