Chelsea's Not What We Thought She was!?!!

[PicOlio]

History:
Chelsea was dumped for dead by someone unknown in front of a Pet Supermarket. When she was dumped she was only 14lbs and quite honestly everyone figured she'd die within an hour of being found. Needless to say, she's not dead... she's doing great in our home One thing for certain, Chelsea is a mutt. She was given the early title of a Shepherd x Yellow Lab mix...

I've hung onto that title for over a year now but have always questioned it. She gained a LOT of weight, but never filled out like we thought she would. Outside of her color, there's really nothing about her that reminds me of a lab. The shepherd part fits... but certainly not full shepherd..so what else could there be?

Her ears didn't stand straight up like a shepherd but they also weren't "floppy" quite like a labs... Her legs are REALLY SKINNY and never filled out like one would think they should. Her head is really really small and bony and her lower jaw much thinner than a shepherd/lab mix would have and her hind legs appeared longer than her front legs with a wide muscle in the thigh dwindling to "toothpicks" in the leg. She's also SUPER FAST... not "FAST" but "SUPER FAST" and she can cut corners and flip around returning to a full sprint like no other dog I've ever had before.

I watched a dog show today and when they got to the hound breeds I almost fell out of my chair. A best of breed Whippet appeared and WOW! Though it looked nothing like Chelsea... it somehow struck me as looking EVERYTHING like Chelsea. The eyes, the ears, the jaw line, some of the coloring and "eyeliner" around the eyes, the legs, the speed they spoke of, the way it walked, the way the back arched when it ran etc etc etc... I started rewinding and replaying that part of the show for everyone in the family and they were the same way I was... "OMG... That's Chelsea!"

It's like my sweet unproportioned dog suddenly looked normal when you take out the lab and put in the Whippet... to the point where I now say with certainty... well as certain as a mystery history mutt can be lol... that she is not Shepherd/Lab but rather "Whippet/Shepherd". My hubby has always said she reminds him of a greyhound...and after some research I see that whippets are descendants of the greyhound lol

Pictures don't explain it as much as just being around her and watching her..and I really don't even know why I'm typing this except that a lot of my thoughts of how "strange" she was in certain areas suddenly don't seem strange at all lol. It's like I suddenly figured out what kind of dog I have lol and the more I read the more I realize even her attitude, and traits etc are more like a whippet than anything else. Mind you, I'd never really even heard of a whippet until today lol.

At any rate...I guess I'm just reintroducing Chelsea as a Whippet/Shepherd Mix and that's that





BTW.. this is a pic of a whippet


Whippets are really skinny long necked dogs... so unless you just know Chelsea it's hard to see the resemblance but if you mix the Whippet with a shepherd... "by golly it's her" lol.

This is her back in Sept of 03... she was still fairly thin then but 35lbs heavier than when she was found!



I even found multiple "Whippet/Shepherd Mixes" online that made me see Chelsea even more lol. One of them is at http://www.tailsinneed.com/event1.html

Ok I'm done babbling now..I'm still in awe LOL

[Millimi]

That is so cool! There definitely is no part lab in her. Why do you think whippet and not greyhound? Is it because of the size?

[PicOlio]

We often said "she's gotta have greyhound in her" but yes, the size kept us from stating such a thing as "fact". Seeing the whippet though... much smaller and totally like Chelsea settled it for me.... I feel like I got a brand new dog today lol

[Millimi]

That's awesome! When I read the title of the thread, I thought, Uh oh, another boy mistaken for a girl!

[PicOlio]

Quote: Originally Posted by Millimi That's awesome! When I read the title of the thread, I thought, Uh oh, another boy mistaken for a girl!

ROFLMAO!!!!

Ok, THAT confused, I am not... at least when it comes to dogs

[Millimi]

I didn't think you were...

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I always thought she reminded me of a Whippet in the face, ears, muzzle and legs....Congratulations on figuring out what that shepard mix was!

[RSbunny]

You are right, she does have whippet traits!!! My aunty's dog is a whippet cross and yet looks nothing like a whippet but she is definently!! So I know what you are saying.

[veggiegirl]

Wow, she does look like the shepherd/whippet mix in the pic. Cool.

[Eli]

what about some kind of heeler?

[PicOlio]

Anything is possible when it comes to mix breeds but the heeler seems a bit shorter, stouter, and not quite the right ears... the red heeler certainly shows her coloring but the undercoat of a shepherd as well as the several colors the whippets show off seem to cover that area...

I def see shepherd in her... but more than anything this whippet breed really seems to fit her... again, it's much easier to see that by watching her in real life though... The way she holds her self etc..

[Purplebunny]

What a sad life Chelsea had before you, and how awful it must have been to find her like that? She is lucky to have you.. Congrats on finding out what mix she is!

[Amethystbelle]

Yes, you can really see the whippet in her face and the length of her legs, she looks like a lovely dog indeed and glad shes found a good home

[Denise]

How cool is that? I can see the similarities between Chelsea and the traits of a Whippet. I was reading about Greyhounds a few days ago (one day it would be wonderful to adopt a rescue) and I read they are related to Sulukis and Whippets. Chelsea has come a long way since you adopted her Deb. Your love and care certainly shows when you look at her.

[DirtySouthChins]

That's so cool for you Deb Our foster mommy dog "Bianca" we know has husky in her because of markings on her muzzle and her very white eyes, but ya know for the life of us we can't figure out what else she is mixed with. I'm usually pretty good with figuring out the obvious, but with her the only thing that is obvious is the husky part......