Happy Holidays... and Thanks!

www.HappyDogDNA.com would like to send out a big thank you to all of our new customers this holiday season. Our Christmas gift sales have helped set new sales records as we continue to help our customers learn more about their mixed-breed mutts. We're hoping to receive many emails from our new customers who want to show off their dogs and share their usually incredible stories. Stay tuned.

Happy Holidays!
Happy Dog DNA

Ozzie

My husband and I first saw Ozzie on Halloween at a pet adoption open house. He was four and a half months old and looked like a German Shepherd puppy. The shelter that he and his litter were surrendered to stated he was a Norwegian Elkhound/German Shepherd mix, but the rescue group that took him from the shelter believed that he was a Dachshund/Chihuahua mix. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!

We realized that it had been seven years since our 15 year-old Springer Spaniel went to Rainbow Bridge, and after a lot of careful thought and discussion we decided we were ready to become "dog people" again. We officially adopted Ozzie on November 22 and he is just the craziest, cutest most energetic little dog we've ever seen. From the beginning, he was very sweet with our cats, especially the elderly one who passed away a week after meeting his "puppy brother". Ozzie is pretty fearless, except for when it comes to the noise that the furnace makes and has the nickname "Sock Bandit" because if a sock is left on the floor, it is fair game!

Not knowing his ancestry has actually been kind of fun because everyone who meets him has an opinion on what they believe he is. We got the results yesterday and were really surprised with the findings. They are:

• Level 2 - Scottish Terrier
• Level 4 - Boston Terrier
• Level 4 - Miniature Pinscher
• Level 4 - Poodle
• Level 5 - Akita
• Level 5 - Dachshund

Needless to say, the only one on the list we expected to see was the Dachshund, but the more we read about the other breeds, we can certainly see some of the physical attributes and personality traits in Ozzie.

And for your viewing pleasure…a picture of Ozzie making himself comfortable on the couch on his first day home!

Lisa,
Alexandria, VA

Thank you Lisa! Happy Holidays - watch out for those stockings!

Dalton

DALTON’S STORY

We adopted Dalton from a Rescue Group here in the Heartland. We have always been Beagle owners and had always gotten our pets from a reputable breeder. On August 20th we lost our beloved Beagle Snoopy who was 13 ½ and Madison our 6 year old Beagle was missing her buddy.

We first met Dalton at our local Humane Society’s annual fund raising event. He was only about 11 weeks old at the time, and while he looked like a Beagle in his face, we knew he was not a purebred Beagle. The poor little guy had a rough start in life and we later learned that before he was rescued he had suffered for over 3 weeks with a broken back leg and no medical attention. Thanks to the animal rescue network and Basset and Beagle Rescue of the Heartland he was getting a second chance at finding a new home where he would not be abused or ever have to be afraid.

We were not sure we were ready to get another pet having just gone through the devastating loss of Snoopy, but the more we learned about little Dalton and what he had been through, the more we realized that he needed a safe and loving forever home, and even though he was a “mutt” we decided his home should be with us.

We tried to guess what he was mixed with as he got a little bigger and while we knew he had Beagle in him we thought possibly some Rat Terrier and even suspected Dalmation because of his spots. We took him to our vet and he guessed German Short Hair Pointer due to all the “ticking” and spots. Our curiosity got the best of us and we finally decided to find out for sure what our new little guy was all about.

We got the DNA results back last Friday and while we were not at all surprised by the Beagle and German Shorthaired Pointer, we were totally blown away by the Poodle and Chinese Shar Pei. He has no curls and no wrinkles so we are thinking those breeds are way back in his ancestry somewhere.

• Level 3 – Beagle
• Level 3 – German Shorthaired Pointer
• Level 3 – Poodle
• Level 4 – Chinese Shar-Pei

In any event, we love him and so does Madison as she finally has a little live wire to play with. My husband and I are very happy that we decided to adopt a rescue dog, and encourage anyone who is thinking of getting a pet to consider a shelter or rescue dog. So many of them need homes and they make wonderful pets even though they may not have a pedigree.

Liz
Omaha, NE

Thanks so much for sharing Dalton's touching story and for promoting mixed-breed dogs and for stressing the incredible needs of shelters and rescue groups.

Jake

Jake's results are as follows:

• Level 2: Labrador Retriever
• Level 3: German Shepherd
• Level 4: Rhodesian Ridgeback
• Level 5: Australian Shepherd
• Level 5: Border Collie

We adopted Jake from a shelter when he was a puppy (he is now 12 ) and we were told that he was a mix of German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd and Rottweiler. He has long legs and now I realize that is from the Rhodesian Ridgeback, not Rottweiler! I was surprised at the Retriever as he hates water, but he will “herd” the kids when they are in the pool so that must be his Australian Shepherd and Border Collie.

He has many of the endearing characteristics of the breeds listed in his background. Jake is slower now that he is older, but still enjoys chasing tennis balls and going on walks.

Thanks so much for your service,
Gayle
El Cajon, CA

Thanks very much, Gayle. Jake's a beautiful guy!

HappyDogDNA.com has had exceptional holiday sales. To all our new customers, please send is your dog's photo and story and we'll post them here in our blog.

Happy Holidays!

Snickers

Our Snickers is now 12 years old, and we want to thank you so much for clearing up her background for us. Okay, having Cocker Spaniel in level 2 pretty much floored us (she weighs 60 pounds), but we were expecting the Australian Shepherd (although maybe in a higher percentage). We had been told she was part Rottweiler (which she isn't), probably because of her coloring, but she possibly got that from the Doberman. So, although she has those two breeds in Level 4, it looks like she got some of her attributes from them. It was really fun learning about Snickers, and we will be sending in the DNA sample of our other mixbreed soon!

• Level 2 - Cocker Spaniel
• Level 4 - Australian Shepherd
• Level 4 - Doberman Pinscher
• Level 4 - English Springer Spaniel
• Level 4 - Greyhound
• Level 4 - Mastiff

Sincerely,
Terri and Mark
San Diego, CA

Thanks so much for sending the photo of Snickers and her DNA test results. And thank you for ordering from Happy Dog DNA again. Repeat customers are our best advertising!