# What is Sammi Mixed With?



## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

I corresponded with a Shar Pei breeder today. She has had Shar Peis for many years and she shows them. She said she thinks Sammi is Shar Pei and a German Shepherd mix. 

My vet thinks she is Shar Pei, maybe some Black Lab, Boxer or who knows?

The girls at the shelter thought she was Shar Pei and German Shepherd mix.
There are Shar Pei breeders in the area where the shelter is and I think she was probably an oops with a dog who may or may not have been a mixed breed.

I am curious. I cannot tell much difference between her and a GSD. She is a good watchdog. She is very smart, knows her extended family and gets overexcited when they are around. I kind of think it is because this is her first real family. She is prey driven, will kill a snake in a matter of minutes, chases squirrels and geckos. She is very good with other dogs and seems to be fine with cats too. I would love to know what she is mixed with.
Has anyone tried the doggie dna tests?


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## lilmizlayla (Aug 28, 2008)

at jeffers pet supply <online> they have doggie DNA kits. why not find out for sure? 

I would guess shepherd..but it could be anything!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

She is mixed with: cuteness! 

BTW, I am not so sure that doggie DNA kits are all that accurate in breed ID, but I could be behind the times on that.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

They are not that accurate. It depends on the cross. I think that if I had to guess your results would come back 50% sharpei and 50% mixed breed. Yes, I have seen many come back saying 50% mixed breed and then they give a list of 5 possible breed mixes but that they cannot pinpoint exactly. Excellent $150 spent . Of course it doesn't cost that much if you do cheek swabs through the company.
By the way they store all the DNA profiles on record that way if 
You submit a dog twice say under a different name, they will catch it and have the same results. Tried it once to see if they were just guessing haha.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

I would easily agree with shar-pei GSD.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks all of you. She does not bark much. Sometimes she goes for days without barking. It is not the deep bark of a GSD. It is an awful sounding bark and loud so a good thing we don't hear it a lot.:happy2:

She trots instead of runs.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

My guess is G- sheperd but I can't see the tail and her gait .caution with the sharpe's they are bred for gaurd dogs ...just watch out with her and strangers after sammie after she becomes established


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Sammi is adorable!


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

The tree men came this week to remove a big tree in the backyard and to prune the live oak in the front way down. I told them not to come into the backyard until I could put Sammi inside. They said they would let me know when they were ready to come into the backyard. They didn't and she was like a junk yard dog barking at them. She did not bite them though. They put their hands down but she would not go all the way to them. I put the leash on her and took her inside. She watched them out the window and never barked at them again.

Her tail tries to curl over her back but does not quite make it. She is a funny dog. We take her in the car with us. I go inside the stores and my husband stays with her. Both her windows are part of the way down in the back. People walk right beside her and she never barks at them.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Sammi and me last night.









Queen of the house.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I dunno about a shepherd. The big blocky head, coloring and short hair remind me of a Mastiff I once had. The smaller size, could be due to shar-pei. My mastiff was also a calm, non-barker.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

A lady down the street shows Mastiffs and Sammi's face really looks like hers but she is easily twice Sammi's size.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

I have seen puppy mill sharpeis look just like her also. There is a chance she could be pure, but just not bred to standard.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

If your dog becomes bonded to you (as I'm sure he has  ) you will have a easly trained compainon .again as it is in his DNA on both sides to guard you and your property ,witch can be a very good thing ,BUT it will also be your responceablity to control the situations such as the tree cutters or meter reader, or local youths retreving a baseball from your yard .may I suggest a lock for the gate .more than likely he will behave in public or when under your supervision.his ancestors were programed to protect there masters property and no matter what happened in a few generations at the hands of the akc show people or puppy mills,this is his reason to live.My own dogs mt. Curs.will not attack but will give the warning barkes to strangers as is programed in there DNA .if they percive a person,dog,hog cow,or big foot monster as a threat to there master they will do or die.May we hope to be worthy of such devotion.Nuf-said on this subject .try to teach your dog to heel sit and down.with any luck it won't be that hard and you will have a happer friend and controlable protector.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks, Arnie. I was a long time German Shepherd owner so I know how protective they are. Our whole back is a 7 ft wooden fence with a wooden gate. She knows how to sit, down, stay. She does it but she is a bit stubborn. That is the difference I notice in her and the GSDs. They seemed to want to please. I notice that she can be stubborn but oh, so sweet. We will keep training her. Like you said, even though I told the men not to come in the backyard, she is my responsibility. We do have locks.
lasergrl. I would not be a bit surprised if her mother was from a puppy mill but she was thrown in the garbage as a tiny pup. Garbage collectors found her and took her to animal control. She was saved by the shelter. AC was going to put her down.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

I thought German Shepard too but that queen of the house picture body looks just like my golden/lab cross


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## fellini123 (Feb 2, 2003)

I looked at the picture before I read anything and I immediately said Sharpei and GSD. So I would agree!!!
She looks cute.
Alice in Virginia


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

She looks like a lovebug!! So cute!! I see that you're enjoying her very much and she has a wonderful home with you.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Thank all of you. We are nuts over her.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

I'm going to say definitely Shar-Pei mixed with something. I groom lots of them and she has the characteristic face and ears of the Shar-Pei.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

According to the groomers where I take her to have her nails dremeled Sammi has a twin who lives close by, a male named Archer. His owners adopted him as a rescue and don't know what he is mixed with either.


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

I would think that shepherd would have added a bit of size and plushier coat to the mix and since she is not that big and short haired i would think that she might be mixed with something meduim sized smooth coated like beagel or pit. I don't see a shepherd in her at all, maybe dark mask but a lot of sable colored dogs have dark masks. Firts generation mixes of many breeds that have red, tan, beige color will produce sable puppies. Like puggles.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

lexa said:


> I would think that shepherd would have added a bit of size and plushier coat to the mix and since she is not that big and short haired i would think that she might be mixed with something meduim sized smooth coated like beagel or pit. I don't see a shepherd in her at all, maybe dark mask but a lot of sable colored dogs have dark masks. Firts generation mixes of many breeds that have red, tan, beige color will produce sable puppies. Like puggles.


My vet has been in practice for about 25 years. She says she does not see any Pit in her at all. I really doubt the German Shepherd myself. Her coat is not thick. It was stubby until we changed her food and and added the fish oil plus sunflower oil. Now it is smooth. She came from a farming area of Georgia.
It could be that she is mixed with several breeds with the Shar Pei being dominant. 50 lbs should be her max weight and she will be two in October.
The shelter did know her birth date and when they saved her, they could see that she was a shar pei mix. She had more wrinkles then. When we got Sammi, the shelter also had 2 solid black shar pei mixes about the same age. I don't know if they came from the same place.


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## Haven (Aug 16, 2010)

I see Pit if anything. She could just be a poorly bred "purebred" with no breed type.

She still has small button ears, a lot of padding on the muzzle. A lot of times they lose those features totally when mixed.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Haven said:


> I see Pit if anything. She could just be a poorly bred "purebred" with no breed type.
> 
> She still has small button ears, a lot of padding on the muzzle. A lot of times they lose those features totally when mixed.


She still has wrinkles on her back legs and feet. Her tail goes up when she is alert but won't quite curl on her back but it tries to.
I am glad she still has her cute little ears and meatmouth muzzle. She snorts and snores sometimes. 
I really appreciate the opinions.


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## Strange Bear (May 13, 2002)

I see a comfy pillow mixed with good dog!


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## HOTW (Jul 3, 2007)

She looks like a run of the mill puppy mill Shar Pei which RARELY look like hte show type!


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

HOTW said:


> She looks like a run of the mill puppy mill Shar Pei which RARELY look like hte show type!


That is really sad. Sammi is not a full blooded Shar Pei. She is a mix with something else. I just saw some pictures of pups from a Shar Pei puppy mill that was shut down. Look at the ears on the pup with the Vet. All puppy mills should be shut down in my opinion.


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## huntress4203 (Feb 21, 2006)

Could be some hound in there somewhere. Coonhound (redbone) maybe? Nice looking dog.


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

Gapeach, I think you might be interested in looking at this HISTORY OF SHAR-PEI IN CHINA by Judge Eric T. Omura, she might be after all a purebred shar pie after all. A lot of times, if not carefully selected for, exaggerated traits get lost and dogs revert to original breed type, I have seen it with a lot of common breeds. Pictures at this link look like Sammy and it is mentioned in the article that excessive folds and tight curled tail are traits that became popular after breed was brought to US in 70s.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

lexa said:


> Gapeach, I think you might be interested in looking at this HISTORY OF SHAR-PEI IN CHINA by Judge Eric T. Omura, she might be after all a purebred shar pie after all. A lot of times, if not carefully selected for, exaggerated traits get lost and dogs revert to original breed type, I have seen it with a lot of common breeds. Pictures at this link look like Sammy and it is mentioned in the article that excessive folds and tight curled tail are traits that became popular after breed was brought to US in 70s.


Thank you, lexa. You are right. She does look like the original Shar Pei's. Their tails are shorter but not as tight as the ones that you see today. You cannot see it in the pictures but Sammi has a small white crest on her chest. That is why I think she is a mix. Shar Peis are not usually brindle either. I do think though that she is half Shar Pei and has a lot of their traits. She is the cleanest dog that I have ever had and she has no odor at all. That article is so interesting.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

The white marking on the chest is a common mismark in most breeds. 

Whenever someone thinks that there mix is X breed I say, if this dog was white, or black, or .... would you still think it looks like that breed? 
I think, that is sammi was any other color then sable, no one would suggest shepherd.

Where I work we have one of the only vets that still does eye tacking, so we see alot of sharpeis. We see alot of pure litters whos mother looks just like your dog 

She could be mixed, or she could be pure. A DNA test could be fun. She sure does seem to act like a sharpei. They are very unique.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Our vet has an ad on their wall about DNA tests. Next time we are in there, I am going to ask them about them. They must be advocating them if they have the ads for them.
*The white marking on the chest is a common mismark in most breeds.*
I did not know that. Hers is really small, not something that jumps out at you. It is exactly in the middle of her chest.


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

Yes, white mark on chest is a common thing in all breeds. You say she is brindle, does she actually have tiger like stripes? To me, from your pictures she looks just sable.


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## HOTW (Jul 3, 2007)

Sammi does not appear to be a brindle but a fawn with dark tipping( or sable) which is very common in fawn colouration. If you adopted her from a shelter many will always label a dog as a mix since they cannot be 100% sure it is purebred. And many people who work in shelters are not true experts on breeds. Many years ago I was contacted by th elocal shelter about doing a groom on a severely matted dog they had. When I went to check it out I asked them what breed it was and they said it was a Water dog portuguese we think. Imagine my sirprise when I found mysle flooking at an American Water Spaniel-very rare. I immediately contacted a frined of mine who had th etime to track down a rescue association related to the breed and we had him outof th eshelter in 24 hours and into a foster who drove from 3 states over. They had high hopes of finding out who his breeder was because there were so few born every year.

Sammi looks like a Sharpei to me.


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## lasergrl (Nov 24, 2007)

She looks like a sable bear coat shar pei

They come in a bear coat, wich is slighly less bristly/longer. It was developed to try and get rid of many of the breed related skin problems. Many do not look true to breed type. Here are a couple:

Shar Pei - Domestic Dog Breeds Reference Library - redOrbit

mad city foodie: Welcome Larry Wu Lee

http://www.operationscarlet.com/Asia 2.jpg


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

The coat of the one in the first link looks just like hers.

She was like a porcupine when we got her with a large granuloma on her foot.
Now her skin is so much better. Thanks.


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