Dog, Lion or Wolf Hallmark?

by Naomi Bear
(Austin, TX)

I have a gold chain necklace that unfortunately was repaired or shortened by someone in the past - they cut right through one of the hallmarks!

What I can make out of the other marks is what looks like a dog - it's not the lion with the upwards tail (if it is a tail, it looks like it points down, maybe a wolf?). Of course, I might be looking at it in the wrong direction. There doesn't appear to be a circle or crest around it.

There are some letters/symbols across from that, the last of which look like it may be: V (with a line through or at the bottom of it, or both) 14K.

It is such a tiny mark that I had to scan it just to look closely at it...

I've attached a photo of the letters that I can barely make out... maybe you can see what they are. I couldn't get a good picture of the animal, or whatever it might be.

This necklace supposedly belonged to a family member possibly as far back as the late 1800's...

Thanks for any help (this might be a difficult one).