Hi- I know its not the easiest thing to ask, but for those who have a bit more background in differentiating dog breeds please help! I am considering adopting this dog which im told is a boston terrier/ pug mix. My fear is that its a boston terrier/ doberman mix and the dog will end up huge! Thanks for your help! http://photos.petfinder.com/photos/US/NJ/NJ101/21602213/NJ101.21602213-1-x.jpg
what makes you think a doberman has been involved? The black and tan colour on the one pup? Do the owners have the parents of the pups for you to meet? I think it would have been a really bizarre breeding, had it been a doberman and a boston terrier. I think the pups would be far bigger, big paws and much chunkier if it was but unless a dog has pedigree papers I dont think there is ever a way you can be 100% sure of exactly what breeds they are if they are cross breeds.
I agree. You can never be 100% certain how big/tall your dog will be with a cross-breed. Beautiful pups BTW.
From what I can read of the t-shirt, looks like they're at a shelter/rescue. Agree with you that paws would probably be bigger and pups more chunky if there was a larger breed, but no guarantee.
To me they don't seem to have any doberman looks about them..I would have thought the muzzle would be longer and the legs longer and paws bigger.. As others have said though it's never easy to identify crosses. As long as getting black and tan from the 2 crosses is plausible genetically, looks wise it seems about right!
There are MANY breeds where black-and-tan is found; more than most people imagine. But usually, when people see that pattern their first thought is Rottweiler or Dobermann! I have to say it's not very likely that a Boston x Pug would be B&T as the colour isn't found in either breed. It *may* be possible that either or both breeds have it in their genetic make-up but it never gets expressed due to other genes overriding it, (i.e. it only comes out when crossed) but that's just guesswork, and in the case of the Pug rather unlikely, as they have two a(y) genes in order to have the fawn colouring, leaving no space for the black-and-tan gene a(t) to be carried. Other small breeds of dog which have the Black and Tan gene include the Chihuahua, Tibetan Spaniel, Miniature Pinscher. I agree the pup's head shape does look like a Boston, though maybe a bit more like a French Bulldog? And the parents don't have to be pure-bred themselves.... what if you crossed a Min Pin with a Pug, then crossed that to a French Bulldog x Chihuahua....? You would almost certainly get small puppies with that kind of head shape, ear set, eyes, and small size PLUS the black-and-tan pattern.
Yes agreed even if it is not the cross stated doberman would be one of my last guesses.. Min pins are a reasonably popular breed in America I think so I would have thought that would be a more plausible cross somewhere down the line than a dobe..
I guess it is hard to tell exactly what you are buying with a cross. The size of the paws looks small in the photo though? My niece bought a pup that was advertised as a "Jack Spaniel" which was supposed to be a Jack Russell terrier cross Cocker spaniel but their vet thinks it also has Beagle in it as well as another breed.
Just going from the photo, I did notice a couple of things - the B&T pup has a shorter nose than the other one (brachycephalic like a pug and it also has thinner legs (=finer bone), smaller paws and shorter legs than the other. Would not be surprised if the B&T pup ended up smaller with short legs like a Dachshund. (And that's another small breed that is commonly black and tan! )
SO you all know, any Petfinder link is from a shelter or rescue with charitable status (501 3C for Americans) So these pups are in rescue. They aren't likely just Pug and Boston, there is something else causing the B/T But they dont look like they'll be big.
