DNA testing for mutts

[Buttons2]

Hi, just want to know if anyone has heard of any mixed breed dogs being tested to find out their breed? So far I know of one person that had it done,she found out her rescue dog is part Greyhound & part Rhodesian Ridgeback, now that would be an interesting combination!

I figure my rescue dog Rags, is 4 different types of dog,I'm wondering if they can detect that many DNA strains or just 2?

Vet thinks the little dog,Pepper, is part Cairn terrier cause of her face & (sand),wheaten color. His wife has two Cairnes & he said Pepper has the identical face,low body (very sturdy),and black eyes.

I've researched these DNA tests somewhat,cost seems to be from $50-$75, not sure it's worth it but it would be nice to know rather than guess.

Buttons the curious.....

[joy]

yes it would be. i think our vet agreed that ours was the lab which we knew about and he does have the markings etc. of a german shepard. he is one handsome dog for sure, lol!! i never even thought about dna for dogs. it was bad enough when...... but that's another real story much like you see on soap operas.

[Cry Tears]

Buttons....I'll ask Jim the vet AND my dogs vet if he knows what breed Rags is.
Too bad you can't find his past record...find out birth date and other info on him. He's one lucky dog to have you and that heavenly acrerage to run around in!
What a dream life he lives! And you take him for long walks in the woods all the time! Gosh...when I die and I wanna be reincarnated as a doggie and have you be my master! I'll be a good doggie and not jump in the pond!

And there's another side to this...Rags has been your best freind , constant companion and protector for a year now and I think has helped lift you out of the "hole" you were in prior to his arrival.
I would make him my service animal if I were you...that way you'd never have to leave him behind...can you imagine him running around inside Costco!:D ...dragging you from taste station to taste station:D , thats if you finally can get a leash and collar on him!
Have you tried putting just a thin ribbon around his neck...then work up to a collar some day? They do that with horses to get them used to a harness and saddle...they start out with soft lightweight cloth.
Blessings, cheryl

[joy]

from joy

wow cheryl if that would really work, i'd have meanness declared my service animal first thing tommorrow! bless him he is getting as lazy as i am, lol. i read what you said about the corn so guess we may have to change our dry food. too bad if we have to go into a big city looking for a costco, i'd have to shop for fat clothes on sale as well and eat at a red loster's to make sure they kept fitting. just don't think i could stand that, lol.

i wish there was something i could do with him that would work for whenever i do get to go up to our camper. doesn't seem like that's going to happen as it's not so far. but i'd hate to have it all fall apart. if we put in a doggie door people can get into the garage already through that. so i know it's not going to work to have one installed for inside the house and go off and leave dog happily inside. he is a wimp. people walked off with anything and everything on the farm so doubt he'd scare them off. now if we were home, i think he would bark plenty but otherwise no. guess we need to hunt us an outside dog like the part doverman we had for awhile. the bassett hound would bark, people would see the doverman and thing they were going to be eaten alive, and leave fast. it was alaways funny to see. of course we wern't annexed into the city then.

buttons i imagine the vets would have an ideal of what rags is mostly. they guessed our dogs without our even telling them about knowing the mother was a lab.

[Buttons2]

Hi all, well Rags spent nearly 6 mos @ the shelter partly because of the description given for him. Claimed he was Anetolian Shepard/Malinois mix! My first connection to Rags was the ad in the local paper,had a pic of him with his big mouth wide open, then the description caught my eye cause I'd never heard of either of the breeds mentioned & was curious.

Then I began to research the breeds & decided not the dog for me! I had a yard sale & the vet's wife overheard me talking about Rags. She got all excited since she had met him @ the shelter & insisted we should go check him out, we had the perfect home for him,rah,rah,rah. I held back on doing anything.

THEN, he made front page of paper with the Pitbull attack @ shelter. That did it! Went to see him next day. Discussed my concerns with director of the shelter, she said no way he was dog they thought (volunteers make these assumptions), he was probably part Wolfhound/shepard. So I came back home & researched Wolfhounds. They seemed more like my activity level.....slow.

He was filthy, had coat shaved off where they did surgery to save his life,threw a fit the second a leash was put on him, nearly pulled my housemate's arm socket out when took him for a walk. He was a pitiful sight & had no manners! No wonder nobody had wanted him right? We took Pepper with us & introduced them, he was nice to Pepper so we said we'd think it over & decide soon. The shelter did everything possible to help, waived the adoption fee, put in the micro-chip @ no cost, agreed to bathe him,gave us $100 certificate for training, told us we could have 2 months to finalize the adoption.

Rags didn't make a peep the entire ride home. We'd rigged up a long cable to tie him to since we don't have a fenced yard (another condition the shelter waived). He was like a bucking bronco on the cable! Now I have the world's most expensive clothesline! Had him for 5 days of trying to leash train & getting very frustrated. Inside he was fine, and still is. Housebroken, knew to sit,stay,etc. never jumps up to wipe out the counters,quiet,etc. A good dog-BUT how could we possibly keep him if he's afraid of leash? He was afraid of anything overhead, we figured this was cause the Pitbull came over the chain link fence to attack. My housemate had to "walk" him to do his thing, no way could I handle his strength.

Then we got a bright idea, let him go.....see what would happen. He ran circles around the house so fast we were amazed! He has never left "his" property since. I look back to last year & can still recall how frustrated I was & afraid I'd have to give him back.

Our first (and last) training session was a total nightmare. We got their early so Rags could go in the "play area", he had a blast with a choc lab. Then inside for the training, about 12 dogs with their owners. One was a St. Bernard puppy, very aggressive & barked the entire 2 hours. I was so upset I had myoclonic jerks the entire way home & said no way were we going back unless the disruptive dog was gone (he needed one-on-one training badly). It was 1 1/2 hrs per night just travel time plus the 2 hr session, we decided to forgo the "free" training & figure out something else. Today it's still in the "figuring" stage I'm ashamed to say!:rolleyes:

Rags is happy & has a good dog life. He has all the freedom a dog could want. I let him just be a dog. He didn't even know what to do with his first dog bone from the butcher! Pepper sure showed him real fast though! He follows me wherever I go. He loves to ride in the car or truck. He's still what I call neurotic dog & guess he always will be unless Cesar wants to visit us! I do use some of Cesar's methods & they work! Only complaint I have about
Rags is the leash......time will tell on that, there's got to be a method that will work for both of us. Rags has several collars,hates them all! He's like a huge puppy & has incredible strength. We figure he was tied up @ some point in his life or even beaten with a leash-who knows? Somebody cared enough @ one time to have him neutered & he knew some commands, and he always comes when called, so the good far outweighs the bad......

That's the story of Rags which went away when BT broke down. Maybe there's somebody out there with the right answer on getting him leash trained, I've researched the different methods til my eyes got tired. I'm not giving up, just not on my priority list right now.

Buttons the procrastinator!

[joy]

buttons didn't you say that rags was younger than you originally thought? well meanness was the sasme way gfor years about the leash. the collar was a bit different. if it was tight enough, he's keep it on. i guess he finally figured out he was getting too heavy for hubby to carry him to vet. it was a sight to see but that was the only way to do it. and he's a big dog also. but after hubby working a little, he does it better. it is still not perfect and i will never be comfortable since i am so wobbly anyway. he likes to change sides to much. don't give up rags may take to the leash yet.

i'm go glad you took him in and it looks as if he is one happy dog.

[Buttons2]

After having Rags a year,the vet's wife finally showed up to see him yesterday. She was very pleased with his new home & mentioned how lucky he is to be here. He didn't remember her & I suspect she barely recalled him, from all the dogs she comes into contact with @ the shelter & the vet office. I also told her if anything happens to me I expect her in find his next home or provide him with one! (I think that passed right by her brain however).

I believe in the circle of life, how you meet someone & that leads to things you might never have dreamed would ever happen. Truly the story of Rags being here!

Later,Buttons