Dog's Name & Age
Sarge, 10-1/2
In a Word, My Mutt Is…
Part Border Collie and part Malamute, according to the vet.
Best Characteristics of the Breed
His best characteristic is how smart and eager to please he is.
Most Challenging Characteristics of the Breed
The tendency to wander.
When, Where and How I Got My Mixed-Breed Dog
Sarge was adopted from the shelter. We were told there that he was a year and a half old but a month after we brought him home, we took him to be fixed and the vet said he was only 6-7 months old! He was already fully grown at that age. He did fill out in the chest over the following 6 months.
I'd Describe My Dog As…
Amazing. He is easy to train, very food oriented and eager to please.
We thought he was dumb when we first brought him home, but quickly realized he had never been socialized to humans during his first 5-6 months. I tied him to my waist on weekends all day long just to get him to bond with me.
He had one accident the first day home in the house and has never had a mess since. Now he is 10-1/2 and has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, but has been completely healthy to this point. Although, we didn't allow any table scraps because the gas afterwards was horrendous.
Advice
- The Border Collie in him makes him need a lot of running space. Luckily we have that, living in town with him would have been expensive, picking him up at the dog catchers. I think the Malamute in him makes him dominate, but maybe that's just him. He really doesn't know what to do with children and tends to want to 'herd' them and pull at their hats, sleeves, etc with his mouth. He has always been a very "mouthy" dog, everything goes in his mouth and has a tendency to do the puppy lick-snap thing.
