How to Determine a Dog's Breed

"What breed is your dog?" is a simple question with a not so simple answer. Sometimes a dog's breed can be so muddled or obscure that even the owner doesn't know. If you want to know what breed your dog is, there is a simple process to find out. Follow these steps to become a dog breed expert.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Look carefully at the size of the dog first to begin to eliminate specific breeds. Determine the dog's color and hair length; this characteristic will be broken into either long hair or short haired.

2. Determine the overall energy level of the dog whether it is playful or fairly sedentary. Observe whether the dog is friendly or aggressive to strangers. Also, notice how the dog reacts to other animals, especially other dogs. This behavior could help identify breed as well.

3. Figure out the dog's build. Decide if it is muscular, small, medium or very small. Then feel the coat of hair on the dog, and list if the fur is wavy, straight, silky or sparse. Write down your assessments of the dog.

4. Pay special attention to the color combination of your dog. Most dogs are colored with a mix of white, black, tan, brown and sometimes red. Next, study the dog's head to determine if it is round, flat or square; also pay special attention to the dog's snout and whether it is long or short.

5. Note whether the dog is very vocal or fairly silent. Many dog breeds have specific vocal cues. You can also look at the dog's tail as another indicator.

6. Write down as many observations about your dog's appearance as possible and get a book or web reference on dog breeds. Use your observations to single out breed possibilities to help determine the specific breed. Be aware that your dog could be a mixture of different breeds.

Tips & Warnings

• If necessary, you can pay to have a DNA sample of your dog taken to determine its breed origins. However this testing is expensive and a bit invasive for the animal; plus, it only works with purebred breeds.

Resources

• This website has information on most dog breeds.
• View pictures of different dogs and breeds.
• Here is the link to the American Kennel Club.

[mike30602]

on 4/13/2009 K9Puppy offers a way where you can drill down by the puppy breed of your choice to find a puppy for sale. We have all information you need when you want to look for your next puppy for sale. If you wish you can also search puppies for sale by city or search through our complete listing of puppies for sale. And now we provide a way for you to drill down by puppies for sale by different breeds and cities. (http://www.k9stud.com/viewalldogs.aspx)

[Stymie]

on 2/10/2008 The comments under Tips & Warnings are a little misleading. There are simple at-home tests available that will identify the breeds that make up a mixed-breed dog. And they cost around $60. One place to get them is www.happydogdna.com