Shelter Mix Breakdown Lecture

THE SHELTER-MIX BREAKDOWN

Since most of the dogs you will encounter in the shelter will be mixes, having a basic understanding of the breeds that make up the mix can give you some insight into the drives and personalities of the dogs you are dealing with.

There are small dogs, big dogs, thin dogs and large dogs.  But for the sake of simplicity, we will break the larger categories into two classifications for this explanation.  The Molossers and the Wolfee/herding dogs.

Molossers are a category of solidly built large dogs that descend from a common ancestor.  The name derives from Molossia, an area of ancient Epirus where the large shepherd dog was known as a Molossus.  

Typical characteristics of Molossers are heavy bones, pendant ears, relatively short and well-muscled neck, and a short muzzle.  Examples of Molosser type dogs would include BullDogs, Mastiffs, SharPeis, PitBulls and even Greater Swiss Mountain dogs.  They are used extensively for guard dogs because of their natural guarding instincts and their deep voices. 

Their bodies are thicker and their movements are also more pronounced.  Their style of interaction can be seen as more gruff and their style of play is also quite different from the Wolfee types.  

Wolfee Types are dogs with longer noses, higher set ears, thinner/leaner more wolf-like bodies and drives.  

They are agile movers and more predatory in their interactions with other dogs.  They are likely to herd (chase and run down a target) instead of moving directly into a target.  Their style of play is quite different from the Molossers in that they bark, tumble and enjoy grabbing their partners and wrestling them to the ground.  

If not understood, this type of play can upset or instigate a dog that is not used to it.  

Although this is a very broad generalization, it is important during our playgroup training to observe the differences in the style of interaction and play from these two groups.  If the play is not understood, a safe option is to keep like-dogs with like-dogs, and structure different playgroups.  Also, when adopting dogs into homes with other dogs, it will be a good idea to determine the shelter dog’s style of play and interaction with other types of dogs.  The most valuable tool to do this with will be the playgroups.

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