Golden Retriever Breed Description - Cross #1

The Golden Retriever is a large, strongly-built breed with a dense water-repellant wavy coat. As a dog with origins in pedigree breeding, and due to its widespread historical popularity, some regional variations have emerged in the breed; therefore, there are three sub-types of the Golden Retriever that reflect the typical variations in dimensions and coat. However, all Golden Retrievers are blonde, yellow, or gold in color and all sub-types are susceptible to the same health problems.

British type Golden Retrievers are prevalent throughout Europe and Australia, and are distinguished from the North American lines by the official breed standards. The muzzle of the British dog is wider and shorter, and its forehead is blockier. Its legs are shorter, its chest is deeper, and its tail is slightly shorter. Due to these features, a British type usually weighs more than an American or Canadian. Males will be between 56 and 61 cm (22 and 24 in) at the withers; females will be slightly shorter, at between 51 and 56 cm (20 and 22 in). Acceptable or expected weights are not specified in the UK standard, but the KC standard calls for a level topline and straight hindquarters without the slight rear angulation found in American lines. The eyes of the European type are noted for their roundness and darkness, which is in contrast to the triangular or slanted composition of their American counterparts. A Golden Retriever of British breeding can have a coat color of any shade of gold or cream; red or mahogany are not permitted colors of coat. Originally, cream was an unacceptable color in the UK standard, but the standard was revised in 1936 to include cream. At the time of this revision, it was agreed the exclusion of cream as a color was a mistake, as the original "yellow" retrievers of the 19th century were actually lighter in color than was permitted by the standards that were used before 1936. As with American lines, white is an unacceptable color in the show ring. The British KC standard is used in all countries except the USA and Canada. Golden Retrievers have muscular bodies with great endurance, owing to their origins as hunting and gundogs.

American Golden Retrievers are taller than the British type, but retain its thick coat. The American Goldens are lankier and less stocky than British types. Males will stand between 23 and 24 in (58 and 61 cm) in height at the withers; females will be 21.5–22.5 in (55–57 cm). Their coat is dense and water-repellent, and comes in various shades of lustrous gold with moderate feathering. When trotting, they have a free, smooth, powerful, and well-coordinated gait; as the dog runs, its feet converge towards the centre of the line of balance. The American standard also makes requirements about the proportion, substance, head and skull, neck, body, topline, forequarters, and hindquarters; in these respects, the American type Retriever is the same as Golden Retrievers that conform to other national standards. American breeders of Golden Retrievers sometimes import their dogs from Britain, in order to take advantage of the temperament and appearance of the British types.

The Canadian Golden Retriever has a thinner coat and stands taller than other varieties of Golden Retriever. As with American Golden Retrievers, Canadians are often taller and leaner than their British counterparts. However, Canadian retrievers differ in the density and color of their coats, which are commonly thinner and darker than those of Americans.

Dachshund Breed Description - Cross #2

A typical dachshund is long-bodied and muscular, with short, stubby legs. Its front paws are unusually large and paddle-shaped, for extreme digging. Long coated dachshunds have a silky coat and short featherings on legs and ears. It has skin that is loose enough not to tear while tunneling in tight burrows to chase prey. The dachshund has a deep chest that provides increased lung capacity for stamina when hunting prey underground. Its snout is long with an increased nose area that absorbs odors. There are three types of dachshund, which can be classified by their coats: short-haired, called "smooth"; long-haired; and wire-haired.

The standard size dachshund was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature dachshund was developed to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits. In the American West they have also been used to hunt prairie dogs. Today, they are bred for conformation shows and as family pets. Some dachshunds participate in earthdog trials. According to the AKC, the dachshund continues to remain one of the top 10 dog breeds in the United States.

There are three dachshund coat varieties: smooth coat (short hair), long-haired, and wire-haired. Longhaired dachshunds have a silky coat and short featherings on legs and ears. Wire-haired dachshunds are the least common coat variety in the United States (although it is the most common in Germany) and the most recent coat to appear in breeding standards. Dachshunds have a wide variety of colors and patterns, the most common one being red. Their base coloration can be single-colored (either red or cream), tan pointed (black and tan, chocolate and tan, blue and tan, or isabella and tan), and in wire-haired dogs, a color referred to as wildboar. Patterns such as dapple (merle), sable, brindle and piebald also can occur on any of the base colors. Dachshunds in the same litter may be born in different coat colors depending on the genetic makeup of the parents.

The dominant color in the breed is red, followed by black and tan. Tan pointed dogs have tan (or cream) markings over the eyes, ears, paws, and tail. The reds range from coppers to deep rusts, with or without somewhat common black hairs peppered along the back, face and ear edges, lending much character and an almost burnished appearance; this is referred to among breeders and enthusiasts as an "overlay" or "sabling". Sabling should not be confused with a more unusual coat color referred to as sable. At a distance, a sable dachshund looks somewhat like a black and tan dog. Upon closer examination, however, one can observe that along the top of the dog's body, each hair is actually banded with red at the base near the skin transitioning to mostly black along the length of the strand. An additional striking coat marking is the brindle pattern. "Brindle" refers to dark stripes over a solid background—usually red. If a dachshund is brindled on a dark coat and has tan points, it will have brindling on the tan points only. Even one single, lone stripe of brindle is a brindle. If a dachshund has one single spot of dapple, it is a dapple.

The Dachshund Club of America (DCA) and the American Kennel Club (AKC) consider both the piebald pattern and the double dapple (double merle) pattern to be nonstandard. However, both types continue to be shown and sometimes even win in the conformation ring.

Dogs that are double-dappled have the merle pattern of a dapple, but with distinct white patches that occur when the dapple gene expresses itself twice in the same area of the coat. The DCA excluded the wording "double-dapple" from the standard in 2007 and now strictly uses the wording "dapple" as the double dapple gene is commonly responsible for blindness and deafness.