When you are out & about with your mixed breed dogs, do people ask you “what breed or type of dog is he or she?” We often refer back to what we were told by the people or place we got our dog from. Let me tell you, I was one of those people, fostering pets for 20+ years & most rescues made our best guess. Many rescue picked breeds to say a dog was because that breed was liked (even names are chosen to help get them adopted) by people or considered more desirable & they used that breed on their description(knowing it was a stretch to call it that breed). Sadly many rescues wouldn’t say it was a Pit-bull mix & call it a Lab or Boxer mix. Sadly many bad people have taken advantage of the loyalty of the Pit breeds & strong jaws & used it for evil. Just a side note for those who are unsure of the Pit-bull breeds, Helen Keller (a famous blind woman) had two dogs that were pit-bulls. The TV show called Little Rascals which was all about a group of kids from about the 70’s had a dog, who hung out with the kids & “Petey” was a pit-bull (mix?).
You don’t have to wonder what breed your dog or cat is anymore there are simple DNA tests these days for that. It is done with a swap that you rub inside your dogs mouth (after you read the instructions) & you send the completed test to the company & in approx 2-4 weeks you get an email with the results. My two dogs pictured just above are both mixed breeds, why don’t you look at their photos & see what your breed guesses would be?? They have been shown in other posts as well, so different photos might help you guess. I will tell you later in my post what breeds they are.
Knowing the breeds of your dog or cat does solve the curiosity question, “what breeds my pet is?” It also can help with potential health issues, so you can monitor your pet & let your Veterinarian know. Your Vet may be able to screen for some things & catch it while it is treatable or curable. Personality traits are available as well which may help you to understand some things your pet does. Some dogs might be barking & running the fence & you find out they have several guarding breeds. Your dog might try & herd your other dog or kids & it turns out to be part Corgi or Border Collie. Some dogs can be destructive & you find out they are in part a very busy breed like an Aussie or Shetland Sheepdog mix & he needs a job. You then start teaching agility & your dog now has a job & calms down after a workout. Also some test results show you dog’s or cat’s relatives. I had seen that Echos sister’s owner had her DNA done through the same company. It was fun to see they are siblings but how different their genetic makeup was. I have been in touch with her thru the rescue as well, which was neat.
The test you choose will vary on the information you want to know about your pet, what is important to you. Honestly, I just wanted to know their breeds & if any major hereditary potential health issues I needed to look out for in the future.
I was in rescue & many years ago a rescue I was with had some puppies come in that were from a very unexpected accidental breeding. A family had a female Chihuahua & they had company coming to visit from out of the state. They didn’t know their dog was going to be in heat (she was to go in to be spayed soon, but their Vet wanted her to be a little older due to her size) when the friends were visiting. The friends brought their unaltered male Great Dane & even after strict instruction to everyone in the house not to let them near each other. A child left a door open (as kids do) & the Dane & the Chihuahua got together. It was too late to separate without potential injury, the deed was done. Thank the Lord the mom & pups survived, giving birth to 5 pups. The rescue I was with took in some or all, I don’t recall & we adopted them out. A year later, sadly a couple who had adopted one puppy, got divorced & neither could keep the dog, so they returned the dog to us (as it states you need to in most adoption contracts). At the time of this we had been having a conversation about dog DNA tests which was still quite new at that time. Our rescue lead didn’t believe they could be accurate, so to prove it she used her own money ordered kits & sent the Chihuahua/Great Dane mix dog’s DNA to 5 different pet DNA places. No photo is sent nor any information other than maybe age & gender, surprisingly the dog actually looked like a Black Cocker Spaniel as an adult. Out of the 5 places, only one place got it totally correct. That was the company called Wisdom Panel.
My research has shown different people ranking two different DNA companies as #1. I have seen Wisdom Panel & Embark both ranked as #1. I am a fan of a website called Spruce pets & they rank Wisdom Panel # one but others said Embark is 99% accurate & Wisdom Panel is 98%, sorta splitting hairs if you ask me. Again the information you want to know should help you to decide which one to buy. I will give you some links to help you see what is out there & you can check each out & do what is best for what you want to know. The tests might make a great gift for someone that is a pet lover & you don’t know what to buy them. Mother & Fathers days are around the corner, or an anniversary or birthday, or Christmas. A friend’s husband did this for her & she was so excited by the gift. Price range was $69- $140.00
Wisdom Panel (basic) https://amzn.to/43DycsQ
Wisdom Panel with health test & relatives https://amzn.to/3Yi9hr4
Embark (basic) https://amzn.to/3YgGV0l
Embark with health & more information https://amzn.to/3QZ8Qy3
Know your Dog by Ancestry (didn’t have as high of ratings) https://amzn.to/4jgmVmC
There are a few others tests out there, but they didn’t all have the greatest ratings, so I am sticking with my recommendations here.
Cat DNA tests Wisdom Panel (health & traits included) https://amzn.to/4jhtJR9 (approx $129)
I’ve made you wait long enough to know what my dog’s breeds are. Hunter is the liver roam colored dog with a little white, he is 12 breeds total (7 have 3% or less of the breed), so I’ll just give you the top 5. They are: 42% German Short-haired Pointer. 21% English Setter. 13% Brittany Spaniel. 6% Boxer. 4% Cocker Spaniel. Hunter is about the same height as Echo, slim build & 46 lbs. Echo is approx 54 lbs & he is mostly black on top & his underneath & on some of his legs along with the very tip of his tail is white. He 10 breeds & his top 5 are: 22% Miniature American Shepherd (looks like an Australian Shepherd) . 16% American Pit Bull Terrier. 16% Irish Setter. 15% Australian Shepherd. 11% Boxer. (I’ll give you his other 5 th breeds they are: 8 % American Staffordshire Terrier, 6% Labrador Retriever, 4% Husky, 1% of Chow & Collie) Personally if you ask me he doesn’t look a lot like any of his breeds, so it made it interesting. He grabs his dog brothers legs (has 2 herding breeds) & he guards me & the house (Pit, Amstaf & Boxer in him), he also could shed enough to build a Chihuahua in a week.
If you made guesses about my dogs breeds prior to me telling or are willing to share your comments about your dogs breeds please do in the comments or email me. I’d like to hear about your dog DNA experiences or answer questions if I can. Commenting, Liking, Subscribing & Sharing my blog helps to get the word out about my blog. I write this blog to help people to help their pets, I want to share my knowledge & experience. My email is echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com I have a table of content for all my post topics on my home page, click on the 3 lines on the upper left side(show). Thanks for reading, Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 