Who's Your Mama?

Mom has suddenly become obsessed with my family tree.  It might be because she and my Dad are trying to do their own family tree.  Or maybe it's because she still needs a lesson for Tuesday and it's already Sunday night!  I'm thinking it's the latter.

So we have all these pictures of different breeds of dogs.  She wants to let the kids try to identify them, and then she'll read them some history about them.  Then the kids will read a description of their personalities and try to decide which of their friends match which dogs.  We've learned some fun stuff.

For instance, did you know that in the 1400's the Bull Dog had a really weird job.   They thought back then that steaks would be tastier if they got the bull mad first.  So Bull Dog had to bite the bull on the nose to make him mad.  I don't think I'd like that job.  And now the Bull Dog is the national symbol of the Country of England.  Go figure. 

And according to the Dog Breed Bible, Bull Dogs are "jovial, comical & amiable."  I'll certainly give you comical.  This guy's pretty funny!  But I don't think he's in my family tree. 

This is the one I think looks just like me.  And I'm not the only one.  Some of our neighbors have said I look just like a Dutch Shepherd, too

This is a Dutch Shepherd                    This is me!

And a Dutch Shepherd is  "Affectionate, Obedient, Loyal, Trainable, Reliable, Alert".  Boy that's ME all over.  I bet I have a Dutch Shepherd in my family tree.

But the ears are different.  So Mom kept looking and first she thought, maybe a Terrier.

This is a Jack Russell Terrier.  (Actually they don't call them that anymore.  They call them Parson Russell Terrier.  The Parson who had the first one was named John so they used to be called Jack.  But now they have to call them Parson.  I don't know why.  Anyway, see how his ears flop down?

Mine flop down too.

But mine flop just at the tips.  So maybe it's more like a Border Collie. 

And see, the Border Collie has something else in common with me.  The first Border Collie was a dog named, Hemp.  Hemp was supposed to herd sheep.  But unlike most shepherds that nip at the heels of the sheep and bark at them to make them move, Hemp gave the sheep "the eye."  He just stared at them and they did what he wanted.  I do that too.  When I want Mom to let me out, I just sit by the back door and stare at her.  She knows what I want!

So I must be a Dutch Border Shepherd Collie Russell Terrier.  This is SOOOO confusing.

I hope Mom and Dad have better luck figuring out their family tree.  And how is this all going to help my kids at school learn something?  Well, I guess they'll learn all about me.  That's something.

Hope you know who your Mama is!

Love, G