Mack

Meet Mack, our mixy-mix puppy! According to his Wisdom Panel DNA, Mack is a combination of 9 different breeds, and he inherited traits from all of them!

The Sighthound Breeds

Mack is 42% Greyhound which has definitely contributed to his good looks, poseable ears, speed and sweet temperament. He loves every human he meets and will Velcro to his favorite family members. He immediately jumped on the bed between his foster parents on his first day out of the shelter and declared it as his sleeping spot (sorry!). Like most sight hounds he does love to hunt squirrels.

2% Borzoi is responsible for his somewhat shaggy wired coat and his adorable little chin beard and goodly amount of long hair on his back! Surprisingly, he sheds less than our full blood racing greyhound!

2% Polish Greyhound. According to AI, Polish Greyhounds are known for their friendly and gentle nature and they can also be strong-willed and independent. That is all true of Mack! Though his foster home doesn’t eat pork products, I’m sure he would enjoy Polish sausage or kielbasa even more than the tissue, toilet paper and napkins he loves to steal. Therefore, his forever family should keep all bathroom doors closed and refrain from putting paper napkins in their laps at dinner, because if opportunity presents itself, the paper goods will be stolen and consumed!

The Guard Dog Breeds

Mack is 19% American Pit Bull Terrier and 18% American Staffordshire Terrier. I beg forgiveness to bully breed aficionados for lumping these two together. Mack is a watchdog! He barks at the doorbell and at any passersby, so he would NOT be a good apartment dog. He walks well on the leash but is reactive and will lunge and pull your arm off when out for a walk if another dog crosses your path. He also has a huge vertical pit bull leap and once jumped onto a bathroom counter with all four feet and can leapfrog easily over our female greyhound! He also jumps on every new human visitor! We are working with a trainer to try to temper these reactions. He would be a great agility dog if he could get over the reactivity!

13% Boxer contributes to Mack’s intelligence! He is very food motivated and has learned sit and down commands and is working on place. He eats so quickly that he uses a maze bowl so he won’t wolf down his food in two bites! He easily masters every puzzle toy presented to him.

2% Perro de Presa Canario is a mastiff type breed from the Canary Islands that must not have any dominant physical characteristics noted in the Wikipedia description that have shown up in Mack. So one might assume that PDPCs like to watch television! This foster family has never had a dog that pays attention to the TV like Mack, so he’s great if you want a companion for Netflix and chill as long as you carefully censor your programming. If there are any live animals on the screen (especially dogs) Mack will bark and lunge at the screen! Unfortunately, this includes commercials with dogs, so keep a blanket handy to cover his eyes to keep him calm.

The (non-sight) Hound Breed

1% Catahoula Leopard Dog gene is possibly responsible for Mack’s pretty green eyes as this breed occasionally has different colored eyes. His foster family bought him a green harness for training to match his eyes that will be included with his adoption!

Herding Breed

1% Australian Cattle Dog herds by biting, and Mack likes to lightly use his teeth occasionally to make you bend to his will.

At 11 months old, Mack is still probably 75% puppy! He loves to play with toys and run around with boundless energy! If not watched, he will counter surf or get into anything left within his reach. He is crated when we are out of the house. Though he is not fond of the crate, he goes in willingly for treats. He is not good with cats or small dogs and would appreciate a large solid canine companion to play and/or a family with active kids. After his neuter, he seems to have mastered his house manners though he needs to be sent out at regular intervals. He’s a very happy boy and is easily corrected by our female greyhound if he invades her space. At just under 50 pounds, he’s not as large as his breed mix might suggest. Mack would surely be a foster failure if it were ten years earlier and we were not actively trying to downsize.