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!


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Rosie is a Poser Wannabe Golden Retriever | Wordless Wednesday

Take a good look at this face.

The shelter vehemently insisted Rosie's mama was a Golden Retriever.

Umm... Nope!

We got Rosie's DNA results.

I'll be sharing them soon.

In the meantime, the dirt on her nose?  It's a clue!


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Aid Cancer in Dogs Research

After a long battle with metastatic bone cancer Luke lost his dog, Malcolm, in 2006. The loss of his dog inspired Like to commit his life to eradicating this dreadful disease. In March 2008 he sold his truck, put his stuff into storage and his two dogs, Hudson & Murphy, set off on a cross country trek from Austin to Boston to share their story.

Hudson & Murphy (affectionately known to all as "The Fuzzybutts") and he have walked across 14 states and are currently in Connecticut. We've got about 200 miles left and are scheduled to arrive in Boston the weekend of June 18th.

This walk is just the first step of a lifelong commitment and they're in the process of launching phase II: 2 Million Dogs which was conceived on the simple belief that if 2 dogs can walk 2,000 miles we can get 2 million dogs to walk 2 miles for cancer.

Does your dog have cancer?
Would you like their DNA to be a part of a historic study benifitting both pets & people?
2 Dogs & CHCC have a goal to collect 2,000 DNA samples by June 19th.

If you are attending the puppy up! Festival at the Boston Common June 19th, bring your dog to submit a blood sample at the collection site there.

If you can't make it there sign up online to submit a sample from your dog with cancer. HELP 2 DOGS 2,000 MILES COLLECT 2,000 DNA SAMPLES