What breed is Rosa Jo?

What breed rosa — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.

What breed rosa: Quick notes

We toyed with the idea of getting a dog DNA test for Sebastian since he was found as a stray when he was a puppy, and his pedigree was unknown.  We were pretty sure he was an Australian shepherd/collie mix, though, and would speculate what other breeds might influence his mild manner.  He clearly had other breeds mixed in, which tempered the high-strung nature of that combo.  We were curious, but never curious enough to spend the money on the test.  Rosa Jo was a total mystery, though!  My mom and I talked about getting her tested, so she bought an Embark DNA test to surprise me with the results for Christmas.

If you missed the story about our adoption of Rosa Jo, you can find it HERE.

The shelter we adopted her from labeled her as a Dalmatian mix, but that was really just based on the spots.  We were skeptical since she didn’t look like a Damatian in any other way, and she was more “ticked” than spotted.

After getting to know her and asking Google to guess her breed from pictures, we decided she was probably a mix of Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog) because of her markings that are unique to only a few breeds, Whippet/Lurcher because of her lean body and speed, pointer, and/or some kind of terrier.

We got the results and…

Rosa Jo is a mutt of all mutts.  At 19.7%, Blue Heeler is her dominant breed, which accounts for the spots, so she is considered a Blue Heeler Mix.  She is then 18.5% Super Mutt, meaning her genes are so mixed that they can’t be accurately identified in that portion of her DNA.

The remaining identifiable breeds, all pretty evenly split, are Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, and American Pit Bull Terrier.  And NO dalmatian.  Isn’t that a crazy mix?!  She only has two purebred great-grandparents in her family tree (a Blue Heeler and a Lab), and all her other ancestors are mixes.

I was most surprised by Chow-Chow and Doberman.

Whatever her mix, she is a special dog.  My parents have had her for almost five months (and we watch her sometimes), and we’re starting to see her personality come out and her fears slowly subside.  When we first adopted her, she was dirty, underweight, skittish, nervous around men, scared of being left outside alone, and didn’t seem to know how to play with toys.

Rosa Jo is now such a happy, sweet dog.  She loves her beds (she has several around the house) and her basket of toys. Some days she’ll pull out a few favorites to play with and chew on, and other days she’ll pull them all out.  She has a fenced-in yard to play in and has made some good friends with several neighborhood dogs.  She tries to herd them, but she does share her toys!  We learned she likes apple slices and bananas, and that she will eat an entire loaf of bread if left unattended on the counter, and she will feel very proud of herself for doing so.  She is also whip smart and eager to please.

Blue Heelers are fiercely loyal and known to latch onto one person in particular.  She likes all of us, but my mom is definitely that person.  She adores my mom.  And my mom doens’t mind at all.  Most days when we catch up, I get more updates on Rosa Jo than anything else.  And I don’t mind that at all, either.  I love hearing about her progress and seeing videos of her safe and happy.

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