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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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!
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| One of Rosie's parents |
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| 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!
