Cooper is my 7.5 week old German Shepherd x Ridgeback pup... At least that's what we were told he is!!
His tail has got a curl in it, I started to suspect husky / akita or something until I did some googling and apparently there are GSD's with curly tails, and that it's considered a fault as far as showing goes. (Doesn't bother me!)
I am also hoping his ears will stand up like a GSD but I'll have to wait and see!
One day I'll get a DNA test, mostly for shits and giggles- whatever he is I am so excited to have a new best bud and future assistance dog!! Chilling under my wheelchair
@godheals Thank you! Do you think it'll change? I've got lots of experience with horses but only some with dogs, no idea if that's the sort of thing that can change!
@albys I have no first hand experience (more's the pity!) but from watching a good few pups grow up on this sub they certainly seem to change as they grow up. Often darkly marked pups grow up to be more traditionally black and tan coloured. It's almost as if the same amount of colour is stretched over a larger frame. No idea what'll happen to your little guy though, he may well stay exactly the same. I'm sure he'll keep his black muzzle at least!
@albys You will likely know once the fluffy starts going away and he starts developing his undercoat. I suspect he will start darkening up some and will have a dark undercoat with a lighter outer coat. Just an educated guess, time will tell.
@albys My purebred shepherd has a curly tail!! Well, he holds it curly, it's straight when he sleeps. They are colder weather dogs like Akitas and Huskies, so I don't think nature considers it a fault because it wraps around and covers his nose. It stays out of everything better, so I like it. I just dumped all of my pictures, but I'll post a new one of him soon.
Edit: my dog is a service dog too! The curly tail is SUPER useful.
@albys It may get more curly when he needs to poop. This is the most curly tailed pic I can find right now, but it goes full circle. He's doing a 5 minute down stay at a year or so.
