Well, I would never have guessed, looking at her, that she was a toy poodle/golden. Maybe corgi/golden, dachshund/golden, or even basset/golden, but certainly not poodle. But I have to assume that the gentleman walking her knew what he was talking about, so poodle/golden it is.
And as a poodle/golden, that’s one damn smart dog. (In Stanley Coren’s The Intelligence of Dogs, which is at least a credible source, poodles are the second most intelligent, and goldens are fourth.) Given how much she seems to have inherited from her golden parent, I bet she’s a real sweetheart, too.
Two more pictures after the break.
Never seen a dog like her before. She looks just like a slightly shrunken golden retriever with really short legs.
A little shy, maybe? She kinda looked like she was trying to hide behind the flowers.
Of course, as soon as she got an itch, all shyness, as well as everything but the itch, was forgotten. Also: look at that tail-fluff. That is ridiculous.
Incidentally, when I made up my first prototype Dogs of SF calendar, Greta was Miss May!
Hi,
Greta is our”baby” and you met my husband Rich when he was walking her. Thanks for putting her on your site. Is the calendar still in the works?
-Susan
Hello, Susan. I truly hope that you see this message and are able to help me. When I saw this picture tears came to my eyes. The dog that I grew up with was definitely the same mix. We never knew what she was because we rescued her from the pound, but we knew she was part golden. We assumed that she was part terrier because of her shortness but toy poodle!? Never crossed our minds! I am so excited to finally know what she really was. She was the smartest sweetest most amazing dog I have ever known and I had resigned myself to a life without her equal (she died about 5 years ago at a ripe old age). Her name was Jessie. She looked so much like Greta, its just simply shocking. SHOCKING!!! All the way down to that famous tail poof. Each little curl in her coat was the same. I would not be surprised if your baby is somehow directly related to my sweet Jessie.
Please, if you have any more information about this mix, please share it with me. Is there a breeder who specializes in them? Do you know exactly what the mix is? For example, how do they not look like a golden poodle? Is it a half and half, or maybe a third generation? like golden toy poodle mix with full golden? I dream of one day having this kind of dog as part of my family again. Now that I know that it is a distinct “type” and that she was not just some random but miraculous mut, I am going to search non stop until I find one again. Please, I beg you if you can, help me!
So sad that no one has helped me yet. Still waiting in anticipation.
I wish I could help you, but I haven’t run into Greta again since I first saw her. I am a little bit skeptical of the ‘poodle’ part of the lineage myself, but the man walking her was pretty sure, so I can’t say she definitely wasn’t. However, I will say that I am almost certain she was a rescue, probably an accidental breeding, so I don’t think they’d be able to tell you anything about breeders anyway.
I wish you luck in finding a pup like this again, though. Have you tried petfinder? Sometimes you can find some pretty amazing pups that way, although of course their breed identification tends to be a little… hit or miss.
Jessie was a rescue dog. That is why we don’t know what her mix was. She was definitely whatever this dog is though. You would not believe how identical they look. I never thought I would see the same kind of dog again. Anyway thanks for your reply. Maybe someday I will happen upon another one.
It’s not clear right now. I know I couldn’t sell more than a couple dozen through the web site, given the demographics of the site, but I’ve been looking around for bookstores and tourist shops that might be interested in carrying a calendar.
If there’s any news, I’ll definitely post it on the site.
Hello, Our Greta is a “mini golden doodle” We got her from a breeder in Bakersfield names Jodi Russel. Her email address is missbhavendoodles.com. Greta is sweet, smart, loving and the joy of our lives and she will turn 9 this December. Hope that helps you.
Susan and Richard
Greta looks nearly identical to our Golden Retriever/dachshund, Daisy. You definitely have a “Golden Weiner” there. We got Daisy from the Humane Society, but they still had the papers from the puppy mill she was rescued from. Definitely not a poodle. That’s a Weiner Retriever all the way. GREAT DOGS!
Apparently Greta was actually gotten from a breeder of ‘miniature golden retrievers’, who would presumably know what breeds he, well, bred. Isn’t it amazing how different mixes can end up looking so similar?
Realize this is an old post, but I recently got a dog that looks a lot like Greta. This is his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/brinkley.brink.5
For April Thomas, we were told he’s a Corgi/Spaniel Mix. I get the Corgi thing because of the short legs, but he acts a lot like a golden. Not really sure what he is, but he’s a pretty great guy.
Oh man. That is one cute dog!
I agree, he looks a lot like a golden. And he has the classic signs of a recessive red coat (I bet he doesn’t have a single black hair anywhere, and no black skin except around the mouth/eyes/nose). Some spaniels have the recessive red genes (e.g. some Cavalier King Charles spaniels) but all goldens do. If he acts like a golden, I’d say there’s probably better than even odds that he’s a golden/corgi.
Greta looks a fair bit different, actually… her legs are significantly longer in relation to her body size. It’s hard to tell because I’m shooting down from above, though you can sort of get a feel for it in the second picture.