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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Looks like a WonderMutt, but it's not

Cletus the WonderMutt is an exceptional dog, let's make no mistake about that. He thinks he's a great huge dog, protector of the house and backyard, a free spirit just waiting for a moment's carelessness so that he can explore the world and make other dogs submit to him.
The truth is, he's a mutt. In the vet's words, he's "part Pekingese, part Corgi, and whatever else we think he looks like, he's probably a little of that too." We used to call them Heinz 57 dogs...so mixed up it's hard to know what went into the making of the little guy. And he is a fairly little guy: about 25 pounds, long and low to the ground, with a double coat (lots of shedding, but he never gets wet to the skin, and he loves wind and rain).
But he also looks just like a particular breed of dog. My cousin pointed out, after watching the Westminster Dog Show, that he looks just like a Tibetan Spaniel...and wouldn't you know, she's right. Here's a pic from the Tibetan Spaniel website:

Except for the fact that the Tibetan Spaniels weigh 9-15 pounds (about half a Cletus) and are shorter at the shoulder, I think he looks very much like them:

But when I read this on the website, I knew, in with all the other kinds of dog in there, there might be some Tibetan Spaniel:
if you want an obedient dog, a dog that you can walk off leash, a dog that will come when called, the Tibbie is not the dog for you.

That's my boy!

2 comments:

  1. Ha! What a great piece of information!

    Yes, he's got to be part Tibetan Spaniel, no doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The up to 15 pounds bit is just a random AKC decision - based on max size for under airline seats, methinks....

    I've a purebred tibbie - papers and all - who weighs 22/23 pounds with no fat.

    ReplyDelete

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