Petfinder Blog

I want to thank everyone for their comments and guesses as to the breed of my dog, Alan.

Many of you were on the right track: According the the Canine Heritage breed identification, there were no clear primary breeds (neither parent was a purebred) but they did identify Greyhound as a secondary breed.

Now here's a head scratcher -- the only other breed they identified "in the mix" was English Coonhound!

Clearly he is a true mutt, and it goes to show what gorgeous and fantastic pets mixed breeds are. I tend to agree with some of of you who considered Great Dane, Rottweiler and/or Doberman in there somewhere.

I particularly like the idea of him being a "Great Bordobie" as someone suggested ("the ears of a border collie, body of a dobie and his head just screams great dane"). Perhaps more like a Great Greyeiler? I'm not sure about the rest ... but he is definitely great!

I previously posted about my dog Alan, whom I adopted almost a year ago. As he has acclimated to family life, one thing has become clear: He's a real character, with a personality as unique as his good looks.

Whenever someone meets him, the conversation inevitably turns to speculation about what breeds he is a mix of.

I have postulated that there must be a strong Rottweiler/Doberman component, since from the back end his coloration and physique are very close to those breeds. Then again, I may be reacting to the fact that somewhere along the line someone (sadly) felt compelled to crop his tail.

From the front, things are less clear. It seems like some of his unusual traits might lend a clue -- for example, he is deaf, extremely fast, has huge paws and long, awkward legs.

Thanks to everyone for your guesses about my dog Bingo. Many of you suggested that he has some Beagle in his family tree; Schnauzer and wire-haired Dachshund were also popular guesses.

Well, here are the results:

Bingo's DNA test found that he's a mix of Yorkie, Miniature Pinscher and Cocker Spaniel. There's more there, but I have to wait until more breeds are added to the database to find out!

Like Skylar and Bodie, my mutt Bingo has had his DNA tested to determine what breeds are in his family tree. But before I tell you the results, what's your guess?

Some background: I adopted Bingo from a rescue named C.A.R.E. in Bayonne, NJ, a little over two years ago. They had pulled him out of Associated Humane Societies, Inc. in Newark, NJ, when he was three months old.

He'd been at C.A.R.E. for six months (nobody wanted him!) when I stumbled upon his picture on Petfinder while searching for a Schnauzer mix (my previous dog, whom I'd lost a year earlier, was half Schnauzer).

Last week I asked you to guess the "mix" in our shelter rep Kathryn's pit mix, Bodie. You offered up some great guesses, from lab to hound to purebred pit. Well Kathryn got her results from the Canine Heritage Breed Test, and the answers may surprise you! She says:

When I received Bodie's DNA results, I was quite surprised. I was sent a certificate with all of the answers. The majority of Bodie's DNA is pit bull terrier. There was nothing in his secondary.

But down the line in his mix is Rhodesian Ridgeback. I would have never guessed that. I did a Web search on the breed, and actually the back end of Bodie's body is very similar. (See photos after the jump.)

Well, what do you think? Are you surprised? The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a type of hound, so commenter Ali had it right!

Thanks to everyone for your guesses about my puzzle dog Skylar. Next up is Bodie, whose proud mom Kathryn is our shelter representative here at the Pet Video office. Kathryn writes:

This is Bodie. I first met him in April of 2004 at an event at the local ballpark called Bark in the Park. He was one of the dogs up for adoption through the Humane Society of Pinellas.

I fell in love with him right away, so the next day I went down to the shelter with my other dog to see if they got along. They did, so I took him home and things have been great ever since.

I know Bodie is a pit mix, but I'd always wondered what other breed he is, so I decided to give him a Canine Heritage Breed Test. I've had people ask me if he has Lab or maybe Boxer in him -- what do you think?

Learn more about Bodie and see another pic after the jump. Results soon!

Thanks for everyone's great guesses on the heritage of my mixed-breed dog, Skylar! I also thought what many of you did -- that she had some Golden Retriever and the rest was probably Sheltie and/or Border Collie. But I was wrong on all counts!

When you get your results back from the Canine Heritage Breed Test, you get a great-looking certificate and a breed composition analysis with three categories. The first is primary. You probably won't have an entry in this category unless your dog has one purebred parent. Obviously my puppy had no listing here!

The next is secondary, for breeds that have a strong influence on your dog's DNA. No luck here either. But in the third category, "In the Mix," we did well -- Skylar had five breeds listed! This is for identifiable breeds (they test for more than 100) that each have a small presence. In other words, no one in Skylar's recent ancestry had any kind of committed same-breed relationship. Get the results after the jump!

I am the lucky owner of two shelter dogs and, like a lot of people with dogs of unknown origin, I've always wondered, "What exactly are my dogs made of?"

Well, now I know -- at least about one of them. Meet Skylar, my puzzle dog! Skylar was found as a puppy by animal control in southern Alabama. She was wandering down the side of the road with no mom, siblings or owners in sight.

They picked her up and she ended up in a shelter in Pensacola, FL. From there it was just a short time until she found her way into our home and our hearts, but we always wondered exactly what kind of dog breeds she came from.

Yesterday we got our answer! We had used the Canine Heritage Breed Test to take a sample of her DNA. It was really easy. We just got the testing kit from them (www.canineheritage.com or your local Petco), swabbed her cheek and mailed in the DNA. Now we have a certificate that tells us all about her.

But before I reveal the answer -- what do YOU think she's made of? There's another photo after the jump.