Cooper

Hello. We adopted our lil guy from the MD SPCA on July 18th. We were told he was Lab/Terrier/Poodle mix.

The DNA results were astounding to us.

Cooper is :

• Level 2 Poodle
• Level 3 German Shepard
• Level 4 Schnauzer
• Level 4 English Setter

No Lab, or Terrie at all.

So, attached pleas find photos of our now 6 month old mixed puppy Cooper.

Thanks,
Carrie Frazier
Baltimore, MD

Thanks, Carrie! You'll be entered into our giveaway contest for Michael Schaffer's book, One Nation Under Dog: www.happydogdna.com/Blog.html

Kobe

Good morning! I was so excited when I saw the envelope from Bio-Med Vet Lab in my mailbox on Saturday! I so wanted it to be true! I had to chuckle at the results though.

I adopted my four-legged hairy kid when she a bit of nothing....she was found on a country road, dodging traffic. I thought she would be small--turns out she's now 60 lbs! Although she is a mix, I strongly believe her to be a lot of Bordie Collie (please see blonde border collie).

Looks just like my kid in full coat. I've attached a couple of photos of my kid as well.

The test results came back as:

• Level 3 Afghan Hound
• Level 4 Chinese Shar-Pei
• Level 4 Chow Chow
• Level 4 German Shepherd Dog
• Level 4 Schnauzer
• Level 5 Parson Russell Terrier
• Level 5 Poodle

Thanks....this was fun at least!

Bobbie

Thanks for sending the photos and the results for your beautiful blonde, Bobbie. When a mixed breed dog has as many breeds as Kobe, it's not likely that s/he will look much like any of the breeds present.

Lucky

I knew my mutt was part Dalmatian. That much was clear. The spots are a dead giveaway and his neurotic behavior sealed the deal on the Dalmatian front. When people see him on his walks they often say: "Ooohhh, he is so cute. What is he?" I usually say Dalmatian/Hound mix. After a year of wondering what he really was, I bought the kit and swabbed the little guy's cheek to find out. Anxiously awaiting the results, I began guessing what his other half could possibly be. My final guess: Beagle and Pointer. Wrong and wrong. My boyfriend's guess: Pit Bull. Wrong. People on the street said: Blue Heeler, Boxer, and Coonhound. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Here are Lucky's results:

• Level 3: Dalmatian, Mastiff(!!!)
• Level 4: Collie
• Level 5: American Eskimo Dog, Boston Terrier, Papillion

Huh? Mastiff? He is only 35 pounds - and the vet told him he could stand to lose a few pounds. Collie? He has short black and white fur with spots! So now when people say "Ooohhh, he is so cute. What is he?" I get to respond: "Dalmatian/Mastiff mix!!" and wait for the reaction.

Thank you Happy Dog DNA!

Thank you, Kiley, for sharing Lucky's photos and his results. As we've noted before, the dominant characteristics of a particular breed are not always evident, particularly when they are present at Level 3 and lower. And since Dalmation is pretty clear, it's a safe bet that BioPet Vet Lab correctly identified the other breeds as well.

NPR's Fresh Air - Animals Week

This week on NPR's Fresh Air is Animals Week. Today, Terry Gross had Michael Schaffer on the program to discuss his book, One Nation Under Dog (this was a repeat from the April 1, 2009 airing).

Mr. Shaffer's book discusses how our nation's relationships with our pets (mostly dogs) have changed over the years and how the pet industry has become a multi-billion dollar business. Dogs have become a vibrant and important part of many people's lives and many are willing to go to just about any length to care for their pets. And a wonderful part of that is the growing popularity of adoption centers across the country.

Mr. Schaffer adopted his dog from an adoption center and his life would never be the same after that. You can listen to the interview by clicking this link.

CONTEST!! Happy Dog DNA will give away a copy of One Nation Under Dog to a randomly selected customer who sends us a photo of their dog, their DNA test results and a brief story about their mutt. Deadline for the contest is midnight, October 16, 2009. The winner will be announced Saturday, October 17, 2009.

Merlin

For the past 11 years I have been constantly asked what breed our lovely dog Merlin is. I could never give an answer, now I can. DNA results told us level 2 German Shepherd Dog and level 3 Irish Setter. That certainly explains his intelligence, gentleness and beauty.

Carol

Stellaaaaa!

Dear HappyDogDNA,

I wanted to write and let you know how excited we were to receive our results from the DNA kit we ordered from your website. We had been thinking about getting a dog for some time and talked about wanting a female that had short hair and was mid-sized. We looked at some specific breeds but decided to check out the local animal shelter to see if anything caught our eye. After seeing and meeting Stella, we knew she was the perfect fit for our family! Her breed didn't matter to us but, of course, we were very curious.

The first time we visited her at the shelter, her tag said that she was a "hound mix" but her adoption paperwork said "golden retriever mix" and the vet mentioned "lab, golden, Shepard and some terrier due to her size" (she is about 30 pounds and about knee high). With all of these breeds in the mix, we started to take bets on what Stella might be made up of! We swabbed her cheek, sent off the test and waited only about a week and a half for the results.

I will tell you that NONE of us guessed right on ANY of the breeds!!! Her highest level (level 2) was a Miniature Pinscher! My son googled that breed since I didn't have any idea what they even looked like. He found a picture that looked almost identical to Stella - except the dog in the picture was 12 inches tall and weighed about 10 pounds!! The rest of the mix included all Level 4's: Boxer, Springer Spaniel, Weimaraner and, her dirty little secret, Yorkshire Terrier!

It was SO interesting to find out that all those big dogs and a few little one's make up our beautiful Stella! It is great to know what breeds are in her for the obvious health and behavior reasons but also since almost everyone that meets her asks "what kind of a dog is she?". It is hilarious to say "she is mostly Miniature Pinscher" as she jumps up and licks their face (we are still working on that jumping thing...).

Thank you HappyDog.DNA for sending the test so quickly, for answering all of my questions (since I was nervous about the cheek swab but it was easy as can be) and for providing such a wonderful test! We were so very satisfied with our entire experience and look forward to a life with our new "Miniature Pinscher" mix!!

Sincerely,
Kathie

Fred

Fred's owner was so impressed and satisfied with his test results that she ordered three more!

I already did one test and there were some REAL surprises. Dog looks like a Dal/Pointer, but came out to be:

• Level 2: Dalmation
• Level 4: German Shepherd, English Setter
• Level 5: Saluki, Italian Greyhound, Chihuahua!

Pics attached. Fred is his name. I don't have a good pic that shows his back legs, but they are not straight like a Dal, but look like a shepherd. I just never thought about that. And he is the incredible watch dog. I guess the dal, shepherd, and chihuahua contribute to that.

PamG