Monday, September 29, 2014

Ignorance Meant Bliss | Rosie and her Wisdom Panel DNA Results

I found Rosie on Petfinder.  At the time her name was "Puppy" and there were no photos, merely the description:  black Golden Retriever 7 week old puppy.  That's it.  (And if you click that "Puppy" you'll be taken to puppy photos of Rosie.)

As in the case of Rita and Jackie, had Rosie been labeled as another breed of dog, it is very likely she would not have become a member of our family.

So, I have to be grateful to the volunteers at the animal shelter for totally blowing the dog breed.  They blew it big time, but their ignorance meant bliss for us.

I decided to do a Wisdom Panel DNA test on Rosie to help us prepare for possible health issues in her life and, frankly, just for fun.  It did turn out to be fun.  We've had her results for over a week and can't stop laughing about them.


Our funny little Rosie has a strange body build.  Delicate legs; bowed back legs.  She's short and barrel chested.  Relatively large body for her legs and her little head!
Can you see the bow in her back legs?

From time to time, I've wondered(like Sandra and Dolly) if she didn't have some Dachshund.  Her snoot reminds me so much of my mom's standard Doxie, Hansel.  She certainly likes to dig.
With her short legs and long body, in high grass Rosie looked like a Doxie to me.
I've also wondered about various Terrier breeds as some of you have suggested.  Plus, given her odd body build and obsession with food, JoAnn wasn't far off the mark in her guess:  piggie.

Lab, sure. We'll go with that, too.

The shelter insisted, rather vehemently, that Rosie's mother was a Golden Retriever.  As I shared last Wednesday, Rosie is absolutely NOT a Golden Retriever.

I'll give them this:  if Rosie's mama looked like these two dogs, I can see why someone would say Golden Retriever.  Both Flynn and Huey are Akita / Lab mixes and part of the Wisdom Panel Community.

Yes, Rosie is part Akita and part Labrador Retriever.  She's also part Smooth Fox Terrier and so much more!

One of Rosie's parents


Rosie's Other Parent

From now on, when you hear "Heinz 57," think of Rosie.  You have to look back to Rosie's great grandparents to find pure bred dogs  Rosie's genetic make up:   12.5% Akita, 12.5% Labrador Retriever, and 12.5% Smooth Fox Terrier.

Honestly, we see zero similarities between Rosie and the Akita dog breed profile provided by the Wisdom Panel people nor the AKC profile.  Though her short (and bowed back) legs and proportionally small head don't agree, we recognize many of the Labrador Retriever physical and personality traits in Rosie.  

The big surprise (to us) was the Smooth Fox Terrier. However when reading the breed traits our heads are bobbing up and down in recognition.  Definitely an "Ah ha" moment.  Intelligent, agile, energetic, watchful, quick learner - check.  Digging, hunting wildlife, tenacious - check.  She also has the Smooth Fox Terrier stance.

So now you're probably wondering about that other 62.5%, right?   The Wisdom Panel folks state that though it is difficult to identify strong breed signals in this mixed portion, the 5 dog breeds with the strongest statistical likelihood in their analysis of Rosie's DNA are: Dogue de Bordeaux, Belgian Tervuren, French Bulldog, Basset Hound, and Shetland Sheepdog.


What a stew of dog breeds!  

As I said before, we've been laughing quite a bit about these results.  Rosie now has a new nickname:  Little Akita.    And yes, she answers to it!  I wish my mom was still alive to enjoy Rosie's Smooth Fox Terrier heritage, since mom's heart dog was one of these wonderful dogs.

The bottom line?  Not very helpful in managing Rosie's health.  Lots of laughs and fun.   And really, who cares.  We love our girl, no matter what dog breeds combined to make this marvelous mutt we call Rosie!


Reminder:  Be sure to enter our September giveaway!  You could be the lucky winner of this copper dog bone and lampwork bead bracelet!




Talking Dogs is the official blog of For Love of a Dog Jewelry. 

Thank you to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief! 





22 comments:

  1. interesting Ive vaguely considered doing it with 12 year old Norbert but figured Id get a Heinz 57 answer

    retro rover

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  2. Of course!

    Lol, I'd say the Dogue is a bit of a stretch, as I'm guessing there aren't a lot more of them wandering around in your stretch of the woods than there are around here, however, the Basset seems like a real possibility given some of her physical characteristics and her enjoyment of hunting critters. As they say though, a Rose by any other name... :-) Glad she was identified just right to find her way into your home!

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    1. That was us - under our other I.D. (like Rosie we sometimes pose as having other identities!)

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  3. OMG!!! That was BEYOND interesting! She has some Shetland Sheepdog too! YAY! (is she a barker?)

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  4. My bet is on her being a healthy girl right up to the end. What a fun thing to do! I might have to try this with Chewy.

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  5. Wow, Akita and Fox Terrier?! Whodda thunk it? Akita was one of the 5 additional possible breeds in Rita, so maybe they're distantly related. :) It is fun to get the test done, isn't it? (Thanks for the shout-out!) I agree with Flea - when I talked to the Wisdom Panel rep about what does it really tell you if you find out your dog's a Heinz 57, he said it should mean your pup will be very healthy. So, here's to Rita and Rosie and their Heinz-57-ness and to their continued good health!

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  6. These tests always seem to be real mind blowers. The short legs could be the Basset but the rest...hmmm... At least she is a wonderful pup and you love her no matter what her DNA.

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  7. Never would have guessed Akita. I'm kind of curious to see what the test would say about Mr. N because we know his breed mix.

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  8. How interesting! But yes she looks like a black Lab not a retriever. And the Fox Terrier makes good sense. Mom so wants to get my DNA gone but Dad doesn't approve of it! Love Dolly

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  9. Wow! What a crazy mix of breeds! I've wanted to get Riley's done for a while now - I'm convinced there's something else in there than just Pekingese and Poodle. In my honest opinion...mutts are the best! :D

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  10. Wow - such interesting results. With her head and coloring, I always though she was Lab - you can really see how that black coloring is dominant, can't you.

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  11. I loved our Wisdom Panel results for Blue. They weren't as varied as your results. Wow! That's a mixed bag. I'd love to do it again with Rodrigo and Sydney.

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  12. Hi Y'all!

    Rosie, my friend, you could be the poster girl for the Heinz 57 breed. :)

    Y'all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  13. I would have never guessed Akita or Fox Terrier, I probably would have assumed Lab, Golden, and something shorter. I can't wait to get our test and do one for Laika, it should be arriving in the mail today. It sounds like it's a lot of fun. Whatever her ancestry Rosie is one pretty girl.

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  14. Well, at least you can see the Lab in her, and had one part right! It's fun to have a Heinz 57 and then to find out some of what might make up their DNA. It was just meant to be for Rosie to end up with you.....so yay for the shelter getting it wrong!

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  15. What in the world Rosie?! I guess I can see the Akita Lab a little bit. Buuutt... I don't know, she doesn't really scream Akita to me. Some of these tests are pretty insightful, but sometimes they just make you wonder...

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  16. That's interesting. They were able to report more detail than I thought. I don't get to have any fun though because my two are purebred.

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  17. Wow, what a mix! I can see more Labrador Retriever than anything. But Labradors are a relatively new breed developed from a number of other dog breeds, so I can see why the confusion with all the mixes.

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  18. Just looking at the result, it looks to me like her genetic makeup is extremely diluted. It looks to me like they were really only able to isolate her great grandparents and only one on each side (a fox terrier and a mix akita/lab). I would not be surprised if the fox terrier traits did not carry the most because it looks to me like that was a pure bred dog so probably passed along more genes/traits.

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  19. I'd have definitely said Labrador, but never Akita or Fox Terrier. LOL Lil' Akita it is!

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  20. Never would of guessed those results, how fun. I would be laughing at the Akita and terrier too.

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