So, I've been trying to determine where Dexter gets his wavy coat. We get a lot of compliments about how handsome he is. The best information we have is that he is a Lab / Boxer / Rottweiler mix, but none of those have a wavy coat.
His mom, Maggie (above left), is a Yellow Lab, Boxer mix (as far as we know) and his dad, Bear (above right) is a Black Lab — something, possibly rottweiler. Dexter sure looks like his dad! Both parents have short, smooth coats.
Dexter's coat is shiny black and wavy, with long feathers on his tail, ears and the back of his legs. When his coat is wet, it's very wavy. He also has pronounced waves of fur on his rump. I call him "Mr. Fuzzy Pants". I had settled on the idea of him having Chesapeake Retriever in his blood somewhere. Until yesterday.
Yesterday, at the Doggy Park, we met a puppy named Black Jack that looks a LOT like Dexter. Same wavy black coat with feathered tail, ears and legs, but smaller. This is the first black retriever we've seen that has that same coat. We asked his owners about him, and they said he's a Flat Coat Retriever.
Never heard of that breed before, so I looked it up.
Everything about the breed points to it being a strong part of Dexter's genetic makeup. Dexter is much bigger than the Flat Coat standard, which is about 60 lbs. Dex is over 100 lbs., but we think he has Rotty in him, so that would account for his size.
Flat Coats are gun dogs, bred for hunting waterfowl. Their coat helps them stay warm and dry. Their webbed feet and rudder tail makes them strong swimmers. Dexter loves the water, but hasn't warmed up to swimming yet. He needs to be able to touch the bottom.
More info:
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/flatcoatedretriever.htm
You may be on to something Jerry :)
ReplyDeleteRemember, that we aren't positive that Bear is Dexter's dad. Although Bear and Maggie were "running around together" prior to Dexter's birth, Maggie also had opportunity to "run around" with another large black lab-by looking dog in her neighborhood at the time.
Perhaps that dog, Snoopy, has Flat-Coated Retriever in him and it manifested more in Dexter than some of his siblings.
Actually, I suppose some of Dexter's siblings might have a different dad ! You know how things go with a loose female dog !