# Is my dog a Fox Red Working Lab or a Redbone Mix?



## Apollostreet (Oct 25, 2010)

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on this site. I hope that I am posting in the correct section, my apologies if I'm not.

I am trying to figure out what type of dog I have. We adopted Mabel from a shelter 2 years ago. She was shipped up here (CT) after being pulled from a high kill shelter in North Carolina, so we don't have any info on her. The shelter staff guessed that she is a Redbone CoonHound/Lab mix, but of course we aren't sure. Some people have guessed Rhodesian Ridgeback as well. I recently saw pictures of a Fox Red Working Lab and realized that our dog looks almost exactly like one. However I understand that a fox red working lab is very rare.

She weighs about 50-55lbs and when we got her she had just had a cyst removed from her eye. She is a wonderful dog so we think that perhaps the cyst had something to do with why she was given up. 

Do any of you have any guesses on her breed? She is about 2 years old in the first picture.

Thank you so much!








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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

She looks more houndy than labby to me. And if you are playing the odds, a dog coming up from a Southern shelter is more likely to be a coonhound than a fox red labrador.


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## ZeeDoggy (Jul 16, 2010)

That is one fine looking dog! How tall is she and what's her personality like. Without seeing the top of her back end, i'm guessing lab/redbone coonhound. Ridgebacks have an area of hair that's stiff and looks like it's sticking out. Here's a good pic of it: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/rhodesianridgebacks.html


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

I would say hound/lab mix as well. Hound mixes are VERY common in the South. I wouldn't put my money on Ridgeback either, maybe they're more common than I think but the Ridgeback look is very similar to a lot of mixes. 

Be careful that you don't mistake hackles for a ridge. A ridge is a strip of hair that is growing in the opposite direction to the rest of the hair and it never goes away. But a lot of dogs raise their hackles when they are excited and it can look a little bit like a ridge if you aren't looking for the difference. The other day at the dog park a dog came in who had his hackles raised from shoulders to tail, but after he had been there a while and calmed down a little the hair stood down again.


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## Apollostreet (Oct 25, 2010)

Thank you! Yeah, I was thinking odds are that she is a lab/hound mix since she came from down south... it'd be pretty cool if she was a fox red lab though! i found this picture of a fox red working lab and it looks so much like her, which is why I ask:










I am not sure where my measuring tape is and I actually don't know her height, but she isn't very tall. As far as her personality goes, she is affectionate, protective and not extremely social with other dogs. She is agile and very good at opening doors and figuring her way around child safety locks. She is low energy when we are inside and high energy outside (she is a great hiking dog.) Her sense of smell doesn't seem to be as on point as you would expect for a Redbone and she is a heavy shedder (also not a redbone trait.) She does have a hound's howl, though... that's for sure. 

I don't really think she is a ridgeback, I think that people usually ask because of her color. Her fur only stands up when she is spooked (like you said, RaeganW).

Thanks again for your input!


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I don't think she is because the ones I've seen are more stocky and muscular compared to your dog with a squarer head. Your dog is probably a lab mix, maybe not red lab mix. 

The picture of the red lab you're showing seems to be a young dog, less than 2 years old and hasn't filled out completely yet. That's why he/she looks slim and the muzzle looks a little more narrow. 

Either way, she's absolutely beautiful though!


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

For the record, a Red Lab is just a Yellow Lab with deeper pigment. There's nothing inherently special about them.


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## 3Lab (Jun 4, 2010)

Xeph said:


> For the record, a Red Lab is just a Yellow Lab with deeper pigment. There's nothing inherently special about them.


Thank you for pointing that out, I was about to! We call them "fox red" but no, they are not rare, in field/working lines or in bench/show lines.

Your girl is probably a hound/lab mix, though there is the possibilty that she is just a poorly bred Labrador, as there is a lot of variation in the breed due to poor breeding practicies, especially in the field/working lines (actually, it's just called field, Lab people don't really call the field-bred labs working labs, as the bench-bred labs are able to work just as easily, despite what some might say).


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

I don't think "red" Labs are any more likely to be from field lines than more conventional shades of yellow. That tends to be more true of red Goldens, because the "setter reds" are faulted in American shows and DQ'd in British shows. Therefore, the reds are mostly only bred by field breeders of Goldens. Still, color is not a guarantee of talent.


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## KenneyJay112 (11 mo ago)

Super old post but just wondering if you ever got a genetic breed test for your dog? Ours could be her sister and their personalities sound so alike. Just curious!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Not just and okd post, but the original poster has not be back since the day it was posted.

I would invite you to start a new thread, or join an active one. But, to avoid confusion, I am closing this one.


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