What’s In Your Dog’s DNA?
If you have a full breed dog, you probably have AKC registration papers listing the long line of full bred champions in your fur baby’s genetic history. However, if you are like tens of thousands of other dog owners, you own a mixed breed “mutt” with no clue who their ancestors are.
Now you can have your dog’s DNA analyzed and compared with a data base of genes from several different breeds. I did this with my dog Sandy and was amazed at the results, they were not what I thought they would be. Obvious traits that have long been described as “lab cross” or “Chow cross” were not necessarily reflected in the actual DNA sequence. At the same time, the actual DNA contained codes for traits that one would never guess were there. Your shepherd cross rescue pup may not have any shepherd genes at all!
I was pretty sure my dog Sandy was a Chow/Aussie cattle dog mix. It turns out she does have some Chow in her along with Miniature Poodle, Cocker Spaniel, and a slight possibility of Pomeranian. I never would have guessed! It just goes to show the variety of canine genes that make up the companions we consider family. Dogs are considerably more genetically diverse then most other animals due to hundreds of years of selective breeding. One thing that never seems to change however, are the puppy dog eyes that melt our hearts when we look into our fur kids’ faces!
