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You're Not From Here…. What Breed is This?
I was out to lunch with a friend in an Arizona suburb this past spring and met this adorable, friendly dog. He’s a dog that came home with his owners after a visit to a foriegn country. (Bonus points if you can name the country!)
He’s about 30 lbs, extremely social, cuddly with his people and has these giant ears. There’s one more clue, but you’ll have to see it in the photo for yourselves…
Any guesses? (Just one breed!)
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9 Replies
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He doesn’t really look like any breed standard from the AKC but if I had to choose one it would be the Working Kelpie from Australia. Are you able to say if he is an AKC recognized breed or not?
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Great question, @cbradley – nope; in fact, this is a VERY rare breed.
No googling… but I will say that it is one of only 3 known breeds with a characteristic “reverse hairline” on the spine… And it’s not a Rhodesian!
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Well I know it’s not a thai ridgeback either, I’ve only known of those two breeds lol
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You are right about that! This little guy is from Vietnam – I’d never heard of them before, either.
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Well I found it but had to read through a blog to find the breed lol. I’ll let others guess if they know of the breed. It still doesn’t really look like one, seems to have longer hair than any of the pictures I found on it and doesn’t look as tall either. But dogs are all different and can look outside of the breed standards 😀
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Well done – I guess this is a really, really hard breed, so I won’t keep ya’ll in suspense.
It is a Phu Quoc Ridgeback.
From the wiki article ⬆ it sounds like there are not any written standards, which is why there are still a lot of variations on the theme.
(I mean, take a look at the history of the Belgian Sheepdogs, and all those beautiful coat variations! – or for that matter, most of the pointers!)
What I found really interesting is that they are not related to Thai Ridgeback (any more than any other dog is).
What was really super was that he was so very social.
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That’s awesome that he’s social, that just shows what socialization can do for any dog! Did he have a black or speckled tongue, that is a definitive standard of the breed from what I have been reading. Thank you for bringing this breed up, I am a breed fanatic knowing all the AKC recognized breeds, and love learning about new breeds!
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Me too – total breeds nerd. ????
I did not ask him to show me his tongue. haha
So far as “socialization” – he grew up as a street dog and likely, genetically, was social as a survival behavior. (HI people, wag-wag! = FOOD!)
We can optimize whatever genetics are in place… but we cannot “train genetics away”. I think about this a lot, especially coming from the wild west of sheltering. (A topic for another time!)
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That’s a great point!
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