Just had a strange thought and thought I should share it. I'm up late looking for a guard dog that would be intelligent and loyal. I'm not concerned about its looks. I tend to like pure breeds (who doesn't) and I currently have a Siberian Husky. But that dog is infamous for its disloyalty and lack of concern for its owner. If you don't believe me look up Jack London.

The point is, all this looking around for pure breeds to adopt got me thinking about some interesting half-breeds that I've had.

My favorite dog I ever had growing up was a half border collie, half Labrador retriever. The dog was genius--so much so you wouldn't believe the stories I have to tell you, you would have had to see it for yourself. That dog could walk other dogs with a leash, turn doorknobs with its mouth, unlatch dogs from the chain we had out back, and generally create no end of mischief. That dog had a sweet tooth too, it would steal all the donuts out of our groceries and try to reseal the case. Once it ate the remainder of someone's birthday cake, again trying to re-seal the cake's lid onto the bottom. It was the most uncanny of creatures, and seemed to know what you were saying more often than not. The only problem she had was a physical one, where her hips would swing strangely with her canter. It didn't prevent her from running at a good clip though, it just gave her an odd sway.



My parents have a 3/4 Bernese Mountain dog with 1/4 german sheperd. It's the most angry thing I've ever met, even unstable with his owner from time to time (never bitten anyone though, just growls when he doesn't get what he wants), but it is very intelligent and can be about the most adorable thing. Still, it often develops insane fears of inanimate objects, including a bulldozer, a basket (that he has walked by everyday for the last 2 years), one of my wife's coats that has feathers on it, and hats.

The most badass dog I've ever owned came to me as a stray. He was obviously part golden retriever and part ridgeback, probably Rhodesian. Someone must have been abusing it as his front paws were broken and he had a wound from a pellet gun and a line of blood on his face. I named him Travis (I'm not sure why).

We lived out in the country, and it was no odd occurrence for people simply to dispose of dogs they didn't care for by pushing them out of the vehicle and leaving. That area was also home to dogfights, chicken fights, poverty and general depravity (like much of western South Carolina). He had an oil stain that never came out of his tail no matter how hard we tried. He slept under my father's beat up Isuzu pup (pickup truck).

He came to me when he would snarl at anyone else; I was young then, likely not more than 10, and I suppose that may be why he put up with me. He bit a friend of mine after I took him in, and the kid even threatened to sue me. But that dog was too intelligent to put down. There was a spark in him that was hard to discern unless you watched him enough. I believe that spark made itself known to the rest of my family when he finally showed his friendly side to us by climbing up into my father's lap one night in his recliner (it was a large dog, but my dad's a large guy). From then on, my dad went from begrudgingly tolerating the dog and complaining to my mom about it at every turn, to thinking of it as one of his favorite companions.

There were mean dogs that would either spring from the neighbor with the chicken wire fence next door, or would simply roam around, unattended by their white-trash owners. One such dog was mean Chow. It fought every dog, and snarled at you if you got close. It seemed to have no love of anything. I wouldn't be surprised if it was used to fight other dogs, or breed fighting dogs. In any event, the Chow picked a fight with Travis one day, and Travis fought it so hard he broke his left front canine on it. Travis won that fight anyway, and that Chow never came around after that.

The strange thing about Travis's physical characteristics was that he looked golden like a golden retriever, yet he had a ridge on his back that came to a fine series of points that stuck up off his back like a mohawk all the way down to the base of his tail.

It has made me curious about breeding a golden retriever with a ridgeback to see if I can produce a dog similar to Travis.


If you've had an interesting mix of breeds or an interesting mutt, let me know about it in the comments section. Who knows, maybe I'll adopt a pet like it a few months from now.