Who needs a stinkin' pedigree?

We knew when we got her that Nova was more than just a Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever mix. After all, neither breed has white patches. And just look at those ears. They are clearly neither. They only lay flat when she is sleeping. When she is awake, they are all over the place in various stages of half to full cocked and rarely symmetrical.

When she walks or runs, they are plastered flat back against her neck (for best aerodynamics, I believe).
Many possibilities have crossed our mind through the weeks; greyhound, rat terrier, or just about any terrier, or maybe the result of the cross of some upstanding ear with the very floppy retrievers. We were ill prepared for the Vet's suggestion.

It started almost two weeks ago when I took a walk through the woods of Bill Yeck park with Nova. We passed a nice family on the trail who of course had to stop to pet her and complement her. They asked what mix she was and I proudly told them about her retriever background. Then they suggested that the ears looked really Great Dane. Gasp!

So at her last vet appointment, where she weighed in at 28 lbs at 4 mos, I asked the doc about her ears.

"What do you think they are?" I asked.
"Well, it's hard to tell," he demurred.
"'Cause, someone suggested Great Dane," I pressed.
He blushed a moment and smiled looking at his feet. "I was thinking that, but I didn't want to say anything."
I laughed and said, "I just wanted to know if I should enroll the kids in riding lessons."
At this point, he decided to backpedal a bit. "Of course, she could be just 5% Great Dane," he said. You know, just the 5% that shows up in the ears.

Then he pushed me to get her fixed soon because we don't know how fast she is going to grow and the bigger the dog, the more it costs to do the operation.

Off to buy stock in a dog food company...