This is my beautiful Siberian cross who has been with me only two days. She came down from the Northwest Territories with a rescue after she was surrendered to be destroyed.

They don't know what her cross is but it's been fun hearing people's guesses. On the trail yesterday alone I had suggestions of pitbull, shepherd (of some kind), sheltie, timber wolf, and "something that looks like a fox", hahaha.

There is also some question about her age. The vet thinks she is 10 weeks but the rescue thinks she is now 12 weeks.

Wow, what a pretty little girl. I say she is older, so the 12 weeks is where I would go, it's all in the ears, lol. My guess, currently German Shepherd, but pups change so much their first year, hard to tell. A lot of the guessing game goes with attitude and behavior. Most of the time with a mix, they will display personalities of both breeds. I love her boots and white tail tip, and her mask, lovely girl.

Btw, if her ears catch up with the rest of her, she may indeed be all husky, her muzzle seems a little different for an all husky, but like I said they change so much in their first year. I believe with my girl she is husky/german shepherd, has some features of both, but predominately husky(except for her gsd ears, lol), and her personality is definitely a combo of husky/gsd. Can't wait to watch yours grow.

Is it your Husky/GSD as your avatar? Her ears are lovely! Very similar to Qinu's :-)

12 weeks seems to be the popular guess which I am quite happy with if it can be used as any indication of adult size. She will be a long distance trail dog so I hope she doesn't get too big. The rescue suggested she could be as big as 75-80lbs full grown but I'm hoping for a little smaller purely to reduce the stress on her joints.

I haven't had a GSD or a husky before to really pick out any behavioural differences. She is very sneaky, loves to try to get away with things which is adorable. Very mouthy (but so was our pit at that age), very playful, doesn't like to cuddle much but likes to be carried. Really I'm just learning about her, lol.

Westcoaster87 wrote:

Is it your Husky/GSD as your avatar? Her ears are lovely! Very similar to Qinu's :-)

If you don't mind my being dumb, how do you pronounce her name? KeeNue would be my guess but ...??

Westcoaster87 wrote:

12 weeks seems to be the popular guess which I am quite happy with if it can be used as any indication of adult size. She will be a long distance trail dog so I hope she doesn't get too big. The rescue suggested she could be as big as 75-80lbs full grown but I'm hoping for a little smaller purely to reduce the stress on her joints.

12 weeks was also my guestimate in your other thread. 75-80 punds would be a big Siberian Husky.

Westcoaster87 wrote:

I haven't had a GSD or a husky before to really pick out any behavioural differences. She is very sneaky, loves to try to get away with things which is adorable. Very mouthy (but so was our pit at that age), very playful, doesn't like to cuddle much but likes to be carried. Really I'm just learning about her, lol.

With one exception every thing you've written here is typical Husky!!, though most I've been acquainted with would much rather have all four on the floor (or the bed or the couch or you!).

Yes that is my Miya!! My vet said the same thing with her, that she would top out at 80 pounds. On her heavy weight maybe 65, she is long and lean and longer legs than a husky. I would say my girl is in between a larger husky and a smaller gsd, size wise. About 24 inches at the withers and like I said 60-65 pounds. She would have been ideal on long distance runs, huge stamina, and she is fast, too bad we live in Texas, lol. Her personality didn't come out until she was about a year old, she is very protective of me and our property. And yes when Miya was about Qinu's age she loved for me to pick her up and wasn't very snuggly. She still tries to have me pick her up, she is just to big anymore, so she has learned to be snuggle buddies with me instead.

Hahaha, I just had this picture of a 65lbs husky sneaking onto someones lap. So lovely :-)

Al, yes, her name is pronounced kee-nuu. It refers to the slushy ice by the sea :-) In one of the threads, I'm not sure which one, I mentioned that we chose this name because I am from the islands and she is from the north (Northwest Territories). She loves water and getting dirty so the slurry of ice and sea water made sense :-) On another note, I'm second generation Canadian and my family is Welsh! Also from by the ocean :-)

Haha, yup, not so funny on the toilet, lol, for some reason that is where she wants to climb in my lap, sorry tmi, but yes indeed very funny.

My girl loves the water too!! Love the name, so fitting. That's very interesting about your family.

There's no privacy! lol That is so funny. From hearing everyone's stories I'm so looking forward to learning more about Qinu.

I mentioned my family because Al has a Welsh dragon as his avatar :-)

<< off topic >> Family legend has it that we're Welsh but as far as I can go back (1822, St Lawrence County, New York) we've been in the states. On the other hand, my grandparents look like they could have just stepped off the boat - medium short, slightly stocky, blue eyed and coal black hair (till it turned stark white! - I envied him his hair!)
My SIL said that she had it traced back to Wales, but then she died before I had a chance to see what she had ... bummer!! So I'm still looking and still calling myself a Welshman, though a few generations removed!

Keeping us off topic, lol, it would make sense to have come to America during that time. The land clearances were terrible in both Wales and Scotland. In fact, there's an old law that states that an Englishman can shoot an Welshman with a bow and arrow if he trespasses on their property! Wonder if there are any boat records available. Though having one of the most common last names in Wales (Jones) you might have a hard time narrowing it down!

My granddad on one side was shorter and stocky (typical Welsh, lol) and then on the other quite tall and broad. We called them "Big Granddad" and "Little Granddad" :-) Shorter with dark hair and blue eyes are definitely Welsh traits :-)

Hey it's your thread you can take it any way you want to - and we often do.

The legend about our family history also contains a side note that we are somehow connected to the signer of the Declaration of Independence John Witherspoon which would put us in the colonies in the late 1700's (not too far, chronically, from where I am now) but I can't find that connection, nor do the "Signers" web sites show any link that I can find though a daughter and a grand-daughter both married Jones' (if memory serves me right) and as much as I'd like to find a solid link to Wales - as you note, it'd be a nightmare once I "got there"!

It's so exciting digging into family history! With my family only just coming to Canada we can trace ours a little easier but we also have one of the most common names in Wales so it gets fuzzy quickly. Especially with farming families having been hit so hard by clearances. One very cool fact though is that my granddad's farm operated during WWII and my Nannie was part of the Women's Land Army which is how they met :-) He could only speak Welsh so she taught him English.

Getting pictures of Qinu is practically impossible!!! As soon as I take out the camera she's trying to eat it or run away, hahaha.

Anyways, she should be coming up to about 16 weeks now and weighs in at 30lbs. Her lovely red is starting to be hidden under a cape of dark guards hairs but the back of her head is still red :-) Her eyes have so far kept the hazel/olive colour- so beautiful! She looooves the trails and is doing so well in her training but seems singularly committed to only listening to me which can be a little challenging.

Ah, she is so cute!! You should be proud; she's completely adorable! As for what breeds might be mixed in, I would definitely consider a german shepherd to be in the woodpile. That dark band on her forehead I have seen in a lot of GSDs. Her ears, too, look very GSDish. It makes me miss my grandma's GSD, Shep (very creative, I know. My brother named her.). As far as what temperament that would bring to the table? She was amazing. She was so good with us kids. I remember sitting outside with her and just chatting to her for hours while she sat there. Very patient and loyal. That said, she was very territorial and tore a few chunks out of neighbor dogs when they came too close. Grandma used her to guard the chicken coop from coyotes and other critters, though, so it worked to everyone's advantage. They supposedly have a high prey drive, though. We found dead deer around a lot and suspected she might have had a hand in it. She left the livestock alone, though, so I think they are quite teachable. Huskies, are very pack oriented so it might be the perfect balance for socialization! Huskies tend to also have a high prey drive as well, so it might be something to start working on early.

Overall, I think she is and will be amazing! More pics, please!

GSD is definitely the popular guess :-) Her ears are just like GSD puppies! Her mom has huuuuge ears as well even as an adult which I just love :-) We own rabbits/chickens/goats so we're working big time on the prey drive thing. She is very curious about everything but a little scared of the goats. We had a pit bull years ago with serious prey drive. That dog was strictly on-leash only and was originally returned to the rescue by a family because she killed one of their sheep.

Out of interest, I just dug up some pictures of Qinu from before we adopted her. Here they are :-)

Ah! That dirt picture! So cute I'm dying. Haha, she's scared of the goats? Maybe it's the froggy eyes. Just kidding. I definitely get that; some of my aunt's goats are surprisingly aggressive! Very wise puppy!

I completely adore the little white spot on her tail.

I'm pretty sure the dirt picture is from the day we picked her up, lol. When we viewed her she was tidy as anything but when we arrived to pick her up to take her home the inside of her ears were caked in dirt, lol

Oh gosh. It sounds like she had a party, haha. When I got Mr. Loki he was covered in mud as well. But they are so cute, how can we resist?!

My cute little lady has turned into a mud monster :-) Wait, I guess the picture from the rescue could have helped me predict this.

This is Qinu after dancing on my windows with wet paws after the rain storm that just tore through town :-D How did she keep her paws white in all of this? lol

she is so cute, love the ears. love her in the big dirt hole lol.

Getting her to stay still for even 5 seconds to take this picture was a hilariously involved process.

When we first got her most people that met her commented on how she would grow into her feet and ears. We would say something along the lines of, well her mom has huge ears so we think they stay big. People would respond to that like it was wishful thinking. Well, I'm pretty sure if she flapped them fast enough she could fly, hahahaha

Oh my goodness, shepherd ears if I ever saw them. Yep, I think she will be keeping them for a the long haul. She's getting so big.

Right?! They're so wonderful :-)

Sophie, I feel bad I never replied to your question, Miya, my avatar is my husky/gsd. And WOW those are some ears, lol. they will catch up to the rest of her, but yea they will be big, just not the jumbo size, lol, Miya had those too. So update on her age and weight please. She is such a lovely girl, glad to see the updates....