Padfoot's Breed

[annoni-no.livejournal.com]

Rowling never specified what breed of dog Sirius' Animagus form was, and 'a bear-like black dog' doesn't do much to narrow the field of possibilities. However, if we assume that the transformation closely reflects the wizard's personality, and perhaps reinforces it, I think I might have identified our mystery breed.

Meet the Russian Newfoundland, also called the Moscow Water Dog:

http://www.easypetmd.com/doginfo/moscow-water-dog

The result of a breeding experiment crossing Newfoundlands, East European Shepherds, and Caucasian Shepherds to create an all-purpose work and rescue dog by the Soviet Army during the 1950's, the Russian Newfoundland is now extinct.

What was this breed like while extant?

"This new breed proved to be an excellent swimmer, as well as a vigilant, trainable and intelligent shoreline sentry dog, and well able to withstand arctic temperatures and freezing water."

Strong swimming skills and high tolerance of freezing water - escaped from Azkaban by swimming the North Sea.

Intelligent - his teachers acknowledged him as bright, however much trouble he caused. The Marauders' Map is nothing to laugh at either.

Vigilant – before he was addled by Dementors he was certainly more attentive than James during their assault on Snape.

Trainable – this is the crux, isn't it? We don't know much about the dynamics between Sirius and James, but Peter was able to play him like a harp, and even Remus could control him when he bothered to exert himself. So, it seems that he was eminently manageable by those who knew him well and who he considered 'pack.'

And the Moscow Water Dog was infamous for being very selective about who they would acknowledge as pack, and how hostile they were toward strangers.

How hostile?

"...when set loose to rescue a panicked and drowning sailor, it was the breed's nature to swim straight to them and attack them in the water. A terrifying experience for the victim, who if they did not drown fighting off the dog would then likely try and drown the dog in order to defend themselves from the onslaught of gnashing teeth."

I'm sure those Muggle policemen in the prequel could sympathize deeply. As could Snape, and Kreacher, and....

In summation:

"As it would turn out, the Russian Water Dog was too much working dog and not enough rescue dog, the breed was aggressive and took very poorly to strangers, regardless of whether they were drowning or on land."

Yes, I believe that fits Sirius rather well.

Comments

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

And best of all, it would annoy Walpurga by not being a Pureblood.

I like!

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I disagree. I'm sure that Sirius' form is actually a Grim.

Harry recognizes the similarity as soon as he sees the picture of a Grim at the bookstore - not very long after having just seen that form at Privet Drive. Grims in folklore are described as exceptionally large black dogs that are HUGE! Almost the size of a small bear or cow. Sirius is even basically named 'Grim' since Padfoot is just another word used for the same beast in folklore.

It also is one of the hints we had that Sybil actually was a real seer. She said a Grim was in Harry's teacup and almost right after that Sirius is seen in his Grim form in the bleachers at a Quidditch game in which Harry is playing.

As I see it, it is Sirius' very reckless attitude that shows that his inner animal is a death omen. There is the risk of death around him - from running around with a werewolf on the loose to the actual Werewolf Incident. Not to mention the Secret Keeper change that he says HE convinced the Potters to make! His own death was caused by that very same recklessness. He wasn't taking his duel with Bella with any sort of reasonable care.

I almost smacked my forehead in disbelief when Sirius died in the books. He was the Grim, who lived at Grimauld Place! Of COURSE he was the one who was going to die! And to think I spent the entire fight in the DoM worried that it would be Neville.