Our lovely rescue dog was brought over from Ireland with siblings and one sibling has had the doggie DNA test. (Saves us the cost of it!) And it’s befuddling the heck out of us. Lots of border collie, 11% German Shepherd, and a few miscellaneous Australian breeds as well!

Bang goes our wollie theory!*

His sister was the first dog we saw and we were hoping to foster her but instead we got her bonkers brother. He is definitely a one-off but those dogs are all herders so it’s also a clear indication of his heritage.

As with humans the eye colour also indicates a mix but he hasn’t got the blues of Siberians. We thought there was German Shepherd though before the kids chancing upon the ‘wollie’ online.

I wonder how far back you have to go to get the parent with the Australian breed?

Our next step is to beef up the training as it’s still a bit hit or miss whether he asks for the door to be opened but his DNA might explain why he seems to shiver more than most collies. Of which he has a few. Explains his whiskers too!

I have a new Rescue Dog book to read and we’ll see if the training helps. Rescue Dog to Super Dog by Sean Purdy is a slim volume that I’m hoping to read of wisdom to understanding our new pup!

*wollies are whippets crossed with collies.