The Cadillac of dog shows was held in New York this week. In scanning stories on Yahoo I saw a vaguely familiar face in an article on the Westminster show. They reportedly accepted six new breeds for the show, including the
Entlebucher Mountain Dog. In poking around, I made a startling discovery: I might have identified the breed of our Ellie! The markings and build bear an uncanny resemblance to our, uh, mutt.
This breed of mountain dogs originated in Switzerland and are friendly, loyal, intelligent, good with kids (well lots of dogs are all that) and excellent herders. It's good to know if we ever decide to raise sheep, Ellie's our girl to keep them in line.
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| a real Entlebucher Mountain Dog |
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| a possible Entlebucher Mountain Dog |
It's funny to me how people always ask your dog's breed, especially if the dog is of questionable lineage. Our first dog, Izzy, resembled a black Irish Setter. "Oh, she's a flat-coated setter!" a man once said. In our family, we just wanted a dog that
mom would care for completely the kids could love , so we picked out one at the pound that seemed friendly enough. We weren't too picky about breeds or paternity/maternity. And it's worked out for two dogs over 18 years now.
Even so, I take comfort in knowing that Ellie just might have some Mountain Dog blue blood in her.
3 comments:
Mystery solved! That definitely looks like a match. Not sure I will ever remember such a long name, though.
"of questionable lineage" made me laugh out loud!
I think it's acceptable to say "Swiss Mountain Dog." I don't think there are many breeds that include the word DOG. Think about it....German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Irish Setter. But Mountain Dog? I kinda like it.
Too bad you don't have any mountains!
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