What breeds are in my mixed dog?
Upload a photo and see the breeds your dog resembles most, free. Then learn how mixes inherit their looks and how to read a result with several candidates.
Drop a photo here, or tap to choose one
A clear shot of the face and body works best. JPG, PNG or HEIC.
How a mix gets its looks
Each puppy inherits a random half of each parent’s genes, so littermates from the same two breeds can look strikingly different. A Labrador and Border Collie litter can include a sleek black pup with a Lab’s otter tail and a fluffier, prick-eared one that looks all collie.
Some traits turn up often in mixes: a black coat, which is dominant, as well as drop ears and a medium build. Others, such as a curly coat or a very short muzzle, depend on which genes each puppy happens to receive.
Reading the result for a mix
For a mixed dog, the identifier usually shows two or three candidate breeds rather than one confident answer. Treat them as the breeds your dog looks like, not a pedigree.
- Two strong candidates often point to a first cross, such as Beagle and Labrador for a Beagador.
- A long, even spread suggests a dog with many breeds in its family tree, or a village dog.
- A breed that keeps appearing across different photos of the same dog is the one worth reading about.
Village dogs are not “mixes of breeds”
Many rescue dogs come from populations that were never pedigree breeds: the Aspin of the Philippines, the Formosan of Taiwan, the Africanis of southern Africa. They share a lean, medium build, short coat and upright or semi-upright ears. The identifier knows several of these types, so a village dog can get its own answer rather than a list of breeds it only partly resembles.
Photo and DNA: what each tells you
A photo tells you which breeds your dog resembles today, in seconds and for free. A DNA test reads ancestry, gives percentages and, depending on the test, screens for some of the mutations behind inherited conditions. Many owners start with the photo and test later; Petus can import the DNA report into your dog’s record either way.
Questions owners ask
- Why does my mix look like a breed that is not in its DNA results?
- Looks depend on a small number of genes. A dog can inherit a shepherd’s ears and colour without much shepherd ancestry, and the photo reads the ears and colour.
- Are mixed-breed dogs healthier?
- A first cross is less likely to inherit a recessive condition from both sides, but it can still carry the risks of either parent breed, such as hip dysplasia. Breed-aware care still applies.
- Which mixes does the identifier know by name?
- Several popular crosses have their own class, including the Beagador, Borador, Labradoodle, Goldendoodle, Cockapoo, Cavapoo and Puggle. Other mixes come back as their closest breeds.