# New rescue pup. What breed is she? help us name her!



## Erizax (12 mo ago)

I just rescued a pup from a bad home where she was starved and mistreated.
we have no idea what kind of breed she is, she looks kind of like a Doberman or Rottweiler mixed with something any guesses?
also help us name her!


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## Toedtoes (Sep 25, 2021)

Some things about mixed breeds:

1. Outside of "designer dogs", most mixes have at least three breeds in them. Often more.

2. Not every breed in the mix will present itself physically. So while the dog may not look at all like a poodle, he may have poodle in his makeup. Same for temperament and behavior. The smaller the amount of a breed, the less likely you'll "see" it in the dog.

3. When breeds mix, they do weird things. The physical traits from each breed may combine to create something different. A large dog may have small dog dna - he just got his size from a large breed in the mix, or visa versa. A dog may get her body shape from a lab and her legs from a bassett. Or a dog may get her ears from a beagle and her muzzle shape from a pug and her tail from an akita.

With all that, the most accurate way of determining the breeds is to do a dna test. Embark and Wisdom Panel are good but more expensive. For dogs here in North America, a less expensive test is dnamydog. It doesn't test for breeds that are rare in North America and they don't do health testing, so the cost is lower. They also don't test for "pit bull" as it is not really a breed in itself (and they only test for AKC breeds so they don't test for APBTs). They do test for staffordshire, etc. that have been used to create "pit bulls". I've used them on my past three dogs and have been very satisfied with the results.

My guess would be that there is very possibly boxer in there. Dobie or rottie is a good guess, at this point I would lean more toweards rottie (which may be why I think boxer when I see her).

As for names, can you give us any direction with that? Do you want a fun and playful name or a serious name, etc? Does her personality lend to any particular type of name? Are you wanting a theme with your other pets (if any), etc? Do you want a "people name" or to stay away from that? Do you want a currently popular dog name or a more unique name?

Some ideas on how I've named my dogs:

Place names like Nessie (for Loch Ness). I always liked the idea of Algonguin (Ally for short).

People names. Historic figures like Tut, Cleopatra, Henry (any of the kings), Winston, etc. Sports or entertainment figures. I know one fellow who named his dog after his mom and another who named his cat after his sister.

Animals. I've known Moose, Badger, Rat, Rabbit, Bug, etc.

Then there are names from movies, tv show, etc. Or brand names of favorite things (food, alcohol, vehicles, and so on) - common ones are Ruger, Colt, etc after gun manufacturers or Bosco, Merlot, etc after the drinks.

Or personality, physical traits, etc. Bunny or Roo for a dog that jumps a lot. I had a cat Toed because he was a polydactyl (hence my screen name). I knew a Trudge (he was very very slow), Bobby (because his bobtail was too long to be a Bob). One person had a cat named Pete, years later they got another cat who looked just like him and named him Repeat.


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## Invisidog (Jan 13, 2022)

I can't get past the thought of shar pei, but that's probably not what I'm seeing...Rottie could be in their but you really can't tell by looks. Here is an example of 'looks can be deceiving' with my own dog, Ginger.








She is half Irish Setter and half German Shepherd, but people always guess Rhodesian Ridgeback or Vizla. 

As for a name, I'll tell how our dogs got their names. Ginger, as you can tell, is named for her color; my black German Shepherd is named Molly, a nice name that my mom suggested, and our mutt is called Lucy because my younger sister suggested it, and lastly, my Rough Collie is named Sergeant because I had thought of it long ago. I think flower names (like Daisy or Lily) are really cute. I also think the names Macy or Maise are really cute for a dog. Good luck picking the perfect name!!


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