Ray’s Genes!

Ray was listed at our Humane Society as a German Shepherd/Lab Retriever X. He clearly had a German Shepherd component and, given his head, ears and body line, a Lab Retriever could be seen as a logical addition for the end result.

After Ray had moved in with us, and the work started, Carol wanted to research his mix in more detail. The logic was quite simple. If we knew what breeds were involved, we would have a better chance of understanding him and anticipating certain potential traits.

The first revelation was that his “non-German Shepherd” head, ears and face, were closer to an Anatolian Shepherd than a Lab Retriever!

Above pic courtesy of cuteness.com

Researching the Anatolian Shepherd further was giving cause for concern because, not only can they grow to 140-150lbs, but they were also bred to chase off large wild cats such as Cheetahs.

Above pic courtesy pinterest.com

Many an evening was spent just looking at our sleeping Ray, and wondering just what on earth we had adopted!

Later, as many of you know, we had an opportunity to have his DNA tested, which would take all the guesswork out of the issue. You can probably imagine our sigh of relief when his results showed his primary breed as German Shepherd, with his secondary breed Rottweiler!

In hindsight, what Anatolian Shepherd would know what to do with a Starbucks cup? We were getting concerned over nothing really!

31 thoughts on “Ray’s Genes!”

  5. When I first started to follow your blog Colin I always thought Ray was a shepherd x rottie. Hugs and treats as normal please.
    Zack is believed to be a lab x shepherd, but comparing the two in photos, I think he’s a rottie x too.

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  6. Wow on the Anatolian Shepherds chasing wildcats! That is one breed i had never heard of. I can imagine that you were relieved that Ray wasn’t going to get quite that large!
    Oh how many times do we get concerned over things that we don’t really need to be concerned about! I know how to do that pretty well!
    I am pretty sure Ray is claiming that Starbucks coffee for himself, I think you will have to get your own. He doesn’t look like he is planning on sharing. 🙂

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  8. An Anatolian Shepherd used to come to our dog class and while big, was not as massive as your photos. She was quite well behaved, but rather dominant and wanted to herd things!
    As to Ray’s genes, I have always thought him Rottweiler crossed with GSD. Rotties are great dogs if raised properly, so you have a good mix in Ray. 🙂
    But mostly he is just himself – very lovable. 😀

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