Reader Kim Bates sent me this photo of her Labrador/Bouvier des Flandres cross named Sylvie.
She is almost twelve years old but still loves to swim and retrieve.
This is a cross between two of the most versatile working dog breeds, so it is likely to catch on as a performance-bred crossbreed.
Looks a lot like my favorite Ad Dog from those insurance commercials.
Ha.
Yeah, she does!
She does look a lot like a brindle briard — except a heavier bone structure, and her ears are the “rose” ears and not docked, which is sort of a mystery to me. Both labs and bouviers have drop ears — although there may be more variation in the bouvier ears, since docking would hide a lot of variation. She is sort of a Disney Dog!
We hope to get a country place in the coming years where we can commission a litter of Sylvies, since she was altered. (And of course have our terriers and perhaps a vanner horse or two.)
She has been extraordinarily healthy and really does not look her age even now.
Some St. John’s water dogs had high-set ears. This is one of the last ones in Newfoundland, a male named Lassie:
http://retrieverman.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/st-johns-water-dog-small-ears.jpg?w=550&h=355
Some Labs have little high-set ears like this. It’s not very common these days, but it sometimes happens.
Well, he has taken best features from both the breeds :-)