Mixed Breed Dog Genetic Testing - Should DNA Tests be Done For Mixed Breeds?

Well friends, I have been into hibernation for quite some times. My internet system was out of order... means I was without blood the past few days. I got to check out my emails just yesterday and found waves out there in my mail box. Some of them are from the readers of Welcome Dog Lovers blog. One of the most important questions shot off to me through an email that I have chosen to discuss about in this post is from Angela, who asked me if she should have DNA Tests done for her "cuttie little mutt - SAM". Let me introduce SAM, in brief, as per Angela's mail. SAM is a 3 months old GSD-Lab mixed (Male), which she adopted from a local animal shelter.

Thank you Angela, for your thoughtful question, trying to answering which made me write this posts. I am sure this little piece of info will come to a great help to many people around us.

It is really quite appreciable that you have saved one life by adopting a puppy from local animal shelter. Congratulations for the new add to your family! If you are not sure about the genetic lineage of your mixed breed dog, DNA test is a way you can know if your cuttie pie has a GSD with lab or boxer with Golden Retriever in his/her blood! Many enthusiasts of Mixed breed dogs now-a-days seem to be a bit inclined towards DNA testing, trying to determine their dogs' genetic heritage.

It is always advisable to go for a proper DNA test for mixed breed dogs. DNA test for mixed breed dogs is highly recommended and its importance goes beyond just knowing the genetic heritage of your dog. It is all about determining the specific health issues that your mixed breed dog may prone to, because he or she has more than one breed. You you can determine the heritage or ancestry of dog breeds for your puppy, it will be easier for you determine which health issues your mixed breed puppy may prone to. So now you can take essential measures to ensure that your dogs gets a happy and healthy life. It's all about responsible dog ownership!

Let's delve deeper into this. Apart from determining the health issues that your mixed breed puppy may prone to in future, the DNA tests explain a series of instinctual behavior of your dog. Remember GSD mixed with Labrador will exhibit entire different behavioral instinct for GSD mixed with Rottweiler. Some behavioral traits are typically specific to the breed. For instance a Jack Russel Terrier mixed with a Cocker Spaniel may exhibit digging behavior, a Cocker Spaniel mixed with American Springer Spaniel may show a jumping tendencies. Knowing beforehand what kind of behavior your mixed breed puppy may show up in future is of quite importance. This will help you in formulating the perfect training and exercise types and schedules. This is again all about responsible dog ownership!

There are three dog DNA tests that can be done. Two of them includes collecting the swab samples form the cheek, which are to be sent to the laboratories. The other one involves testing blood based DNA samples. The heavily complex genetic science is not easily understandable to general mass. So what can we expect from the dog DNA testing reports? Can we really rely 100% on the DNA test reports for our dogs? Answers to the first question can be found above; you can expect an outline of your dog's behavioral and health issues that are genetically engineered in your dog's blood through cross breeding. A German Shepherd - Doberman mixed dog may exhibit certain behaviors, which are deviations from the standard behavioral instincts of these two pure breed dogs. Chances are also there that certain specific behavior(s) may be exhibited in the mixed breed puppies that are typical to one of the breed, provided that particular breed in predominant in your puppy. But things don't always happen based on formula like this.

On the other hand, if the cross breed puppies have history of cross breeding in the past series of generations, you cannot really bank fully on the DNA test reports of your mixed breed puppies. With history of many numbers of cross breeding in the past generations the result of your dog DNA test may end up with doubts or disputes. Still such reports can give you a general outline (if not 100% perfect) about the behavior and health issues. Responsible dog ownership always demands dog DNA tests for mixed breed dogs.

Wordless Wednesday

Caden - Urban Tracking Dog!

Caden at the end of the track - first time ever in a harness and he just aced hard surface work!

I have done nothing but footstep tracking for a year with Caden. Maybe even longer than that. And last summer and fall, I got fairly hardcore with it. I occasionally do a short urban track with him, because I want him to keep the urban muscles in his brain for future use! Today, the conditions and timing seemed right to try a little experiment, so I harnessed him up for the First Time Ever and let him do a freestyle track on hard surfaces!

He ran an aged track I had done with River - then let lie for 1.5 hours, and just aced it! You would think I have done urban with him on a regular basis. It has me wondering about how footstep tracking has set him up for this kind of preciseness and confidence. I am more sold than ever about how footstep tracking can produce better urban trackers - as long as the handler is able to 'let them go' to problem solve and figure things out without fear of correction. Caden could not have been happier!

Map of the two tracks - blue flags indicate where they start, red x marks the end, and green line shows how I walked out after laying them... and that is what distracts Caden at the start.

500 meters total!!

Here is the video. First of all - I can't believe my line got tangled, but we recovered. Yes, I swore under my breath. No, it's not really picked up on film or there would be a RATING on this video. I was so mad at myself! However, tried to get Caden to take it in stride. He is used to putting up with me, thankfully! PS I had no choice but to walk out along the bushline (or cross the track I laid) and had to prevent him from going to it on the first leg. Beyond that, he figured out the scent he had to follow. Awesome him (bad me). At the base of the stairs, he gets sucked into some chain link fencing, but recovers! Awesome him, again.



I had run a short urban track for River that was purely motivational. It started up on a berm, then went over a driveway and down a sloping sidewalk to cross a road - more stairs to follow alongside a building on a sidewalk - with a right turn into a parking lot. There were tons of transitions but the entire thing flowed beautifully and also sloped on a tilt that seemed to encourage being right on track. River was dead on the track, so it was 'unsullied' by casting. It was warm. Clouds in the air looked like rain is coming, so I liked the feeling in the air too.

River did her motivaton track like she was going for a walk int he park!

Here is River's track; you can compare it to Caden doing the same track (above) and look at the map as well:

After re-running River's I decided to take him to Jet's and he did that too - with equal enthusiasm and correctness. I nearly cried (seriously) at one point, following him. Jet's track was longer with more problems for her to solve including a very odd transition from sidewalk to lawn and then parking lot that was all on an angle (90 degrees are preferred). Jet had a few problems but sorted it out. Caden just bombed through it and did a turn on the parking lot that would make you weep. I had not planned to do this one with him so had no jackpot or article - so when he reached 'the end' I simply stopped him and asked for a platz and gave him a reward.

Here it is (map is above)




Jet at her wood article (last) - she had a very complex track in a small area of twists and turns around the student residences - lots of sidewalk transitions, traffic and enclosed spaces. Caden was motivated to follow Jet's scent and blasted through the track like he was following a painted line. It was 45 minutes old when he reran it. I nearly cried!


Caden was so thrilled, and happy. As if he said 'finally she let me TRACK !!' He will do the SchH style tracking, but i have always known he is an immensely talented tracking dog and I think this will help with his motivation to keep going with footstep style work. I would not want to lose his confidence and precision and seriously believe the footstep style we've focused on has produced a dog that knows where the track is and how to eliminate fringe scent and stick to the primary track including being very solid on his turns.



And on his way to the car, he pulled Jet's stake (tent peg) to carry it back - he is self-rewarding, LOL - - this is a Dan Waters tracking party trick!

I am THRILLED to say the least!

Congratulations to new Tracking Champion Carmspack Trust CD RN!

Read all about it on Susie Coutts' blog
http://birchbarkhill.blogspot.com/2011/04/sooo-proud-of-trust-new-tch.html

This is a great description of Trust's UTDX with excellent photos! Judged by Marie Babin.

Congrats my friend! So happy and proud for you. Well deserved!

Wanna fight?

It is astounding the video games that are out there these days. There are even games on phones now. I only recently got myself one of the "smart" phones. If I hadn't I'm not sure I would have even known what an "application" on a phone was. I of course grew up when a phone only did one thing AND was attached to the wall. (and had a rotary dial) Privacy only happened if you were lucky enough to have a long enough cord. But I digress. There is an "app" out called "Dog Wars". It is a game where you can raise, train and fight a pitbull to earn money. Yeah, pretty awful stuff.

Here is a link with the full story:
http://www.ohmidog.com/2011/04/23/app-alling-a-dogfighting-app-for-your-phone/

I hope everyone who learns about this will speak up and complain. Only if enough noise is made by enough people, and threats to NOT do business with a company that makes such asinine decisions, will they pull the application. Sadly it's only the threat to their business that will get their attention. I mean if they think this was an acceptable idea to begin with then clearly they are idiots.

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Please click the link and voice your complaint. I've sent mine.

Easter Blessings also go to...

Scott and Jenny Glen! ...whose dog Ted (mine since 07) sees nail clippers... and does this...

Yes, he actually holds his paws in the air to have his nails clipped.

And he shows me his toothy grin when I brush him too... he actually bares his teeth and smiles!

I think I heard that his daddy Pleat does the same thing.

After coming home from being trained a couple of years ago, Jet did the same. What a great bonus! Jet actually fell asleep as I brushed her. It was really cute.

 

Shhhh... someone is sleeping...

And River had her Spring Bonsai today. It was so warm in the sun, what a nice way to spend a few hours.

And more Easter Blessings to my friend Pam who had me over this morning for coffee and to walk the fields with the dogs. She has a beautiful GSD named Sting and a Mini Schnauzer Dixie. Sting reminds me so much of my first GSD Hawk. Pam and Jerry are letting me use their place for a tracking clinic - so we checked the fields out today. They are still snow-covered but it will go quickly now, I think.

River and Jet had a great time running and stretching their legs.

Pam with Sting

Ted rolling in the snow - goofy boy! He says he will miss the snow, LOL

Even Dixie is looking at him as if to say, geez Ted, are you always that happy?

(yes, he is)

Where is Caden you ask? Well he went for a great walk too - but I forgot the camera! But later we tracked, and I will post the video of his track later. Don't worry - Caden had a good day too (Sandy, I know you are wondering! - He had a great run loose in the field!)

Casting prayers into the wind for family at Easter

At Easter I always really miss my family and especially my Mom. I made these Tibetan Prayer ribbons and hung them outside. The idea is that you write a prayer on each ribbon and the wind carries your intentions and wishes into the sky. I love the symbolism and it made me feel at peace. This Easter as I am separated from my family and many of my friends, I send them loving thoughts from Alberta!

On my Mom's last Easter in 1995 I had a huge dinner to gather the family at my old home in Thunder Bay, as my Mom had Cancer. Everyone came from out of town to be there, and it was so wonderful.

She died 2 months later. But at that dinner we all laughed and loved each other's company.

Last year I made Pirraka, an Estonian version of a perogy (every Country in Europe has a version). My Grandma made these from a cardamom - sweet dough, filled with egg, rice and hamburger. So delicious! But not in my diet this year! I can practically taste them if I close my eyes, however. I miss my family so much at Easter - the family of my childhood.

That turned out to be my last Easter dinner too (for sad reasons) - but it is such a cherished memory. The only sad side to it was that we knew my Mom would die from this horrible disease.

Easter is a time to gather with family and appreciate what you have in the moment because life has a way of changing so drastically sometimes!

Hoppy Easter!!

A 5K kinda day

Today Jenny did her first 5K today. We walked it since I am not, nor ever will be, a runner. Here we are with our friends Prudence, who has her own blog, and Leo shown in the cute shirt.

We brought up the rear with a respectable 58 minutes. Leo even won a prize!

From there I stopped by the office where Jenny got in a quick play date with the bosses dog Poppy. Believe it or not she is full grown. Isn't she cute?

Then I went to Pet Quarters where they were having a fund raising event for the Humane Society of Knox County. Check out Jasper, a super sweet dog who lost his home due to allergies on the part of a child in the home. He has lived with kids and other pets. He is very social and has great leash manners. Talk about a steal! He is available for adoption at HSKC.

Then I had to go to the prison for the K-9 Corrections program. Jenny came along so the handlers could get some practice on the nuances of hand signals. If they don't do them correctly with her she won't do the exercise. (she will work for anyone if she knows it can earn her a treat)

So it was a pretty busy day for Miss Jenny. She did such a great job I picked up a new treat to put in her Leo Kong Genius toy to try. She loved it. (When feeding fish, beware of this possible issue.)

One of the best things about today was that Pet Quarters and another local dog store, the Loyal Biscuit, were working together at the event. It is rare for competitors to get along that well. It was nice to see. I also loved that this PQ refused to carry bunnies for Easter sales. Another thing that is rare, sticking to principles over the urge to make an easy buck. Way to go PQ!

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I hate to end this post on a low note but I have to pass on this warning of a company that lacks those kind of ethics. Check out this post by Frog Dog about the ProMeris tick and flea medication recall. Boo hiss to Pfizer!! Please pass the info on to anyone who may be using this product. Thank you!

Earth Day Tracking Session - it was a GOOD Friday!

 

Caden learning to indicate articles today

 I spent five hours out with the dogs today, tracking. I chose to go somewhere different, as I always go to the college. Today I tracked at the Westerner - where there are hockey games and concerts and loads of special events. The parking lot was empty, being Good Friday. It was great! Other than some skateboarders, but that was OK. A good distraction!

 

Ted at his article. Arrow pointing to manhole which both helped and hindered with scent flow. And there is a skateboarder in the background! Dogs did well with that distraction!


I have put descriptions on the videos I took for now. I have not uploaded all of them, but you can see the parts I wanted to highlight by going to this link on the Spiritdancedogs YouTube Channel (also linked in the sidebar menu under videos).

Here's what we did today...


I put in four tracks in this order
River - 250 m 2 hours old
Jet - 520 m 3.5 hours old
Caden 1 - U shape on veg - 100 m 20 minutes old
Ted - 150 m - 30 minutes old
Caden 2 onto parking lot - 50 m - 10 minutes old

 

Caden

 Caden - did a 200 step track that was U-shaped and did a great job! He did every corner beautifully. I rested him briefly by tying him to my car's trailer hitch and let him watch me lay a short urban track.



Caden watches me lay a second track for him



He started on a boulevard and did a nice enough job as he is not used to hard surfaces. I want to be sure to keep this up with him even though he is doing SchH tracking. Some skateboarders were out on the parking lot and he kept wanting to look at them, so I had to be patient and show him he could find the track on the hard surface. Once he got it - he did a nice job and found his corner on his own, which was an awesome moment. I put the corner and turn in a wet depression on the parking lot - perfect! He was slightly stressed but I let him figure out that he could smell the track - sometimes they need some latitude to think and I felt this was one of those times - rather than to correct. I was quite proud of him. We also worked on article indications (top picture).



Ted's start and first leg along a fence to keep him from quartering - it worked!

Ted - I laid his track along the fence to start, to keep him from doing so much quartering as Ted tends to move his feet just so fast! It really worked. PS Ted apologizes for thinking he could pee as a turn indication. Yes, it's easy body language for me to read, if he did that on every turn, but, uh, no Ted...



Ted did a nice little bit on the parking lot too - his track followed the flow of water to a manhole which helped to draw him along the scent to his prize - he just loves articles! (picture near the top).







River's start - and hey, there's me!

 River - River's track aged while I tracked the boys. She is 11 how but still loves it and did well today. Her track went into a very contaminated area along the front of the Westerner, and then turned to go along a very long non-veg leg. She did this so beautifully, nailing every turn and finding her plastic, metal and leather articles.



Along the NV leg, she stopped to visit a guy sitting in his truck. It was cute, I didn't film him, but she went over and looked up at him. Funny girl. Bless her at this age tracking so well. She is out like a light now, again. It is a bitter pill that there are no tests for her, really, this year. I guess she will just have to be a Tracking Champion in my heart.



My girl - 11 years old - and still loves to track! Blessings on her.



Jet - Jet is taking over as my best tracking dog now. The other dogs took so long that her track was aged more than I intended. It was 3.5 hours old when we ran it.



Jet lies down to start, and smells the scent pad


I laid her quite a windy track on mostly hard surface because I wanted to see what she did. It went along a paved sidewalk, over a road to concrete, over a low brick wall, into a parking lot, and finished alongside a big metal building, on the grass. She was so crazy-confident - pretty much nailing every turn. She still has the funny habit of standing and looking off into the distance as she check the direction. She makes a decision then off she goes again! I just loved following her and my heart felt like it would burst! She too is fast asleep - tracking takes a lot out of the dogs!

Here are Jet's videos - I recorded them in short pieces as it was a long track. These are the highlights - -

Jet jumps a wall - this is after the second turn



Jet's sidewalk turn before the road - this is after her wooden article



Jet's great turn in the parking lot - where she backs up to be on track!



Jet's second last turn - just so confident!



End of the track



What a great way to spend the day. I have a decades long tradition of spending Easter alone with the dogs, as my (now ex) always went out of town. I guess this is one of my traditions - and I love it - my tradtion with myself and I keep the date with my dogs - whichever I have.



Jet indicates the final article




Jet always initiates a game of tug at tne end of a track! Good girl!
I just adore this dog (in case you have missed that!)
I love all my dogs - but there is something about Jet that makes me smile all the time.



Summer Plans

 I decided I needed a training plan and some goals, so I sketched out my summer plans on a calendar today.

Stockdogs (that's sheep herding with the Border Collies)...

Stockdog clinics - 4;
Stockdog trials (cross fingers) - enter 3 or 4
watch a few more and maybe work at them as a volunteer
- especially at the Canadian Nationals which are in Cranbrook BC this year!
Plus hopefully some training time with Louanne and at Scott and Jenny's this year. Yes, I am committed.

CKC Tracking (with ALL four dogs)...

Tracking Clinics I am giving - 3
Judging requests - 1 so far
Tracking tests - 3 (AB, SK, BC) - TD, TDX and Urban with all the dogs...

Schutzhund (that's obedience, tracking and protection with Caden; obedience and tracking with Jet)...

Schutzhund trials - 2 God willing
SchH practice 2X / week!

Free weekends

UHHH, what's that? If it's free, I'm tracking or training! Or, running and biking!

I finally feel like I have my act together after having made a big move - it's taken some time to do it and this year I feel things falling into place both externally - and in my head.

Flattery will get you everywhere

http://www.vet-tech-schools.org/dog-training

Click the link and check it out:
http://www.vet-tech-schools.org/dog-training

I'm not gonna lie. I am hugely flattered by this. Some of those other blogs they list are awesome! And here is the post of mine that they reference on The Dog Whisperer. It's always nice to be noticed for the work you do. Talk about positive reinforcement!!

Cool new stuff and some updates

Check out the awesome new bed I picked up at the Loyal Biscuit for Jenny.

It is actually a Molly Mutt dog duvet. You buy the cover and stuff it with whatever you have lying around, old clothes ripped blankets, whatever works for you. Then zip it up and Ta Da! A new bed.

I love it.

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On another note Jenny's skin is in a holding pattern. We are using some homeopathic remedies to keep the itching at bay. (Topically: colloidal oatmeal rinses, and a lavender and olive oil rub) We are still working on the right blend of her other remedy. I started a blog of her skin photos to make it easier for me to remember what we are doing each day and to keep more accurate track of her progress. My memory isn't always the best so this works well. It is also helpful for her homeopathic vet to be able to see what is happening with her. Anyone interested can check it out here, Jenny's Skin Blog.
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I've also started the trainers discussion group on facebook I mentioned before. It is called The Positive K9 Network. It is open for all dog trainers who are interested in learning more about positive training methods, even those who are currently using traditional training methods. I felt there was a gap for people looking to crossover into positive training and I wanted to do something to fill that gap. Yes it is a group to promote positive methods, but it is also a group to help educate trainers without judgement. We all started somewhere and we always have more to learn. The groups motto is "Evolution through Education". It is open to professional trainers and dog owners who compete in dog sports/obedience. If you are an average owner with questions about basic training or behavior this isn't the group for you. (but keep looking because there are groups for that out there) To join simply look us up and put in a request. My goal is for the group to be a resource for all trainers looking to improve their training skills (myself included!) and to help interested traditional trainers cross over out of force training methods. So far we have a great group of people in the team. Fingers crossed for our continued success.

More on Running

I've been running on a treadmill all winter and this spring took it outside. Yesterday I did 2.5 Km in 15 minutes. Today I was a little slower, at 17 minutes. But I swear 1 minute was spent on short pee break for the dogs! Caden and Jet are awesome running buddies.





Before my run, I took River and Ted for a 1 K walk, which took 20 minutes! It was a warm-up for my run.

Here are River and Ted at Tranquility Park in Penhold. My house is in those tall evergreens in the background. It's a cute little town and I can basically walk / run from one end to the other in very short time!

This is not only good for me, but it is awesome for the dogs to get out like this. Soon, I will get out my bike and bike the border collies in the morning, then run with Caden at night. If the snow ever goes...

Running changes in a month, good! Snow changes in a month, NOT

Ran 2 loops of 2.5 k today in 30 minutes! It helps to have Caden pulling me...

On March 18 I took pics as I ran with the dogs. Today, a month later, I took pics in the same location - not much difference in the amount of snow! The ONLY difference is that I ran twice as fast - doing my route in 15 minutes instead of 30, so had to double it! Awesome.


Snow on April 17 has not changed much from March 18 - see below...

Caden and Jet are great running dogs and not only is this good for me - it is good for them too.


Run on March 18 - 2.5 k in 30 minutes



Same amount of snow as I saw in this spot today...



 BUT, we did NOT go past the fence wolves today. That was at least a 5 minute stop as they dogs figured out they were indeed, fake. I avoided it today and changed my route to avoid the distraction.

River and Ted also went for a run-walk. She was so excited! Ted keeps her company - they are like an old married couple, they are both so good natured and easy to handle and take anywhere (unlike, dare I say, the above two dogs who are my more intense working dogs).  

River and Ted on the front steps of my little church house

River did great for 11 but is fast asleep now. I hope that when I am "77" years old, I will still go for a fast walk or run like River did today.