On the genetics of Little Bear...

I've been wondering lately, just exactly who LB's daddy is.

His mother, based entirely on sparse photographic evidence since we've never met, is about equal parts German Shepherd and Doberman.  She is quite simply one of the ugliest dogs I've ever seen.  But she must have a great personality, because there's substantial evidence her two male packmates found her irresistable.  She had a huge litter of twelve, only nine of which survived.  But those nine could have come from any nine random litters of large dogs you care to seek.

Now:  Here are the known facts.  Little Bear is large and thick, but not freakishly so.  In his adolescence he showed signs of becoming a very homely guy because his proportions kept changing at random and never in a particularly organized way.  But now he has physically matured to a rather handsome dog.  Who doesn't look a single thing like any of his possible or definite parents.

Here's the line-up.  This is the mom:

Here's a possible dad:

And here's another possible dad:
   
 

Little Bear has bits of some, no sign of others.  He's black with just a bit of white on his chest and belly, which could be a sign of Border Collie genes.  He holds his tail high like the Akita but not that curled, and his muzzle is about that broad but longer.  In fact his snout is shepherd-like, though his brow slopes more than a shepherd's.  His chest and shoulders are very broad, similar to the Akita.  His fur is longer than a Shepherd, Dobie or Akita, but not as long as the Border Collie.  He's bigger than either dad, but that could come from Mom.  He has an absurd flag on his tail which doesn't seem to imitate any of the above breeds. His ears are completely floppy, which only matches an unaltered Dobie.   He's jowlier than any of them.  He's very energetic and playful, but also obedient (usually) and intelligent (not always obviously) and doesn't need your attention every second though he loves to get it.

He's a mutt, no doubt about it.  I like mutts, and I'm especially fond of this one.  I had hoped, once he stopped changing, to have some prayer of nailing down who the mutt's father is.  But I've pretty much given up on that hope.

The question I keep asking myself: Is it possible for a puppy to get parts of both dads?  Because I didn't think that could happen.  Or maybe (I'm beginning to consider this most likely) there are just more breeds in the mix than I know.