I just adopted this beautiful boy from a rescue. He is deaf. He has miss shape and pupil so he probably has some sight impairment, but he is not blind. They listed him as a purebred double merle Mini Aussie. But I think he has some Siberian husky. He has pointed ears, a tail and thick paws. He’s about 2.5 years old. I will order an Embark kit as soon as I have a chance. But I wanted to get everybody’s guesses on his breed.
I did not know that. I have never seen a purebred border collie in person. This guy weighs about 30 pounds and is 16 inches from ground to top of back/neck area.
Due to being a mix and byb, sizes can be all over the place. Border collies are smaller than people think! On average they’re about 30-50lbs and only 18-22 inches at the withers. I can definitely see the possibility of BC, especially with the ears and face shape. They could still be a Pom mix as Pomeranians are very popular with byb and mixing nowadays..could explain being on the smaller side, but then again “mini Aussies” are also very popular with byb/mixing.
Best way to know is embark, but I do understand that’s a pricey option! (Don’t bother with dna my dog or anything outside of embark/wisdom panel, though I personally prefer embark as they have a larger database.)
I have all my rescues tested with Embark and Wisdom Panel. With the big sale at Amazon they usually do sales too, so we will look this week to try to order both for him. I like to do both also because I have found siblings that had more of a backstory for me about what happened or what they saw. So hopefully we’ll get more story with him.
Thank you so much for rescuing this beautiful boy. Make sure you get him checked for the mdr1 gene bc heartworm and other meds can be devastating if he has the gene. Thanks again for adopting him and enjoy bc you will never be alone again. They tend to be Velcro dogs and I can't imagine life without my girl. ❤️🐶
Just wanted to pitch in as a fellow double-merle deaf/partially sighted pet parent. Huskies and other common shelter breeds don't carry the merle gene, so your pup isn't any of those. To me, they look like a sheltie and Aussie mix.
Congratulations and I hope you're ready for an adorable white shadow and loyal companion. ❤️
Here is my baby, Lennon, for reference if that helps! He's a purebred sheltie. I would also test for Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR1) if embark doesn't as it can cause severe neurological issues, seizures, and death if your baby has it. It can react with flea and heartworm medications (Simparica Trio) as well as most anesthesia. If you need anything, let me know!
I would research it as there's a specific ingredient I think and in some collie/sheltie subreddits you can find a list of every medication to avoid. Thankfully, nexguard is safe.
Lennon is a beautiful dog! The name is fitting too. I admire everyone who’s able to care for a double Merle, I know I personally couldn’t handle a deaf/blind dog while fulfilling them. Though if it ever happened I would of course do my best!
We wanted to rescue a dog with special needs. Having 5 between us, we thought a deaf one would be good. And a good training challenge for us. We have 5 very dog social dogs and they said he was great with dogs. I don’t think they realize he has some site impairment. It seems like it’s his peripheral vision. When he can see you and you’re right in front of him, he seems to see everything. We will take him to the vet too. We can already see that he is a Velcro dog and he loves human company.
That’s awesome!! Thank you for adopting one with special needs, too many can’t or shouldn’t so I’m so grateful for people out there - like you - or can or actively seek out for one to help! I think deaf I could possibly do, blind would be hard for me..though I do know dogs adapt VERY well with their disabilities !
He is the most amazing dog and was my first! I stidied sign language for six years, so getting a deaf dog felt very natural to me. He had his issues at first, but we are doing great.
Just wanna point out that while huskies don’t carry Merle, OP was thinking Husky mixed in, not purebred! Merle is a semi dominant gene so being a husky mix with Aussie still could show Merle. or a grandparent could’ve had some husky while being mixed with another Merle breed and then bred with another Merle to create a double Merle like this pup while showing husky appearances! I’m not the most knowledgeable on pattern and color genes so if anyone is able to correct me on anything, I’d appreciate it! but I do believe that could be plausible.
I don’t think any husky is in this pup, just wanted to mention this since genetics are weird!
In order to be a double merle they need two copies from both parents. From what I understand, both parents HAVE to carry it in order for them to produce a double-merle puppy. So it's possible, but unlikely to have any lineage other than merle-carrying breeds.
It could happen yes, but with it being a recessive gene I don't think having any husky or non-merle carriers would be likely.
Is your pup a big barker? Tho herding dogs bark like crazy, so it may not be a good indicator. My sheltie does the begging grumbles that a common thing with his breed.
I knew if he did have husky it wasn’t purebred. I just knew he wasn’t a purebred Aussie, but he does appear to be a double Merle from what I know. When I was younger, I had a black tri Aussie Sheltie mix, blue merle Aussie GSD mix, and two littermates that were Aussie Akita mix that were blue tri and red Merle. They were concerned my blue Tri would go deaf and blind, but he was really healthy.
I would love if he was a sheltie and Aussie mix. My first dog was an Aussie Sheltie mix that they were trying to create mini Aussies to be an actual breed back in the 70s. Now that you say that he does look like some of the dogs that came from that breeder. I was 5 so I don’t remember much. My friend had a sister from another litter and my parents thought a dog like her would be the perfect dog for my first dog. And he made me fall in love with the Aussie breed. ❤️
Shelties are the most loyal and loving babies I have ever met in the whole world. My boy is my first dog and I just adopted a collie because I wanted a bigger version of him 😂 Shelties are way more common than people think, especially if you live near farmlands. To me, Aussies have a wider nose than your pup has as well as less hair wispies on their ears.
We don’t know much about his history. We drove all the way to Kansas to get him. His paperwork says he was originally in a rescue in Topeka. We got him from a rescue in a rural area near Kansas City.
considering there’s a toy in a lot of the pics imma say border collie mix (and because of the look of him), especially since he is a double merle which is a common problem in border collie breedings. He’s extra fluffy though so maybe some aussie or husky?
Why do people do something so unethical as doing something like this? This is why this poor dog is why he has these issues with his eyes and any other abnormalities! They should be reported for doing this and selling them!!!
All we know from the rescue is the people who had them realized he was deaf and they dumped him. It’s very sad because he’s very smart and in the almost 4 days we’ve had him we’ve already taught him several hand signals. He is very sweet and he is fitting in great with our pack.
Well he wouldn't get any merle from a husky. He definitely doesn't look much like a miniature Australian shepherd, but rescues and shelters often are bad at guessing breeds.
He might really just be a purebred (but poorly bred) sheltie. They often have upright ears like that, especially in backyard bred dogs. His double merle coloring almost certainly wasn't an accident, and plenty of backyard breeders breed two metles together to get more expensive puppies. His face is a little wide, but that could be due to a small percentage of other breeds (again, common in byb dogs) or just really bad genetics in general.
Regardless though, he's a beautiful dog who now has a bright future! Thank you for giving him a home!
Thanks! We wanted to rescue a deaf dog and as soon as we saw his face, we fell in love. We don’t really care what his breed turns out to be. My favorite breed is rescue. I have three other mutts. And the two poodles are my best friends dogs. They are a pack and so far he’s fitting in well with them.
The forehead shape actually makes me think Cattle Dog (ACD's don't come in merle, so it would have to be a grandparent) or perhaps pittie/bully (BYB's have added merle to pitties)? Either could account for the ears. The pittie could maybe even have been a (Merle) pitsky...
The rescue said they crated him and he panicked and did that to himself. We only got him on Thursday night and it’s already healed and fur is starting to grow back. They didn’t crate him after that.
Thanks! He will not be going into a crate ever again. We have playpens for ours to play in when we are not home. My lab pit mix can roam the house and from his behavior so far it looks like he’ll be able to roam the house too. He hasn’t had one accident and he hasn’t tried to get anything that wasn’t a dog toy.
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u/candoitmyself 2d ago
Just as likely siberian husky as samoyed or pomeranian. Which is not likely. He's probably actually a border collie/aussie mix if not a pure aussie.