Update to German shepherd markings post

Ozzie and Pyrrha, August 2012.

Since it seems to be my most popular post, I updated my Primer on German Shepherd Markings.

Photos and descriptions have been updated, and almost all of the dogs featured are dogs that were adopted through Southeast German Shepherd Rescue, which is pretty cool. The rescue seems to have spanned the whole range of shepherd coats, colors, and types.

I think many people don’t know that shepherds can come in so many varieties. I didn’t myself until I started researching the breed! Most people immediately identify Pyrrha as a GSD, because she has such a traditional coat pattern, but even when walking Brando next to her, people didn’t seem sure that he was also a GSD. It’s fun to me to learn about the wide spectrum of coats within this one breed.

Does your dog have a surprising coat pattern? Do people often mistake him or her for another breed?

Girls and dogs

I was TERRIFIED of dogs when I was a little girl. I remember when the fear began, and I think I’ve recounted it before. My father adores dogs, like I do now. When I was about 6, we were living in a tiny apartment, waiting for our new house to be built. A doberman (my father’s favorite breed) and a rough collie lived in the complex, and Dad liked to take us outside, just to watch the dogs play. One evening, I was completely knocked over and trampled by the dogs (who were just having a case of the zoomies, and not paying attention). I thought they were out to kill me, and I was extremely scared of dogs from then on.

But in a few years, some magical, inherent dog-loving switch turned on–I don’t even know what it was–and I became OBSESSED with dogs, kind of like I am now. I started memorizing dog breeds when I was 8 or 9. I gave complicated advice to the neighbors about what kind of dog they should get, based on their lifestyles. I started a dog-walking business, just to have an excuse to spend time with dogs, since my parents were reluctant to get us one of our own.

And yet I didn’t get a dog of my own until Emma, when I was about 14. I had to wait a long time for her, and I feel like I had to wait even longer for Pyrrha, but I still love to see little girls with dogs. It warms my heart.

All that to say, here are just some cute photos of girls and the dogs they love, culled from my Pinterest board, Woman’s Best Friend.

Source: Les Zigouis.

Tanis Guinness (of the beer fortune) and her pekingese, Ta Wang, at a New York dog show in 1912.

A farm girl and her collie.

Bluetick coonhound and friend. Photo: Flickr user texturejunky.

Young Elizabeth Taylor and a pair of poodles.

Young Queen Elizabeth and her corgi, Dookie.

A little girl and her puppy. Source: LIFE Magazine.

Kisses! Source: LIFE Magazine.

Kristina and Lola the lab. Photo: Stepan Obruckhov.

“1924. Our Billy and me.”

Girl and her patient pup.

Afghan hound love.

Source: Seeberger Brothers.

Photo: Flickr user m.orti.

Did you love a dog when you were a young thing?

Gallery of non-sporting dogs

I’ve always thought that “non-sporting” was such a funny name for this AKC group. It almost implies that they can’t do anything. I think “potpourri” would perhaps be a more appropriate name for these dogs, which don’t seem to fit into any other pre-established group. Either way, this category offers up a wide range of different dogs. Here are some of my personal favorites.

Unrelated to these cute pups, yesterday I added a new page on my blog: Resources. This is a collection of my favorite links, organized by category, and a list of the best dog books I’ve read so far. I made the page as a reference to myself in coming months, but I also hope it may be helpful to you or any other new dog people.

(Click on an image to be taken to its source.)

Keeshond

Keeshond puppy

Norwegian lundehund

Norwegian lundehund puppy

Shiba inu

Sleepy shiba

Standard poodles

Standard poodle

Tibetan spaniel

Tibetan spaniel

Gallery of toys and terriers

I’ll admit that the toy group and the terrier group are my least favorite groups in the AKC system. Not that I have any personal vendetta against these dogs–I just can’t imagine myself ever living with one of them. That said, I have met some very pleasant terriers and some very enjoyable toy breeds. And my time at the SPCA has convinced me that pit bulls are totally wonderful. (Of all these dogs, I’d be most likely to take a pit home.) And you can’t deny that they are adorable. Look at those faces! That said, here are some toys and terriers I could possibly coexist with.

(Click on an image to be taken to its source.)

Airedale terrier

Airedale puppy

Border terrier

Border terrier puppy

Cairn terriers

Cairn terrier puppy

Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy

Cavalier King Charles spaniel

Papillon

Papillon puppy

Pit bull

Pit puppies

Pomeranian

Pomeranian puppy

Gallery of hounds

Can you tell that I’m very partial to sighthounds? I adore them and yet they are extremely mysterious to me. I feel like I don’t understand them at all, but I want to. Some years down the road, I’m quite serious about adopting a former racing greyhound. Reading Tales and Tails also makes me believe that it would be possible for two such divergent dogs as a German shepherd and a greyhound could happily and peacefully coexist.

(Click on a photo to be taken to its source.)

Borzoi

Borzoi

Gypsy Rose Lee and her Afghan hound

Afghan hound

Greyhounds

Greyhound

Saluki

Saluki in the snow

Irish wolfhound

Irish wolfhound

Gallery of working dogs

A collection of photos of my favorite working dogs, the beasts and guardians of the dog world. The working breeds are often quite intimidating on first glance, and then once you get to know them, they’re just overgrown cuddle monsters. My father grew up with dobermans and has always adored them. In the back of my mind, sometimes I think I wouldn’t mind having one myself…

(Click on the image to be taken to its source.)

Anatolian shepherd

Anatolian shepherd puppy

Bernese mountain dog

Bernese mountain dog puppy

Doberman pinscher

Doberman pinscher

Great Pyrenees

Great Pyrenees puppies

Leonberger

Leonberger

Newfoundland

Newfoundland

Gallery of sporting dogs

If I didn’t get a dog from the herding group, I think I’d be next most likely to pick a dog from the sporting group. They’re also high energy, but they tend to be friendlier overall and perhaps have more potential to be easygoing. Sporting dogs don’t stress too much–unless there is a threat of the game of fetch ending.

(Click on a photo to be taken to its source.)

English setter

English setter

English cocker spaniel

English cocker spaniel

Golden retriever

Golden retriever puppy

Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever

Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever

Gallery of herding dogs

Just a series of photos of some of my favorite dogs from the herding group. Not to pick favorites or anything, but I think I’d have to say that all of my best-loved breeds come from this group of high-maintenance, noisy, difficult dogs. I know. I just can’t get over them. Why this post? Well, I like to look at dog pictures. No apologies. A girl can dream, right?

(Click on each photo for its source.)

Australian shepherd

Australian shepherd

Belgian tervuren

Belgian tervuren

Border collie

Border collie

Rough collie

Smooth collie

German shepherd

German shepherd puppies

Pyrenean shepherd

Pyrenean shepherd