Panda Shepherds?? Opinion on our family pet - Page 1

Our beloved family dog, Scooter, recently died.  We had gotten him from an animal shelter and were told that he was possibly a German Shepherd and Collie mix.  The only problem is that he looked EXACTLY like a purebred German Shepherd except he had a pure white chest and legs and white at the tip of his tail.  My mother always swore that he was just a unique purebred, as he looked exactly like a pedigree German Shepherd that she had owned previously.

It wasn't until he died a few weeks ago that I became curious as to what mix he could have been.  He had the best personality of any dog that I have come across (and I don't believe that I am saying that just because he was my pet) and I would have gone out of my way to find a similar mix if I ever wanted another dog.  When I looked up all kinds of GSD mixes I could not find any dogs that looked remotely like our dog.  They all looked very different from a standard GSD.

Finally, I came across the "Panda" German Shepherds that I found mentioned on your site as well as on a few others.  One website claims that these dogs are the result of a genetic mutation in one line of shepherds.  My dog 's body was almost identical to the body of some of the other "Panda" German Shepherds' bodies (though Scooter's head looked completely like a standard tan and black German Shepherd's).

I am obviously not a pedigree buff; Scooter was just a family pet, not a dog that was ever meant to be bred or shown.  However, I am curious for opinions.  Do you think he was a Panda German Shepherd?

Here is a picture of him:

 Just because a dog is half-half, doesn't mean that the genetic expression on a mix is also half half.  You can cross two purebreds and get pups that look exactly like one of the parents -- the crossing only shows in their offspring, or their offspring's offspring, depending on the luck of the genetic draw.  

To me your dog looks half GSD, half Smooth Collie though. The "widow's peak" on his face is collie, as is his pointer muzzle.  That big white ruff is also collie, as is the tail tip.  It's far more likely that he was that, than some rare mutation of GSD. Ultimately it didn't matter what was in him, but that he was an awesome dog (and I'm sure with those breeds as parents he would have been very clever, and full of character, and probably had a wonderful temperament too).

(Here are examples of the peak marking on the face and a tricolor smooth collie so you can get a better idea of what I meant by my description.)

My dog is obviously not a PB German Shepherd, but is it possible that he was mixed with a Panda Shepherd?  I'm thinking Seppala Siberian/Panda Shepherd.  The first photo is of my Shiloh.  The second is of a Panda Shepherd.

Eljayjay-Do you have another picture of your boy...perhaps standing up?  I'm no expert, but I do think it looks like a GSD in the head.  American lines.  His face looks like my last male with the narrower head.  I believe Sunsilver was mixing the two posts of you and Qmighty, because you cant see a curly tail or upright front on yours and Qmighty mentioned nothing of what a shelter mentioned it might be.

its usually a case of it  looks ''exactly'' like  [  fill in the breed ]  to THEM but not to fanciers of that particular breed the chance of a mix breed phenotypically looking exactly like a purebred is not possible

To the original poster:

It does not matter what your dog was in terms of the mixture. If the dog were living still, you might try one of the genetic tests that provides information on what dog breed genes are present, not that it would make a lot of difference. I don't personally think the dog had much GSD, if any.

What does matter is that you gave a dog an apparently loving and permanent home and loved him. I am sorry for your loss and hope you will find yet another dog who desperately needs such a loving home as you can offer.

Best wishes.

 In response to Qmighty -- it's possible, but the possibility is vanishingly remote.  Panda shepherds are rare.  Border collies aren't.  That splashy black and white colouring on the back with white on the spine isn't uncommon in Border collies, and they also come in tricolours.  I'd say Husky (or other Nordic breed) x Border Collie or  Akita x Border Collie.  Handsome dog, whatever is in him.

I believe Sunsilver was mixing the two posts of you and Qmighty, because you cant see a curly tail or upright front on yours and Qmighty mentioned nothing of what a shelter mentioned it might be.


I was replying to Qmighty. The original poster never came back to the board after their question was answered.  Yes, I did mix up what the shelter said about the dog with their post, but my comments were on Qmighty's dog only. That aside, I DO think their dog may have some collie in it.

Thanks to everyone for all the input!  I really appreciate it 

I had originally thought that the colouring came from a border collie too.  After searching through hundreds of dog photos, however, I've been unable to find a single border collie with a white head/face with the brown/orange ears.  I've encountered a number of beagles that matched the colour patterns, and thought maybe that was where the colouring came from, but the Panda Shepherd is the only prick-eared dog that I've come across with a white head/face and brown/orange ears.  It helped to explain his large ears too, which are much to big for a husky.  My search will have to continue!