She's WHAT?!

My mom and I decided to send in Amigo's DNA to see if we could get some idea of what breeds she could be. We sent in a cheek swab to DNA My Dog, one of many companies that tests your dog's saliva ( or blood) for the dominant breeds. Well, we got Amigo's results back and it wasn't quite what we expected.

Let's go back 12 years from when we adopted her from the West Van SPCA. My mom wanted a larger dog, and the people at the SPCA told us that Amigo was a Lab/Shepherd mix. Sold!

As she was growing, our vet guessed she would be close to 60lbs, if not more.

Fast forward to present day. It's true what they say about mutts, you really don't know what you're going to get. We have what I describe as a border collie cross. I say this only because of her insatiable need for exercise and mental stimulation. Oh, and she only weights 35lbs.

So back to the DNA test results. It works like this. There are 5 levels each which contain 1 or more breeds of dogs that are somewhere in your mutt's heritage. Level one has contains the most prevalent breeds of your dogs ( about 75% or more), Level 2 has 50-75%, so on and so forth.
Amigo didn't have any dominant breeds in level 1 or 2. Level 3 only contained 1 breed. Guess that breed. Here's a reminder of what she looks like to freshen your memory























Any guesses? Maybe you're thinking Lab, or Border collie, or a cute little bunny rabbit crossed with a tiny piece of heaven? Well, you're probably right on the last guess, but the most dominate breed in Amigo is..................

DACHSHUND

Yup, meet my high drive Dachshund. It gets better though. Level 4 had 4 breed, starting with a English Setter, Newfoundland, Beagle and Cocker Spaniel. Level 5, wait for it....tops up my super mutt with a Pekingese and a Rottweiler. WTF?

I don't know how accurate these test are, but it certainly is interesting,especially if you have no idea what your dog is. We didn't even have litter mates to compare with, and the SPCA didn't have much on her background.

I think we may do Beezer next. Now he better have Border Collie in him somewhere, because the rescue society we got him from had his mother prior, during and after his birth. She was described as a 30lbs border collie. We'll see what the DNA proves...