Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/microsoft-guess-dog-breed/

What makes dogs so lovable? That question, of course, has hundreds of answers! But for many, at least part of pups’ appeal lies in their beautiful and expressive faces.

You can learn so much just from looking into their eyes. Knowing this, the software wizards at Microsoft have cooked up a new tool that trains AI and facial recognition technology to examine photos of dogs and take its best guess as to their breed, temperament, and more!

The tool, part of Microsoft’s Bing search engine, goes by the name “What breed is that dog?” and can be found on Bing here.

To see how the program works, Microsoft invites users to upload or link a photo of their four-legged friend and let the software take a crack at guessing the breed. If you’re like me, you definitely don’t have a shortage of dog photos on your phone.

If you haven’t sprung for a DNA test or are curious to see what breed your dog is, why not try it out? Of course, the tool can’t know everything from just one photo, but the results can be interesting because they display visually similar dogs as well.

I tried it out, of course, on my butter-brindle mixed-breed Blueberry with the photo below:

Given that he was rescued as a young pup, we’ve never really known Blueberry’s breed. The shelter guessed that he had some Chihuahua in him, but as he kept growing, he definitely proved them wrong!

Others at the dog park have guessed Boxer, Staffie, Whippet, Greyhound, and Catahoula. For its part, Bing’s Visual Search turned up three results: Whippet, Mountain Cur, and English Setter. I can see some resemblance to the Whippet:

And to the Mountain Cur:

I’m not sure about the English Setter, though! I guess, for now, I’ll just keep thinking of Blue as my favorite mutt.

Microsoft says the tool can “identify a dog’s breed, learn about its temperament, find similar dogs, and more,” which is quite the claim.

Whether you’re proud of your purebred and want to put the software to the test, or you’re just curious like me, give it a shot here!

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog