Congrats!! So sweet!!
Saw the mini- tennis balls at the Dollar General ? ...What a cutie pie! The pic with the cat is just adorable.
Do you have Pet Supermarket? They have smaller toys IMO. I like the tiny tennis balls.
Uhhh... is that test saying a chihuahua is a terrier??? And what on earth is companion, asian, and mountian dog????**Update**
Our new pupper, Mouse is doing great. She is a fiesty little one. So small and adorable.
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She has settled in quite nicely with her larger pack mates. They are gentle when they play with her, even though she is a fierce shark full of spunk and puppy teeth when she gets going.
Here they are exhausted after a rambunctious play session.
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Also, some exciting news - We just got back the results on a doggy DNA panel for Mouse. We figure she is mostly chihuahua, mixed with other small dog breeds, but we wanted to narrow down our guesses. And we were just generally curious to see what the results would be.
I've never done a DNA test on a dog before, and to be perfectly honest, I am rather skeptical about their accuracy. There is no "doberman" gene that is shared by all dobies and never seen in any other dog breed, so a test that says a dog is 10% Jack Russell Terrier sounds pretty fishy to me. Not only do all dog breed stem from a common ancestor, but many breeds were created by mixing together dogs from different breeds that possessed desirable traits. Even today, many "purebred" dogs are far from pure, since most breeds can readily produce mixed offspring. Dog breeds are not distinct species that have been genetically isolated for thousands of years with clean genetic heritage. Genetically, dogs are a lot more alike than they are different, despite the obvious visual differences in size, shape, and color. Even if you looked at dozens of marker genes, odds are very good those same markers would pop up in all kinds of different breeds, resulting in breed misidentifications and flat out wrong results.
Regardless, I was curious and so in the name of science, I decided to test, not just Mouse, but all four of our dogs. So far, we have Mouse and Bear's results back. Still waiting on Luna and Gracie.
So ... here are Mouse's results:
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As expected, lots of Chihuahua in our little girl. And a mix of little dogs, like Shih Tzu, Yorkie, and Shiba Inu. Cocker spaniel is a surprise, but they are on the small side and popular, so it is possible that a cocker spaniel mix could be part of Mouse's heritage. And then we get into the really weird stuff ... I know a decent number of dog breeds, but I have never heard of Lapponian Herder, Brazilian Terrier, or Tibetan Terrier. Continental Toy Spaniel is another name for Papillon, the little dog with butterfly ears.
And 2% Saint Bernard. Nope. Not buying that one. Pull my other leg please.
After some quick googling, the Lapponian herder is a large dog breed from Finland that is used to herd reindeer. Yeah ... I don't think that is right either. The other rare breeds are at least small enough to be reasonable, but they are also closely related to more common small dog breeds identified by the panel, so I doubt they are true results. Probably false positives.
So ignoring the random rare and/or unlikely dog breeds, Mouse is half chihuahua, mixed with other small dog breeds, just like we expected. I didn't specifically expect shih tzu, but I can believe it. Cockerspaniel is also unexpected, since nothing about Mouse makes me think cockerspaniel. The rest of the breeds are low percentage and frankly pretty questionable, although I could see yorkshire terrier, based on her coat color.
Rather interesting, overall. But there is no way in hell this puppy is even 2% Saint Bernard.
Just look at her.
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When I get results from the other dogs, I will share those too, so you can judge the accuracy for yourself.
We used Wisdom panel, available on Amazon for $80 to $100. You take a pair of cheek swabs from the dog and send them in for analysis. About 2 or 3 weeks to get results. A bit expensive for an experiment, but I am sufficiently amused by imagining a Lapponian herder seducing a Saint Bernard/Chihuahua mix.
The problem with using normal dog groups is that those groups are based off the functional role of the dog, not the dog's genetic relationship to other breeds. Interestingly, there is a decent amount of overlap between functional role and genetics. For example, most of the herding dogs are found in the same clade and so are most of the terriers and most of the scent hounds. But some dogs are genetically isolated from other groups and end up separate from the norm.What i don't understand is why they are using those random groups when purebred dogs are already devided into seven groups. In australia those groups are Toy (chihuauas are in this group), Terrier, Hounds, gundogs, Utility, Non-sporting, and Working.
The American grouping is Working, Herding, Toy, Hound, Sporting, Non-Sporting, and Terrier.
Maybe genetics wise it makes sense, to me it's unessercary and confusing.
Also that chart isn't complete, it's missing my all time favourite breed. But that just me being picky about the less common breeds
Stay tuned, because we shall soon find that out. My other two dogs are a Doberman pincher and Labrador retriever. Theoretically, they are both purebred.Also i am curious as to what would happen if this test was done on a purebred, because as you said all dogs are related to some extent.
He is either working hard or hardly working, depending on your perspective. LOL. I live on a small hobby farm with a mere four goats for him to protect, so his skills are not really required, if I'm being honest. Most of the time, he is just guarding the couch.The great pyrenees doesn't surprise me either. Is Bear a working livestock guardian? I would love to have a livestock guardian or two someday.
I am a big terrier person, my favourite being Tenterfield Terriers. Though i am very biased as they are the only dog i've personaly owned.Hey, don't keep me hanging ... what's your favorite dog breed?
Stay tuned, because we shall soon find that out. My other two dogs are a Doberman pincher and Labrador retriever. Theoretically, they are both purebred.
But we shall be putting that to the test shortly.
Fully understand, working dogs really should be working. i certainly don't mean anytime soon, and to be honest i was considering livestock guardian with chooks (Though i haven't done any research into this yet)I should mention, as much as I love livestock guardian dogs, these are definitely dogs that require the right environment and work to keep them properly engaged.
These are the sort of dogs that will bark all night and dig a hole through your couch if they have nothing better to do. Their large size, combined with an intelligent and independent nature makes them uniquely challenging to train. They are not your average pet dog, for better or worse. Definitely not the best choice if you live in the city or even the suburbs. An average sized backyard is not going to cut it.
But if you have livestock and property, they are literally born to protect them.
See i still don't understand. What if there's an African guard breed, where does that get put??If you are curious, the breed groupings used by Wisdom Panel are the following:
Asian
Companion
Guard
Herding
Hound
Middle Eastern and African
Mountain Dogs
Sighthound
Sporting
Terrier
Wild Canids
I am not convinced that this is the best way to group dog breeds for clarity. Despite the misleading group names, it is based on genetic closeness, rather than the purpose of the breed. But I don't think they provided enough groups. There were over twenty different clades on that dog family tree, not just ten, plus wild dogs.
I assume they dumbed it down for the general public, but I can't help feeling vaguely insulted.
Livestock guardians are usually protecting larger livestock, lile sheep or goats, but with some extra effort, you can get them to protect smaller animals and chickens too. They have strong protective instincts, so once they know what is "theirs" and what doesn't belong, they will do what comes naturally for them.Fully understand, working dogs really should be working. i certainly don't mean anytime soon, and to be honest i was considering livestock guardian with chooks (Though i haven't done any research into this yet)
It would go into whichever group is the best fit for the breed from a genetic perspective, so probably the regional group, unless it is a breed that was developed in Africa by crossing out to guard breeds from other regions. The names are general descriptions, but the groupings are based on genetic heritage, not function or even country of origin.See i still don't understand. What if there's an African guard breed, where does that get put??