Breed Identification....Flawed?
 

This dog at one of our shelters is labled as a Cattle dog.

Does this look like a cattle dog to you? http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/no2.gif

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/.../Dalmatian.jpg


If people can't properly identify a dalmatian by looking at it, how on earth is anybody supposed to properly identify a Pit Bull? Seriously Dalmatian. Extremely common well known can't miss it kind of dog. No wonder the APBT is in the mess its in. People really don't know dogs. Dog people really don't know dogs. My gosh how do mislabel a dalmatian?

It looks like a Catahoula Leopard Dog to me. Not a dalmatian.. but that's off of one pic. Do you have any more? Honestly a lot of people who work at shelters are not that great at breed guessing.

I don't have any other pictures but I've seen the dog and she is definately a Dalmatian.

Could be a mix of the two (catahoula leopard dog/dalmation). But def. NOT a cattle dog - lol.

idk what breed it is but i use to have 2 dalmatians and it doesnt look like a dalmatian or a dalmatian mix to me.. there a few spotted dogs just dalmatians are the most well known

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------

well maybe a dalmatian mix

She is the spitting image of my best friends Dal she had growing up "Freckles". However her dog was badly bred. So yeah I guess this dog could be a mix. But to me she looks all Dal. Atleast in person

looks like a Heinz 57 to me with a splash of Dalmation..

So here I go trying to prove a point and obviously I failed miserably. But I stand on my first opinion that dog is a Dalmatian. Especially after seeing her in person. If I am wrong, than I am wrong. But I refuse to admit it.

I'll never try to prove a point again.

ima agree with this looks like a spotted mutt.. the spots could be dalmatian could be Catahoula Leopard Dog could be anything really

---------- Post added at 11:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------

you could be completely right but we are just judging off of one picture

Looks like a dal mix to me. Lol. But I get your point SBTLove. Ain't no cattle dog.

She doesn't look like a typical Dalmatian and I have seen purebred Dals at my shelter and they looked nothing like her. They don't usually have blue eyes? She could be a Dalmatian/Catahoula Leopard Dog.. but it's hard to tell just from a picture and not the actual dog in person.

Doesn't look like any dalmation I've ever seen.

Yeah well its not the first time. They recently tried to adopt a mutt out as a Belgian Shepherd. People just don't know Dog breeds. Obviously I don't either. (Going to go wallow in my own self pity because I thought I was smarter than I obviously am.)

---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

Eye Color varies in Dalmatians between Brown, Amber, and Blue.

Well nobody is saying you are wrong.. I am certainly not saying you are wrong. Pictures can be deceiving but she doesn't look like any Dalmatian I have ever seen. http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/smile.png She is beautiful, hope she gets a great home!

That's alright I probably am wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. Dogs probably a mutt.

I'm not so sure my poodle was even purebred. And I had poodles my whole life. But I bought him anyway thinking he was.

Which I guess makes me a prime example that people don't know dog breeds. Because I don't. So there I guess I did prove my point after all. Wait, I proved my point at the expense of myself. Oh well

Well she certainly can have Dalmatian in her, she reminds me of Ruby Rose we had at the shelter except she didn't have blue eyes and her coloring was different. She was listed as a Pointer mix and I can see Pointer in this girl. http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/smile.png

My first guess at anything would be dalmatian mix or a "pure" puppymill dalmatian (they usually have the big ear/eye patches and much smaller spotting). Dals do have blue eyes. I had a dal whose mom had blue eyes and she was papered. I don't see any other breeds mixed in that I could identify. But yea...I definitely would not say cattle dog as a main breed.

You know,this proves the OPs point.All of us have a differance of opinion on 'this' dog's breed,so how reliable IS breed identification from visual comparison?? Can YOU say 100% a dog is a ''Pit bull'' or ''pit mix'' just by looking at it?

The dog is certainly not a pure cattle dog.It looks to me like the dog may be dalmation, husky mix with a dash of german shorthair pointer.Hard to tell from the image since the dog is curled on itself laying down.

This thread alone proves the point. If we as humans can't say for sure what a breed is. How can the LEO's come in and say your unregistered dog (mutt or purebred) is a pit bull, we are taking it away? I mean obviously you can't identify a dog from just looking at it.

She looks like a backyard bred Dalmatian to me!