Tinkie

7th Jan, 2021

Written by Elisbé Kruger

Photography by Elisbé Kruger and Yolandi Strauss

Since the passing of our beloved dog at 14 years old in December of 2019, we always wanted another dog. This time around, we decided on adopting a rescue instead of buying from a breeder.

One day I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook and came across a post of the sweetest little German Shepherd look-alike puppy. This is such a cliché thing to say, but it was honestly love at first sight, and I knew I had to have her.

It turns out Tinkie was found under a bridge in Randfontein, along with her already deceased siblings, and taken to a shelter. The adoption process was so fast: I contacted the shelter on Friday the 15th of May and we fetched her from the shelter on the Sunday! As with most rescues, Tinkie took a while to adapt to her new environment, and this is still an ongoing process.

Tinkie has separation anxiety and is very scared of cars when we go on our walks, but both of these seem to be improving by the day. Since the moment we got her, she’s just been the friendliest bundle of joy and, of course, very naughty! She has major “zoomies”, especially at night, and enjoys chewing just about anything, with a sock being her favourite.

She also enjoys digging us nice big holes in the garden. Other than that, she’s a delight to have in the house. She loves going for walks at the Waterkloof Ridge Dog Park and even enjoys the occasional trail walk. We’ve always identified Tinkie as a German Shepherd mix, which definitely made sense, but we knew there was something more. I was always curious to find out Tinkie’s ancestry, especially as I’m a final year Genetics student. We speculated that there might be some kind of sheepdog in the mix, due to the fact that she has some herding instincts.

Tinkie’s MuttMix Results:

        Level 3    Shetland Sheepdog

        Level 4    American Eskimo Dog

        Level 4    Pembroke Welsh Corgi

        Level 4    Parson Russell Terrier

        Level 4    German Shepherd Dog

        Level 4    Basset Hound

The reactions ranged from satisfied to pleasantly surprised. My guess of five breeds came the nearest, with my brother’s guess of three coming in second. The Shetland Sheepdog made so much sense due to the arrangement of fur on certain parts of her body and her herding instincts.

At the same time, the German Shepherd made sense due to her colouration, even though we thought it would make up a larger part of her genetic make-up. The rest of the breeds really surprised us, especially as we’ve never even heard of an American Eskimo or a Parson Russell Terrier.

Tinkie is a combination of the best qualities of each of these breeds: friendly, energetic, playful, intelligent, loyal, and eager to learn. She’s busy with her foundation obedience course, from where she’ll go on to do an introduction to agility. We decided on the agility training for Tinkie even before we received the results, and now we’re definitely sure that it’ll be something she’ll enjoy. Tinkie is the light in my whole family’s lives, and she certainly made (and is making) lockdown so much more exciting than it would have been without her.

Dominque of MuttMix adds…

With so many breeds in low quantities, it’s not surprising Tinkie is a bundle of energy and personality. Little bits of each breed have surfaced, creating a completely unique pooch!

 

 

 

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