Has anyone DNA tested their mixed dog? UPDATE ADDED PICS OF "POTCAKE" PUP POST #1

[tpup]

Thinking of having our rescue DNA tested to find out her breed origins. Just out of curiosity! Has anyone done it and were you pleased? Reviews online are mixed. Just curious if anyone here has tried. Petco has kits online.

UPDATE PICS ADDED AT THIS LINK - she is a Potcake Pup, named such on Turks and Caicos Islands as these “street dogs” have a history of eating caked foods from pots behind homes and restaurants. As a puppy, we thought small black lab but now notice an almost greyhound-type body - very long body when she stretches out, small head -she is VERY fast and very smart, and probably the snuggliest, most affectionate dog I have every known. And she smiles ALL the time. Even when you just walk into the room, shows all her teeth, wags and smiles at you. It’s a riot. Still contemplating DNA testing, but curious what breeds one might think she is mixed with?? Islands are British with some Spanish descent too. One friend mentioned body and head of a Viszla? The sofa pics are her now, at 8 mos. old. She is around 35 lbs. and vet thinks will max at 45 at the most. I think more like 40.

Pics at this link. Enjoy!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9QZs2zdm0Zrg

[paulaedwina]

It’s never occurred to me to spend my hard earned money that way. My first ridgeback came from the pound as a coonhound mix, but as he grew my neighbor and I thought he might be a ridgeless ridgeback. I sent his pictures and neuter certificate to the AKC and got an ILP (Infinite Listing Privilege) for him to compete in any competition that did not include a “best of breed” classification. Is something similar sparking this search for you?

Paula

[MunchingonHay]

send me a picture and 60 bucks, I will tell you what your dog is.

A friend of mine spent 60 bucks on a DNA test on her obvious lab/pittie. cross and the paper work came back as; Dobie, Newfoundland, Maltese, and Mini pin.

SERIOUSLY! NEWFIE?

I laughed so hard when she opened up the letter to see the results.

[tpup]

Well this dog is a bit unique. She is a “Potcake” puppy from the Turks and Caicos islands. We adopted her from a rescue there. They are called Potcakes from their history of eating caked foods from pots to survive in alleys, behind homes and restaurants. They are the native island street dogs, many originated from Spain and England. One Potcake owner had hers tested and the results showed some very unique spanish breeds. I will try to post pics later, but she initially looked like a small black lab as a puppy, but has now morphed into a greyhound-type body, long lanky legs, smaller head - her head remains looking like a small black lab - she is jet black with white tips on her paws. She is fast as h**** and extrememly smart and very affectionate. She is 30 lbs. at 7 months and will max at 45 we think. I’ll try to post pics later.

You can also see lots of Potcakes on their website, PotcakePlace dot com. Lovely people and agency.

So we are just curious!

[pony4me]

Check the info on the website or package before buying a doggie DNA test. Last time I looked, which was a while ago, it could only identify certain more common breeds, so it might be more useful for an American mutt. If you do it, please let us know what she turned out to be.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

They are completely useless. Good for a laugh, but nothing else.

[FrenchFrytheEqHorse]

[QUOTE=Big_Grey_hunter;5606213]
They are completely useless. Good for a laugh, but nothing else.[/QUOTE]

Not completely useless if you’re doing it for a reason- a friend of mine with an English bulldog/St. Bernard (I know, BIZARRE dog) did hers when she bought her condo and the association people kept insisting the dog was a pit bull (the dog looks like a pit mix). The test came back with St. B/EBD/a few other things. That was enough for her to get her condo association off her back.

[LaurieB]

@MunchingonHay;5605866

send me a picture and 60 bucks, I will tell you what your dog is.

A friend of mine spent 60 bucks on a DNA test on her obvious lab/pittie. cross and the paper work came back as; Dobie, Newfoundland, Maltese, and Mini pin.

SERIOUSLY! NEWFIE?

I laughed so hard when she opened up the letter to see the results.

I’d have been more surprised by the Maltese. :lol:

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=Big_Grey_hunter;5606213]
They are completely useless. Good for a laugh, but nothing else.[/QUOTE]

My friend’s husky mix came back as part poodle.:lol:

[wendy]

this one seems to be pretty good: http://www.canineheritage.com/breed_list.html

I’ve had two tested and the results seemed accurate.
However, really, unless your dog is a mix of two purebreds the results are useless. Many mixed breed dogs have no purebreds in their pedigrees at all, and so you get a weird lengthy list of “way back there” breeds which probably is just indicating those breeds and your dog shared an ancestor long ago.
Visual identification of breeds is often wrong even by experts which is one reason people laugh at these tests- because they are wrong and the test isn’t.

[diKecnadnuS]

I had a friend that did it with her AKC CH Golden Retriever… let’s just say GR was not a breed that showed up on her dog’s DNA profile.

[RHdobes563]

[QUOTE=diKecnadnuS;5607335]
I had a friend that did it with her AKC CH Golden Retriever… let’s just say GR was not a breed that showed up on her dog’s DNA profile.[/QUOTE]

:lol: I was WONDERING what would happen/show with an absolutely KNOWN background. Thought about trying it with one of my Doberman Pinschers, but I’m too cheap.

[RougeEmpire]

[QUOTE=RHdobes563;5607366]
:lol: I was WONDERING what would happen/show with an absolutely KNOWN background. Thought about trying it with one of my Doberman Pinschers, but I’m too cheap. :D[/QUOTE]

Does the AKC require DNA proof of parentage to register a dog? IF im not mistaken there are some funny rules about. Not as straight forward as say The Jockey Club. I know some time ago there was some big hoopla about a lady selling supposedly purebred AKC Huskies that had “blue tongues”. She was getting a fortune for them too. I would not be suprised if many “purebreds” sold on the pet market had some mixed breeding in there. I have close friends with two “purebred” Boxers. They both look like they are part American Bulldog. They were sold “purebred”, no papers.

I remember my cousin buying a SUPPOSED purebred lab, they opted not to pay the extra 200 bucks to get the AKC paperwork (just wanted a pet dog no breeding no showing). By the time it was a year she was OBVIOUSLY not a purebred. Ironicly the “lab cross” puppy they got for free grew to be as close to the AKC standard as a dog could get!

[wendy]

I had a friend that did it with her AKC CH Golden Retriever… let’s just say GR was not a breed that showed up on her dog’s DNA profile.

so what did show up? I’m curious. There are lots of rumors about puppy mills pretending a particular dog was the parent and “borrowing” the papers.

[spacytracy]

.

We have a dog that is obvious (to me anyway) that she is part Wire Fox Terrier, and part Pit. She came as a stray from Philadelphia, so the chance of her having Pit is high. I suspect she has some sort of pointer in her as her body is very lean and long, not wide like a Pit. But her face is like a furry pit.

Her results? She came back with no primary breeds, but had Min Pin and Cairn Terrier as her secondary breeds. Ok, terriers are terriers, I can kind of get that. But Min-Pin? lol

Whatever. FWIW, I guess if you were faced with BSL, you could use Canine Heritage, because I don’t even think Pit is one of the breeds they can test for. Win!

Here’s a recent shot of my dog:
[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/spacytracy05/zoe1.jpg)

[RHdobes563]

[QUOTE=RougeEmpire;5607535]
Does the AKC require DNA proof of parentage to register a dog?[/QUOTE]

I’m not sure about “conformation” dogs. None of my Dobermans were/are registered. All were listed as “purebred without papers” (ILP) dogs by the AKC. All I had to do was send in a side and front photo of each dog. Of COURSE, I also had to send in proof that each dog was either spayed or neutered. I have to give the AKC credit for knowing its stuff–my purebred docked/cropped Moose (Moose On The Loose CD) had a decidely coon-houndish demeanor, and Peter (UCDX As My Whimsy Takes Me CD, SKC-CD) looked a bit like a sighthound with his natural ears and long (undocked) tail.

Now that the AKC is allowing mixed breeds to compete in performance-only events, there may be less reason to try to pass of a non-purebred as purebred. And, since people are breeding and getting BIG MONEY for “designer” dogs, some people find it more profitable to not try to pass off the mixed breeds as purebred.

[TBPNW]

I tested one before her time was up. I was told when I adopted part Norwegian Elkhound and Australian Shepherd. I took that lightly, but the thought crossed my mind if that were true, it might influence what I got next. I sent in the first sample, and it was not a good enough. Btw, I did not send a picture that some also ask for. They did send another kit free of charge. The second time, the results said that there was a primary breed, German Shepherd. If I remember, that meant at least 40%? Secondary breeds were Saint Bernhard and Pitbull (although technically I don’t think they use that term) and one breed that was at less than 10%. The results made more sense, and glad it was done.

[PRS]

My friend had her mixed breed tested (the black and tan one in the picture)
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz258/dorim_2005/RoxyMax.jpg
The results came back poodle and terrier…she says that at least she got a good laugh.

[2tempe]

I’ve never done my dogs, as they have seemed pretty obvious. One was said to be coonhound/shepherd; he had the build and the voice of the hound, big, but not huge ears, the coat texture of the shepherd. Black and Tan. Loved the whole world, was smart/obedient and did not (thankfully) ever go off after something.

Now have a “shep/chow/collie” Tan w/ black saddle and a shep. tail. Black tongue, full coat around neck, short legs. Smart as a whip and has to organize everybody at the dog park. Very talkative.

2nd dog is chow/Golden Retr. The chow is visible to pretty much anyone; he has a bit different head and coat texture on his back. Mom was the GR or GR Mix and he was born at the shelter so that took care of that.

I had a friend who sent in her dog’s DNA; he looks for all the world like a chinese crested sort and the list came back w/ everything but that…She was disappointed.

[skip916]

labrotmasthound

I did it for fun with my “Georgia Black Dog” that looks mostly lab but is much taller, long tailed, deep chested, light eyed and much different personality than most labs. Jefferspet.com had the tests 50% at Christmas time and I figured I have wasted money on less interesting things before so might as well! The company is called biovet pet labs.

It came back primary labrador, then rottweiler, mastiff and greyhound, in order of percentage.

It could be fairly accurate if you consider the definite labrador presence, her face/head is kind of rottweiler shaped, her chest is deep and tail long like a greyhound and she LOVES to run fast and then go to sleep…

Here is her confo pic: Doodle