If Timmy from 'The Famous 5' had a DNA test

[SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter]

what breeds would come up do you think? He's described as being a 'far from perfect' mongrel. In appearance:

1. He has a big head
2. He has a very long plumed tail
3. His ears are 'too pricked' but he can 'cock' them, they're silky, and the children can fondle them, so I picture them as 'up-and-tipped' rather than fully pricked
4. He has a long thick coat
5. He's a large dog capable to taking down 2 burly male assailants at once. It takes 3 or 4 of the children (teens!) to drag him away from something he's determined to get to, or to move him when he's drugged.

Personality wise:

1. He's very loyal and friendly to those he trusts, enjoying a very tight bond with his key handler.
2. He can be extremely aggressive with strangers and can inflict serious wounds 'He'll have your leg off!' rather than merely nipping.
3. He has a pretty high prey drive - always after rabbits, and known to kill rats
4. He can be very reactive with other dogs including extreme aggression (shaking by the neck and trying to bite the ears off) those he takes against
5. He seems comfortable swimming/around water though not particularly obsessed with it
6. He will retrieve things carefully without damaging them, and even food without eating it
7. He has a good appetite and will sometimes steal food when he can get away with it, but he's not rapacious
8. He's extremely intelligent - seemly understanding almost anything said to him
9. He's (on the whole) very biddable and obeys most commands instantly
10. He has very protective instincts. putting the security of the children before his own comfort
11. He has a great sense of direction/sense of where 'home' is or 'his people' are
12. He has great emotional intelligence and gets anxious when people are upset, or displeased with him

Going off these clues, what do we think?

Akita cross to me. Probably not what some want to hear.🙈😂

It's worth noting that his IQ seems to be higher than Dick's.

I always pictured him as a rough collie/retriever mix. Scraggly coat and pointed ears… golden and not as long haired as a collie.

Don’t know if that helps

I fear Timmy comes under the 'Magical Fictional Dog' category for me. He looked rather unpleasant in the illustrations to the editions I had as a child, so I think I allowed myself to mentally correct him to the collie who played Timmy in the TV series in the 80s.

Didn’t they suggest in the books that there was some collie in him? I always imagined some Alsatian (as they were at the time).

Maybe he was a lurcher of some sort?

apart from obeying first time...more like after careful consideration.😂

😂😂😂

And he'd be way more fun to have around than ghastly pompous Julian, who definitely grew up to become a UKIP councillor.

Trying desperately not to take this too seriously, but were akitas in this country at that time?

Our family dog was a big brown, scruffy lurcher with some deerhound in him. His ears were the only silky bit of him and could "prick" up, but were mostly floppy, I always imagined Timmy as being just like him!

He’s always been a border collie to me

According to wiki , 1930s so post war..possibly, certainly to America at that time...a cross breeding one..who knows..and its not exactly a documentary..🙈😂

These are from original illustrations (I think)

I think he could well have some Alsatian in him actually! That would explain the strength, loyalty and aggression. The poster who suggested deerhound is on to something too perhaps? That high prey drive, and the size of him.

I think if he has any border collie (which could explain his intelligence?) it must be well diluted as collies are more nippy/snappy than 'tear-them-apart' and even the biggest couldn't send 2 men flying at once. He is certainly happiest when his tribe are all together though, so maybe that does point to a herding instinct deep inside him?

Oh, yes:

1. He has amazing stamina and can lope alongside the kids for hours on end when they're riding their bikes

He also never seems to hump anyone's legs, leaving me to suspect he's been... er, done.

Enid Blyton left those parts out in order to appease the publishers.

I just Googled 'Akita' and I reckon you're right! I mean, somewhere in the ancestry at least. This dog's head is very like I imagine Timmy's to be! Apart from the ears, and Tim has longer hair and much bigger eyes. The shape though, and the colouration and the tongue, are spot on!

This is Timmy as I imagine him.

What a gloriously random thread!

As a PP said, in my mind he’s always been a border collie because of the covers I grew up with but yes the actual description is of something quite different! Well whatever he is, he’s definitely a mongrel of the highest order! 🐕

I picture him as a retriever type.

cross with husky..and you have a dog that runs alongside their bikes

Accidentally-bred Golden retriever crossed with some kind of largish brown-coloured hound/carriage dog.

Actually, a good part Irish Setter - there used to be quite a few around in the 1980s (I appreciate Timmy is older) though they seem to have been replaced by doodles now. They look a bit like golden retrievers but are more brown.

Put the description into AI and ask for a picture!

The Famous Five books instilled my lifelong love of reading. They used to refer to previous adventures but I don’t recall that they got any older?
Julian was in charge and I think he was twelve?