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Simone's breed


Instead of doing a DNA test to find out Simone's breed make-up, I decided to do it the old fashioned way: by guessing. The thing with guessing is that every few days, my guesses change. Last week, I was sure Simone was a Min Pin cross after someone sent me a picture of a Min Pin (it was wearing a duck costume). Earlier this week I was thinking she's part Whippet after seeing a Whippet at the dog park. Watching the Whippet outpace her by about three to one didn't shake my conviction either. I just assumed that Simone was crossed with something slower, like butter. She's not fat or anything but I don't think exercise would make it into her top ten favorite things to do since "eating" would fill up all the spots on that list.

Then yesterday, someone sent me this video about a guy, Heini Winter, who cycles around with his pack of dogs.



And I thought, hey, they all look like Simone.

After some searching, I discovered the dogs in the video are known as Eurohounds, roughly a mix of Husky and Pointer. They are bred for performance, which means they are bred for health and temperament, and not to a visually based breed standard.

Eurohounds are known for their endurance and focus and I'm sure if given the chance Simone would dazzle us with her endurance and focus too but in the house there's not much to endure, other than waiting for meals, but there is a lot to focus on like getting pets, naps, jumping on Smitten, dancing, ripping up old magazines, running up and down the stairs, climbing onto laps, skipping into the kitchen every chance she gets. Or maybe that's not focus. Maybe that's lack of focus.

I guess I'd have to say Simone is more of a generalist than a specialist, whatever breed that is.

Saturday, November 12, 2011 · [Print]

6 Comments to “Simone's breed”

  1. Anonymous says:
    November 12, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    Well, let's see: given the apple dome skull, and the low placement of the ears, combined with the distance between her eyes, and their slight tilt, combined with the thinner muzzle and the slight brindling, I'd say Simone is -- wait for it -- a dog!

  2. Antoinette Errante says:
    November 13, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    I think the the Latin name for Simone's breed is canis adorabilis

  3. Flossy says:
    November 13, 2011 at 8:57 AM

    Talk about the epitome of "pack leader" with a pack of calm submissive dogs. Great video. Smiling the whole way through.

  4. NK says:
    November 22, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    What has happened to Simone? has she been adopted or do you still have her?

  5. Fred says:
    November 22, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    NK, Simone is still with me. She and Smitten have become best buds in the past couple of weeks so it's hard to decide what to do.

  6. nk says:
    November 23, 2011 at 3:42 PM

    Oh, you KNOW what you have to do!

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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