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?

Love this thread! I imagined him a bit scruffy like the earlier dogs with a bit of collie in him too.

Golden retriever/Irish Wolfhound/Collie cross!

What a great question.

I think his mum was a border collie but his dad was probably a retriever/deerhound mix but with a bit of something beefy crept in somewhere along the line, possibly a staffie somewhere way back in the deerhound side. So he's got the collie intelligence, the deerhound speed and the stamina and size of the retriever. But there's definitely some terrier in there somewhere, hence the occasional savagery and the tendency to kill small furry things.

I've now spent way too long thinking about this...

I know nothing about dogs, but I VERY much appreciate this question and this thread ❤️

Erm, not sure how successful this was…

This thread is making me laugh, especially the comments about Dick and Julian! 😂

Hahahahahaha! That's terrifying and hilarious in equal measure!

I did an AI and came up with this...George isn't quite right though..

Thinking about it, George finds Timmy 'wandering on the moor' when he's just a pup, so he was probably either dumped or legged it from a farm. If from a farm he probably does have some Border Collie in him, and quite possibly terrier too! But then I guess you have big beefy guard dogs on farms too... I'm not sure we're any closer to solving this mystery!

A springer spaniel/ lurcher cross, I think, intelligent strong, and likes water, I would say spaniel apart from the ears. He would be called a splurcher nowadays and cost £2000

always thought he was a retriever. I think it was because a school friend at the time had a retriever called Polly about the time I was reading these

A Laniel. More expensive.

Random but does anyone remember the young ones (I think it was them) doing the Famous Five? Five go mad in Dorset or something like that? French and Saunders were George and Anne. Bloody hilarious!

Border Collie here to me too

Maybe with a touch of terrier or something

Neither is poor Tim!

I've always had it in my head that he was a golden retriever.

He really missed a trick by not biting Julian, couldn't stand the pompous oaf.

🙈😂

You've just made an illustration for the annual young Tories camping trip!

Sounds a lot like my Romanian mutt.

My dog fits nearly all of the characteristics apart from biddable. Mine is rather unbiddable but he is big, scruffy, with the right kind of ears, coat and tail and is intelligent protective and can be a quite arsey with strangers. He’s a mioritic sheepdog cross.

He’s a collie in my mind, maybe a collie mix but def looks like a collie.

Oh God No!! Brilliant! 😂😂😂

In my head he was always a Jack Russell/Collie cross, but I have no idea why. It definitely would fit with the description or the pictures given. Maybe I had a rogue edition?

He had a telepathic link with George, in Smuggler’s Top.

His ears did not tell him, nor did his nose. But his heart told him. George was in danger!

I'm going Lurcher too. Ours was called Morse and he was 1/2 greyhound, 1/4 Bearded Collie and 1/4 Border Collie.

He had a beautiful shaggy coat, the loveliest soft ears which folded over at the tips, a square-ish head (thanks to the Beardie side) and was hugely intelligent. Biddable too. He was red and white because the Border Collie part of his heritage was a red merle.

He could have easily taken down two grown men at the same time, just by running at them! I'm sure there's a name for that but I can't remember it, basically though we had to stand still even when he was running towards us full pelt, because if you moved to the side you'd be knocked down like skittles! He always veered off at the very last minute.