A few weeks ago I went on a hike with a couple friends and their dogs. One of them had received a doggy DNA kit for his birthday from his children, so he could find out what breeds comprised his beautiful rescue dog, Luna. I think my guesses may have been Aussie mix or maybe some Golden Retriever, but the lovely Luna it turned out had quite a variety of breeds including Saluki! This wouldn't be anyone's first guess, as you don't tend to see these dogs very often, but if you could see Luna's build and her running speed, you would just know there was truth to that.
His positive experience with the DNA kit, got me thinking about Cedar. I have wondered what Cedar is, and when asked have given responses from terrier-mix to Jim Henson creation. He has shaggy somewhat wiry wavy hair, a sturdy build, great energy and endurance, large furry feet, and muppet fluff on his head in the form of a mohawk. His eyes are dark and expressive with little dark eyebrow markings and what I call Egyptian eyeliner going back from the corner of his eyes. His ears are what I think are known as half-prick and his tail curls over his back.
When I got him as a puppy they claimed he was a pug poodle mix. I could see some pug influence- the coloring, the tail curled over the back. But mostly what I saw was tenacious, stubborn terrier and was convinced he was a Cairn terrier mixed with some pug and possibly a few other things. Someone said the slope of his back suggested Shih Tzu.
So I went online and read about a few different DNA tests, narrowing it down to Wisdom Panel for the simple reason that they have the largest DNA database of different breeds to compare against. I read a lot of reviews. Some reviews said they were way off, but the majority I read said that they had confirmation of the breeds they already believed comprised their dog, or that they hadn't thought of such-and-such breed but it totally explained some trait. So I decided to try it!
I ordered online, first doing a websearch for discount codes, which resulted in a $10 savings. Wisdom Panel was fast and easy to use.
They sent a kit with two swabs, easy and concise instructions, and prepaid packaging to mail the DNA sample back in. The sample is "swabbed" off the inside of the cheek, however the swabs were more like large hostile Q-Tips- kind of bristly. Cedar had a surprised confused expression when I took the samples, but didn't seem to be very uncomfortable with the process.
I was really pleased with the communication from Wisdom Panel. They confirmed when they received the sample, and included with the email a little video on their testing and about dominant and recessive traits in dogs. It was fun, and I learned that Cedar's beard and eyebrows are called furnishings! These furnishings also made me wonder if he had some schnauzer in him. Here is a close up of Cedar's furnishings.
They said they would take 2-3 weeks to provide the results, and Cedar's results took only 9 days. They sent a nice report with profiles of the breeds that they identified and some explanation of how they came up with the results. It gave me an opportunity to upload a photo also, which was included on the "Breed Ancestry Certificate." If I understand their process correctly, they work off of percentages that they can detect as a pure breed. So if 50% of the DNA matches the database for St Bernard, they can determine that the dog is half St Bernard. This means one of the parents could have been pure St Bernard, or that both parents could have been half St Bernard. They are less able to determine specific breeds as the percentage of identifiable DNA diminishes. They do not guarantee 100% accuracy, but I believe they are probably pretty spot-on most of the time.
Without further ado....
My first reaction was WHAT??? Where is the terrier? Then I thought about it... this basically says that Cedar is very nearly what I was told he was when I got him as a tiny 8 wk old puppy. Wisdom Panel had no way of knowing that, and I don't put a lot of stock in coincidences. The surprising thing was the Keeshond! I am still not sure what to think of that bit of the puzzle.
So Cedar's mom or dad was a purebred miniature poodle. He does have wavy hair and curly hair is co-dominant. I have sometimes thought his eyes looked poodly and teased him about it. I ended up on
www.yourpurebredpuppy.com and it said that miniature poodles are intelligent athletes and also that they learn patterns and tend to anticipate what you're doing to do next. In addition, they dislike conflict. Cedar is always watching me carefully trying to determine what I'm about to do and often breaks up any rough-housing that might be going on.
Pug was the breed that I was least surpised to see on this report, and I was not surprised to find that his other parent was only half pug. Cedar doesn't have any deformation of the face that tends to show up in dogs which are half pug. YourPurebredPuppy mentioned the pug's expressive eyes and childlike nature in their need to be with you all the time.
Keeshond? I don't see any keeshond in Cedar. However according to YourPurebredPuppy, the keeshond craves petting and attention and needs to be an involved family member (although this is likely true of most dogs). It also said that they are clever and use their intelligence to 'get their way.' The most convincing? The keeshond has the Egyptian eyeliner!
The remaining dogs that make up the mixed 12% or so may be terrier or really anything. Wisdom Panel did provide a page that included the most likely breeds (none of which were terrier), with Shih Tzu at the top of the list. It also noted that all of these were below their threshold for positive identification.
All in all, I'd have to say this was a really fun experience and I believe that it is pretty accurate.
Whatever Cedar is, there is no other like him!
