1st post with my new buddy, Boomer

[DaftPunk]

hello everyone. this forum has been an absolutely awesome resource, thank you. picking up a furminator (thanks to advice from this site) has paid dividends already.

Boomer is a new addition to my family. She is my first dog, and was adopted from the local shelter just about four weeks ago. Originally the paperwork listed at the shelter had her described as a Chow Mix that was 8 months old. After taking her to the vet, I found out that she is actually two years old and has already had a litter of puppies. It was quite a shock to find out that my 'pup' was actually a mom. Regardless, she has been a good companion and overall behaves quite well. I was hoping someone on this site could let me know if she does have Chow characteristics, or if she appears to be a different dog altogether. She's my first dog, and as such I am pretty clueless as far as what breed she looks like. My vet said she was a chow mix, but the whole error on her age got me wondering. Here are some photos:


Ugg...I'm not sure why the forum is not letting me put Img tags on the pictures. It keeps telling me it is unable to determine the dimensions of the image. I've had to link the album instead...sorry for the inconvenience:

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/amppyou/boomer/

She is not a fan of the camera, and doesn't pay it much attention. Her tongue is pink- not blue/purple, but her hind legs are pretty straight (this is what my research said are the primary characteristics of chows- i'll try to get another photo of her standing tomorrow). She loves running with me while i skateboard around the park and this has proven so far to be the best way to burn off her excess energy.

Her previous owners didn't take particularly good care of her. The fur on her ears was chewed away by flies when we first brought her home. So far I think I've only taught her to 'stay'. I make her sit before I give her any food or put her leash on, but she has not yet connected the command "sit" with the fact that I want her to sit...she kind of just understands that she has to before I'll feed her. If anyone has suggestions for how I can get her to understand the command itself, please let me know! I don't think it's exactly NILF, but pretty close so far.

Last question- do chows enjoy playing with toys? I've read some posts on here that some of the chows love Kongs. So far, Boomer has absolutely no interest in any toys. This is kind of a bummer for me, as I really want her to learn to fetch. I apologize if I've begun to rant. Any help or answers would be greatly appreciated, and thank you so much in advance.

[Auddymay]

Boomer certainly has a chowish muzzle and double coat. In the last photo, she struck me as sled dog looking though. The stilted legs is a Chow thing though.. Sometimes the true identity of a mix's heritage can be quite surprising. Pink tongues are not definitive in a Chow mix. Whatever Boomer's mix is, she certainly is cute!

[DaftPunk]

Thank you for the kind words Auddymay. I would not be surprised if she is indeed part sled dog...she sometimes runs faster than I can skate, and ends up pulling me along (we use a harness for her walks/runs). Urban sledding if you will.

[cherriemater]

How BOOO-tiful is your BOOOmer!!! Welcome to the forum. I love boomers coloring. She looks a lot like the neighborhood Border Collie. Same coloring only in negative reverse (Molly was black/white, your boomer is fawn/white). Gorgeous regardless!!

As far as your photobucket issue, the IMG tag won't work if the picture is over 1,024mp. So, after you've uploaded it you must resize it. Hover over the top of the pictures and the toolbar should come up. On the Edit tab, select "See much more."

photobucket edit.JPG (235.24 KiB) Viewed 3957 times

I select the Edit option rather than the Resize option here in case I need to do other things, like Crop or Color correction.

This is where you'll find the Preset Sizes. Resize to anything below 640 and you'll be all set. [attachment=1]photobucket edit.JPG[/attachment

If you don't want to go to the hassle of uploading to Photobucket, I use this site to resize my pic then upload directly to cc.org: http://www.shrinkpictures.com/

Hope that helps. Double purple welcome kisses from Leo and Max!!

[TyChowgirl]

Aww Boomer is adorable! Welcome! It's a possibility that she could be part Chow. You never know with mixed dogs For instance, my neighbor has a boxer/lab/shepherd mix. Most people think he's part pitbull. He's got the markings of a shepherd, and the paws of a boxer, as well as the wrinkled face, but he's got a very lab boxer personality for sure. There are times I'll look at him and see all three breeds at different times depending on what he's doing.
Cherriemater- I've tried to do that with a banner I tried to make and it won't recognize the dimensions either. I have no success when it comes to a banner and one that fits :/

[Tippsy'smom]

She's adorable! She looks pretty chowy. Maybe a chow/border collie mix? Or maybe even chow/husky?

[DaftPunk]

Thanks for the assistance with resizing photos, cherie.

Also thank you very much for the ideas as to what breed she may be. i do think her body type looks very border collie. Now I know what to say when people ask instead of trailing off with an "uhhh....."

[MissV]

:> awesome! I should try get on a skateboard and let my nutso sled-chow take me for a ride. She'd love it!!! I have the "mushing" kind of dog...

ANYWHOO... your pooch is KAYOOOT! very cute stuff!
I think shes more collie than chowlie, but never the less... you have her, she's your little bud and thats that!
If you want to teach her to sit, its fairy easy. Get her fave treat in your hand. Stand just over her and put the treat (concealed in your hand just enough so she can sniff it) over her nose, and start pulling the treat back over her head. Then say "SIT" nice, clear, loud, firm.
This action alone will force her little bootie to the ground. Once she sits, make a HUGE fuss of it. like: WOW!!! GOOD GIRL!!! YOU'RE SO SMART!!!

then repeat the action over and over until she gets it. Giving her a treat and "party" each time she gets it right. She should get it soon enough
GOOD LUCK!

[rmb]

I adopted a 2 year old dog that looks like Sheltie with a bit of chow mixed in. For grins, we picked up a DNA test kit at Petsmart, swabbed her mouth, mailed it in & got a really cool genealogy chart. Turns out she is mostly shitzy with a bit of aussie and chow mixed in. At 60 pounds I never would have guessed.
New to the site and I see your post is old - hope all is going well with you and your pup!