2009.02.17
Tell us what works for you
Yesterday's Happy Wag column was all about pet products that work well, and some, well, not so much. A call rang out for pet parents to bark the praises of really good stuff and growl over the ones that disappoint. I will be posting them throughout the week, along with pictures of the "stinkers" that have come in for the Wall of Shame.
Let's start with the What's-the-Daddy test kit.
Doris sent me an e-mail to let me know how the $60 doggie DNA test she purchased from the RVSPCA worked for when she tested her dog Liesel:
It was so fun getting the results. Along with the certificate I received a page explaining the range levels and then a brief description of each breed found in my dog. It was very enlightening. The little 10-pound dog that we thought had some pug and Chihuahua mix turned out to have neither of those breeds in her DNA. Her results were as follows:
Level 1 (over 75% of the DNA found would be from this breed) NOTHING listed
Level 2 (37 to 74% of this breed) PEKINGESE (this explained her long body. her overbite and her fluffy curled up tail)
Level 3 (20 to 36% of this breed) NOTHING listed
Level 4 (10 to 19% of this breed) PARSON RUSSELL TERRIER and POODLE – (we had originally suspected some terrier because of her markings) I didn’t see the poodle in her at all until I did some research and clearly that’s where her cute little face comes from instead of a Chihuahua as I originally thought.
Level 5 (less than 10% of this breed) AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD Okay I have to say this one made me laugh out loud and question the reliability of the test. My first thought was well, that’s where she gets her ‘big dog’ attitude. However, after doing some research, I think it’s dead on. Her ears are definitely Australian Shepherd. Australian Shepherds are often used for herding livestock. They do this by nipping at their ankles. Well, Liesel does that to our black Lab – it is hysterical to watch this little 10-pound creature nipping at the ankles of our 60-pound Lab so much so that our Lab tries to sit down in an attempt to get Liesel off her ankle.
The research also indicated that they could be destructive if left alone. That can be true with all dogs but Liesel has proven to be worse than our current Lab or the previous Labs we owned. Liesel thinks toys are to destroy not play with.
The test kit consists of a cotton swab that you use to swab the inside of the pet’s mouth (not as easy as it sounds) and once you do that, you place it in the wrapper and mail it off.
So, I say GO FOR IT – go to the SPCA and get a kit. (my test was from Bio Pet Vet Lab).
Okay, Doris. You talked me into it. I will send off a swab from Stormy and let you all know the results. Keep sending your pet product recommendations to pets@roanoke.com.
That's cool!! I might be inclined to try that since Cali was a stray of unknown parental origins. We have our theories but it would be neat to see if we are close.
Comment by Kim — February 17, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
My sister purchased this kit for my parent's two mutts. One, Trapper, appears as a medium-sized, 35-40 pound, solid generic brown dog with large upright ears, a pariah-type pointed face, and short coat, and a basic full-length tail. His results came back as a mix of Rotteweiler, Cocker Spaniel, and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. We see none of those breeds in Trapper. Besides, where are all the Rottie-cocks running around free breeding willy-nilly with some hapless and obviously lost (it is a far way from Nova Scotia) Tolling Retriever?
The other mutt, a small, 15-20 pound dog resembling Trapper in all appearance except for size and a tightly curled tail, came back with a note that no disernable and/or distinct breeds were able to be identified. We always figured he was a Pomeranian X Terrier. Oh, well, guess we were wrong.
I volunteered my own mutt, Curtis, for an early genetic test - when they thought they had most the genome figured out and most the breed traits linked to specific testable genes. I had to send a saliva/cheek swab along with a photo of Curtis. His test came back as nearly 50% German Shepherd. The other half? They had no idea beyond that it probably had working reproductive organs, four legs, a tail, and smelled like something in the canid family (dog? wolf? coyote?).
Comment by Laura Green — February 17, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
Do you have to send a picture? Seems to me that if you do then the testers are cheating. I don't think a picture will aid in technical workings of the instrumentation that runs the sample. Maybe I'm wrong. Nona, if you don't have to send a picture then don't and see what they come up with!
Comment by Kim — February 17, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
No, a photo isn't required. I sent a photo because Curtis was a test-subject. They were running the DNA test, then checking the photo against the results to see if what they were getting made any sense. I did his about a year before the DNA tests currently hit the market.
Comment by Laura Green — February 17, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
I would be very interested in seeing the results from a statistically-significant sample of purebred dogs. A little test to see how well it actually works.
I'm half tempted to swab my own mouth and see what comes back. This is ripe for an office prank. "Gee, Ben...seems you're part poodle and part sheepdog."
Comment by Ed S. — February 18, 2009 @ 10:56 am
Nona - did you ever send in Stormy's sample and get the results back?
Comment by Kim — March 18, 2009 @ 8:37 am
We haven't yet Kim. Things have been a little crazy at the Nelson homestead of late. It's on my to-do list and will be the topic of a future column.
Comment by Nona Nelson — March 18, 2009 @ 9:43 am