Guess the Breeds Contest

We’ve played the guessing game for years.

What breed is Lily?

lily sitting

 

I got her from a border collie rescue, and yes, she’s black and white and the right size. Other than that, she has none of the traits one would expect in a BC. Lily has no urge to herd, and she doesn’t have the crouch and low posture of a BC. She does hunt. She air and ground scents. Going after prey, or chasing off a predator, Lily is a speed demon. She’s smart as can be, but her intelligence isn’t exhibited in the command-focused mindset of a border collie, rather, she’s an independent thinker. She’s hyper-vigilant and wary. I joke that if she was a person, she’d be on the internet with all of the other conspiracy theorists.

And then there’s Scooter.

Svooyrt on stairs

 

What could his parentage be? His mother was found on the streets of Hartford a day before she whelped three pups. Even skinny, she weighed 25 pounds. She had upright ears and the coloring of corgi. Scooter is 10 1/2 pounds of adorableness. Bow legs. Overshot lower jaw. Tucked up waist. Floppy ears. He is a dog of little brain, but what is there is sweet as can be.

Scooter head

 

I bought two Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery Dog DNA Kit: Most Accurate Dog Breed Identification, Test for 365+ Breeds, MDR1 Health Test, Ancestry, Relatives. All it takes is a swab of the inside of the lip to get what the lab needs to run the report. Fifteen seconds.

Lily was sure that there was a plot behind this torture. She hid under the desk when I was done.

DNA swab

 

Scooter said that it felt weird,

Scooter swab

 

and did he earn a cookie?

dog cookie

 

Your guess about my dogs’ lineages is as good as mine. We have a month or so before the results come back, so in that time, let’s have a contest! Whoever guesses the parentage will get a copy of my book, Vintage Dog Photographs. There will be two winners, one for each dog.

Let the games begin!

The winner will be announced in a post as soon as I hear back from the lab.

Comments:

  1. Lily’s face looks like a Terrier with over size ears and her stance and turn of speed Greyhound possible. As to Scooter I don’t know where to begin, he’s just to adorable to call a mutt always looks like he needs a big cuddle :)

  2. Lily is English Pointer & ? I have no clue what Scooter’s parentage is!

  3. Hmmm… Heinz 57. But a more informative guess is… Lily is a hound/rat terrier mix. Scooter appears to have pug, chi, and possibly pekingese (sp?) in his lineage. Adorable. We have one similar to him in foster right now, looking for his forever home. They are an adorable mix, aren’t they? The face! The personality!

  4. My guess is that Lily has a bit of Blue Heeler in her and Dalmation?? this is a guessing game right?:) Scooter must have some kind of Spaniel of some sort?

  5. I’ve had three rat terriers over the years and Lily does remind me of them. As for Scooter, is there a “Cute” breed??

  6. Hmmmmmm……Well Scooter seems to have Chihuahua and Terrier blood-lines, with maybe some Spaniel tossed in? Lily……. Dalmation and Terrier(long-legged Jack Russell)? Once you have their DNA profile, they really better be on their best behaviour as there`s no hiding from the law now. :)

  7. I agree with Leslie regarding Scooter but I don’t see any dalmation in Lilly, I just think terrier for Lilly. I can see that Scooter doesn’t like to have her nails clipped.

  8. Sorry Scooter, I didn’t mean to question your maleness. I meant (his) nails.

  9. I’m going to say terrier and border collie for Lily. Too many options to pick for Scooter. Can’t wait to find out the results!

  10. Lily – Jack Russell cross; Scooter – Chihuahua cross. Will be fun to see the results. All the reports I’ve seen on this sort of thing just prove how hard it is to tell by looking at a dog. :) You gotta have the DNA.

  11. Lily- Border collie/ ibazinian hound
    Scooter- chiuaha (sorry about my awful spelling)/ parson jack russel

  12. Lily is a Jack Russell Terrier mixed with a Border Collie. Scooter is a Pug mixed with a Chihuahua

  13. We had one of our two Border Collie mixes DNA tested. Oreo came back as a mixture of Sharpei, Golden Retriever, Scotty and Chihuahua. We figured he got the sonic barking skills from several of those breeds. He’s smart enough to grab a bone or toy to hold in his mouth to muffle his barks.

  14. Scooter = corgi/beagle/pug

    Lily I honestly don’t have a clue.

  15. My guesses are…
    Lily: rat terrier/greyhound/bc? It’s about the coloring, terrier looks and speed combination for me.
    Scooter: corgi/dachshund-something else. The corgi color, the Doxie feet and the something else just because!
    Won’t it be fun to finally know for sure?

  16. lilly is rat terrier and some here just call them mountian fiest

  17. Can’t wait to hear what the results are. Do they do cats? I think Lily looks just like a Canaan but that is a recent Israeli breed so I think it is more likely that she is Rat Terrier/German Pinscher/Greyhound/Fox Terrier. Now Scooter is definitely Corgi/Chihuahua/King Charles Spaniel/Norfolk Terrier. I’m sure that they will come back with all kinds of things that we would never guess like Labrador and Irish Setter. Looking forward to hearing the results!

  18. We had a rescue dog we got when she was eight years old. Millie was a real sweetheart, very much an independent thinker but with lovely manners. It’s interesting what you can deduce about her previous family from the way she acted.

    She looked like Lily’s twin but with longer hair (silky, not furry). She had a few black spots on her back, white most everywhere else except for the black head. Broad chest, long grippy fingers. Fast as all get out on the straight, but clumsy in a turn. Sweetest and most patient dog in the world. We had her until she was fifteen and I miss her terribly. The vet determined she was more than half greyhound with some setter thrown in. It will be interesting to see if Lily has greyhound as several of us are guessing.

    As for Scooter…not a clue. Chihuahua?

  19. Scooter is a Fox Terrier and Chihuahua…..or….A Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice!

  20. Scooter – basset pug chihuahua
    Lily – border collie Dalmatian shepherd
    Can’t wait to find out :) :)

  21. Scooter…mmmmm….chihuahua, beagle, corgi, cavalier king charles & a bit of pomeranian.
    Lily girl…hmmm. okay, basenji and rat terrier.
    You know, I have an australian cattle dog that I’ m sure is part rhino, I should test her DNA & see… ;)

  22. Lily = Border Collie/Rat Terrier
    Scooter = Basset/Terrier/Beagle

  23. I believe that Scooter might be Pembroke Welsh Corgi mixed with a Beagle.

  24. i will guess grreat dane is somewhere in lily’s backgound. along with maybe a rat terrier mixed in – and neither one of them had to be purebred. then scooter is beagle mixed with a spaniel of some sort. the swweetness could come from a small cocker – if it were the right kind of cocker, not the grumpy kind – there are the two sorts. our charlie is the sweetest kog i’ve ever had and he’s maybe nine-tenths cocker.

  25. I see Kelpie in Lily. My son rescued a kelpie and blue tick hound mix. He is just as you describe Lily, hyper – vigilant and wary but oh so smart, and fast! Boy can that dog run! My son and him compete in agility through our 4-H. It is a beautiful thing to watch.

    As for what she is mixed with maybe border collie or maybe a blue or red healer?

    In Scooter I see Lhasa Apso and Corgie.

  26. Lilly has the big ears and scooter has the biggest eyes with the smallest legs and the biggest cuteness factor. I am not even beginning to guess but couldn’t resist a comment because they are both so lovely and I too will be interested in the results.

  27. I’m thinking Lily is Rat terrier with a bit of Jack Russell and Scooter is Chihuahua and Pug. Just a guess…LOL

  28. Lily- Border Collie
    Scooter – Chihuahua

    I loved the idea of this DNA kit! Thinking about trying it too, but I will have to investigate if they ship to Brazil.

  29. These comments are great! Keep them coming! The New Canaan dog sure looks like her, but since she was an unwanted pup from a farm litter in the deep south, I doubt that there was a stud dog wandering around there. Scooter does have sorrowful eyes, but basset hounds are huge – he has to have something tiny in him. I do think there’s a bit of corgi, and I wouldn’t be surprised at a toy breed like the lhasa. We’ll have to wait and see!

  30. I would say scooter is beagle chihuahua and Lilly perhaps bull terrier rat terrier

  31. I am the worst at this guessing game. But I really believe Lily must have some Jack Russell Terrier. All I can say, they are both cute as can be.

  32. With the background of Lily and Scooter, I doubt their will be really high match in any really pure breed for either of them, though chihuahua might be a close possibility for Scooter. Close genetic matches I am sure would be seen in the local feral dog populations from where Lily came from, especially from the South if she could have Carolina Dog in her father’s ancestry. It would be interesting to see if Lily really had that much difference genetically from other pariah dog types in America, or from other countries.

  33. I’m looking foward to know the answer! 2 weeks to go!

    By the way, I didn’t resist and bought the kit. My aunt is in the US and she will bring it to me!

  34. This will be fun!

    For Scooter, my guess is Pekingese with King Charles Spaniel.

    For Lily, I would guess Brittany Spaniel with Rat Terrier and Australian Cattle Dog.

  35. All the guesses are so much fun! Both dogs are precious and I thoroughly enjoy posts on their antics.
    I’ll throw my guesses into the ring:

    Lily: Border Collie, Australian Shepherd and Yellow Lab
    Scooter: Chihauhau, Corgi, Pug and Brittany

    I had to throw the Brittany in there somewhere simply because I have two and love them so dearly.

  36. my guess is Lily-jack russel/border collie and Scooter-Chihuahua/corgie/beagle

  37. Lilly- Rat Terrier
    Scooter- Border Terrier & Chihuahua

  38. I would guess that Lilly is an Italian Greyhound cross Rat terrier. She may even have some Smooth Fox terrier thrown in for good measure.

    I would suggest that Scooter is a real delight of breeds. A chihuahua, Puggle (Beagle/Pug), Tibetan Terrier cross. He is a little sweetie.

    With all those crosses in their lineage these two should have amazing “cross breed vigour” to sustain their health for many years.

  39. I think Lilly has a definite Jack Russell Terrier face….. I am not sure what the rest of her is?

  40. Lilly- Rat Terrier mix
    Scooter- Brussels Griffin mix

  41. Hello,
    I think Lilly is Border collie and Rat terrier and Scooter is Chihuahua and King Charles Spaniel.
    They are both adorable.