What kind of dog is that?

Until about 6 months ago people would ask me what kind of dog Jasper is, and I’d reply, “Only God knows”, or “All-American”. Then, I stumbled on to a web site that had photos of adult Soft-Coated Wheaton Terriers. The resemblance was amazing.

The magazine, The Bark (http://www.thebark.com/) had a short advertising blurb about a DNA test that could be done on dogs. It was targeted to mix breed pets. It was not the kind of test for pure bred dogs to verify parentage and fancy stuff like that. I sent away for a test kit for Jasper. Here’s where you can get one, too: Dog DNA Breed Testing

Even though all that I had to do was brush his gums with the little brush supplied for the test, I didn’t do it right away. The kit sat on my nightstand for a couple of months. Then Michael and Onyx came to visit.

My friend Michael is an engineer. He is an engineer right down to his bone marrow. For those of you who have an engineer in your life, nothing else needs to be said. For those of you who don’t have an engineer of your very own, here’s a little background.

Engineers like details. Lot of them. They never get tired of details. If there are none, they go looking for them. Details are to be analyzed, dissected, and understood. They need to be pondered upon and categorized. Everything in the engineer’s universe has a name and a place, it can be weighed and measured and quantified. And if any of these factors aren’t readily present and in order, that has to be corrected. Immediately.

Mixed breed dogs, especially those rescued ‘off the street’, are often not quantifiable. They are made up of lots of details, sometimes too many to sort out. Even for an engineer.

When Michael and Onyx came to visit us last fall, he asked if I could help him find the woman who rescued Onyx. He wanted to know more details about where she was found, how they had found her, etc. I contacted the vet’s office where the woman worked, but no one knew her. It had been about a year and a half since we had gotten Onyx, so it was no surprise that she was no longer there.

What better gift to give an engineer for his birthday than DNA test results on his mixed breed rescue dog? Folks, I don’t think it can get any better than that!

So, before they left for home, I brushed Onyx’s gums and sealed the brush in the return envelope provided by the company. I told Michael I wanted a photo of them before they took off. He thought I was being sentimental, but I really wanted it to put on the certificate they were going to send him with Onyx’s breed information. The photo I took is the one in the previous post below.

The test comes back with several ‘degrees’ of breed recognition. If one of the parents was a pure breed, the results will give the breed. If there is a significant amount of a specific breed, like maybe one of the parents had a pure bred parent, the test will show that breed as a ’secondary’ breed. Then if there are any other identifiable breeds, the certificate shows them under “in the mix”.

Sweet little Onyx is Italian Greyhound, with Golden Retriever in the mix. Her body shape is that of a greyhound-type dog, but she weighs about 40 pounds.

When Michael received the certificate, he called and asked if this was a joke or if it was for real. Too funny! I can certainly understand why he thought it might be a joke. I mean, testing a dog’s DNA for its breed mix is not too well-known.

If you think about it, though, it makes a lot of sense to have it done. If your rescue dog is a mix that has a breed that has known health problems that can be prevented, wouldn’t it be great to know that right away? Or if she needs large breed food, or if she’s has a strong herding breed in her, can you see how knowing that would help you to be a better caretaker? If you would like to get your dogs tested, here’s where you can get the test kit and all the information, including the list of 100 identifiable breeds: Dog DNA Breed Testing

Posted by: georgann | 05-18-2008 | 06:05 PM
Posted in: Jasper