I was skeptical when the rescue group told me that Elly was a Puggle, she is really small for a Puggle and doesn’t look like any Puggle that I have ever seen. It wasn’t the breed that attracted me to her anyway, it was this face:
I do see the Pug in her and she does spend a lot of time tracking and sniffing like a Beagle. Her doggie friend Sophie is a Puggle and when they are together they act a lot alike.
I was hoping that knowing her breed(s) might help me sort out her behavior issues: she is skittish and very slow to trust, she is afraid of loud noises and many things that move, she has a weird form of separation anxiety, just to name a few. On the other hand she spends most of her time on walks with her nose on the ground. She would chase cats if I let her and she has chased squirrels out of the back yard. She recently discovered that creatures live in the holes in the park and she started digging.
I hope the breed info from her DNA will help me understand her better.
Without further ado here are Elly’s breed results from Embark:
44.5% Pug
24.5% Chihuahua
9.0% Shih Tzu
8.9% Maltese
7.6% Pomeranian
5.5% Brussels Griffon
I’ve had years of experience with pugs but I don’t know anything about the other breeds. I did some reading and I do see some Chihuahua traits in her. I think her coat type is from the Chi as well as her inclination to shake when she is really scared. The thing that doesn’t match in my mind is that all of the listed breeds are known to be outgoing and confident… certainly not Elly!
Elly also spends most of her time with her nose on the ground tracking, a trait that the majority of the identified breeds don’t seem to have. Of the listed breeds the only dog that has a history of tracking or chasing is the Brussels Griffon- they originated as rat killers in Belgium.
There are some other interesting results from Embark such as their estimated weight of 8 pounds for Elly’s weight (she is healthy at 15 pounds) and her ‘Wolfiness’ score of 5.4% which is exceptionally high (forum post on Wolfiness score). She also tested clear on most of the genetic disease markers. Her coloring also fascinates me, its called piebald with black ticking, which could of come from a couple of the identified breeds. Embark does not test for the piebald gene yet, according to them she should be solid black. But these topics are for another post.
Back to the blog title…of course I called it Life with a Tri-Puggle when I started the blog since Maggie’s blog is Life with a Tri Pug, but Elly is clearly not a Puggle. Dogs that are pug/chihuahua mixes are called Chugs, but she is not a Chug either since she has several other breeds swirled in her DNA. Her highest percentage is Pug so I kept the Tri-Pug and added the only other thing that makes sense…MUTT!
That face and the coloring… I think ‘Mutt’ is an honor and a distinction!! Elly, you were just meant to be that way!! 🙂
I’ve been guessing as to Manni’s ancestry for years, too and then you see character traits that make a lot more sense for other breeds, or the fur of that one…sigh. It’s fun and frustrating at the same time.
Manni is also a rescue of course and maybe the unknown past also accounts for character traits instead of their breed’s traits, who knows.
I’ll be doing the Embark too, just because I’m curious and it’s kinda fun.
Here’s to being more Wolf, Elly!!
Cheers
tina (&Manni)
That Petfinder picture!’ OMD!!! Soooooo cute!! 🙂 No wonder you fell in @ove with that face!! I just love seeing ANY pictures of her! The focus she has listening to the “underground critter”….excellent job Elly! 🙂
Definitely see the Pug and the Chihuahua in nerher. Thought maybe there would have been a bit of Jack Russell roaming around in her heritage too. But the WOLF part…too funny!!
CHUB, PUGGLE, MUTT…..How ‘vout THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!?
Thanks Karen!:-) This is fun uncovering all her layers of cuteness.
Love and hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Whatever Miss Elly is it’s precious and unique. I love the intensity you can see in her gaze. She’s one of a kind for sure and adorable to boot. Her “wolfiness” score cracks me up. Who’d thunk?
She IS stalking like a wolf, she is! That’s a GREAT pic, btw. And my understanding is that wolves are very skittish and suspicious of humans, i.e. slow to trust. I think Elly is basically a wolf with a little bit pug and chihuahua thrown in.
Ha! It reminds me when I first discovered Meg was half Rottweiler, WHAT??? I can clearly see it now, but I knew nothing about the breed. I immediately ordered ‘Rottweilers for Dummies’….
All I know is she is adorable. She is cute and pug-mutt it doesn’t matter. She is dang smart we know that too 🙂
xoxoxoxo
Michelle & Angel Sassy
She is her own self, is what she is 😀
That intense face – so cute! Elly on the move!
Tracey & Tai
Mutt? Hah! She’s a designer dawg.
She is just so adorable. I was looking at your breed list and one thing that caught my attention was the Brussels Griffon. If you look them up you will find their sibling, the Petit Brabancon. I smiled when I saw the facial similarities. The breed is 200 years old and was produced by the mix of English Toy Spaniel, Pug, and Affenpinscher. They were also used as working dogs before they became royalty. They were used as rat dogs, so there is your little hunting digger at work 🙂
There are even more traits that seem to fit your little girl to a “T”
https://en.working-dog.com/race/Petit-Braban%C3%A7on-19
Thought you might find it a good read 🙂
Hugs,
Jackie
OMD Jackie! So much about that is Elly! Except for the brave part…
I thought that it was a weird part of her makeup – but like you said- the only part that makes sense with her tracking skills.
Thanks for the info- I’m going to look into that more.
And I certainly need to update this blog!!