Tuesday, May 29, 2007

And The Winner Is...

Well, um, hmmm... about 50 dogpeople got one of our breeds right... and a few dogpeople got two of our breeds right... even if they guessed different breeds from the other guessers... but, nobody got three or four of our breeds right.

So dogmom is in a quandry... she doesn't know who to declare as winner of our favorite things basket... everybody who got two right ... (I mean, that's 50% right ... and as you know from reading our blog if you're half right about us, you're doing pretty good...) or everybody... or um, making us wait some more.

Even dogmom didn't guess more than half right, and she LIVES with us ... and has for seven years now! So... what should we do? Pick one of these and vote in the comments... dogmom says "Dogs rule!"
  • Wait until the expanded breed test results come back this fall.
  • Randomly draw a winner from anybody who guessed half right.
  • Randomly draw a winner from anybody who guessed at all.

Ok - you can vote with your comments over the next couple of days...

MEANWHILE...

Here's what the DNA test shows is in us:

OPIE:

  • American Staffordshire Terrier
  • Chihuahua
  • Beagle
  • Poodle

Dogmom says that explains his love of children, his penchant for wearing clothes, and his taste for exotic foods...

GOMER:

  • Pug
  • Whippet
  • Beagle
  • Cocker Spaniel

Dogmom says that explains... well, that doesn't explain much. Since the Labrador that's pretty obvious didn't show up, they are going to retest Gomer in the fall, when they refine the test to look for American, British or German Labrador history.

Dogmom says that she believes the science behind the test is sound. She exchanged emails with people at the company, and they do hundreds of thousands of DNA tests each year... even though releasing the availability of testing to the general public only started in February this year.

But, she recommends that if you want to do the test on your mixed-breed dog, that you wait until the expanded breeds test is available this fall. At that point, they will be testing for 100 of the 151 AKC breeds instead of 38. They are constantly adding new breeds as they are able to verify them -- which is why American Staffordshire Terrier showed up in Opie even though it wasn't one of the listed verified breeds -- but the full 100 won't be available for a few months.

They also found the "glitch" in Labrador DNA by testing "purebred" Labradors and noticing some of the tests did not show Labrador DNA. Turns out, they were only testing for American Labrador DNA and there are three strains of Labradors in the U.S. - American, British and German.

So... Tosca can stop biting her foot... the results are in!

Wuf Ya!

12 comments:

Katherine and Pippa said...

This is easy. Can't remember what we guessed anyway, but given where we live, (and even if we had been right next door) we would give the basket of goodies to some doggies that need it more than I do.

Ruffs Pippa

(Thinks, now what breeds could I be again?)

Johann The Dog said...

Pippa has a good idea - donate the goodies to a shelter or rescue?

This is/was fun, nonetheless! I want Mum to do it for my sis Gracie! Keep us posted, K?

Anonymous said...

That IS a great idea, Pippa!

Dogmom did donate $2 to the local animal rescue group for every vote we got... that's $170! She says if the dogs want us to donate the goodie basket too, that we will!

Wuf Ya -
Gomer & Opie... the can't-tell-what-we-are-by-looking-at-us Dogs!

Johann The Dog said...

Wow you donated that already? That's great -- good for you.

And thanks for the computer advice, I'll have Mum check that out - oh, could it be that easy!

Emily and Ike said...

That is way weird about your breeds!
Also, tag!
Ike

Peanut said...

I say you get dogmom to give you the stuff in the basket. :) I would have never guessed those breeds were in you guys. Mom wants to test flash but will wait until they have the other breeds available to do it.

Deanna said...

Wow! You are awesome donating all that money! What rescue do you support?

And what they didn't tell you all is that they also donated to Legacy Boxer Rescue to support Dora! Opie and Gomer ROCK!!!

PerfectTosca said...

WOW! You guys are a regular United Nations!

I can settle the contest. You can just send all the edibles and a duckie directly to my house. I'm not proud.

Ferndoggle said...

I can't remember what I voted!

This is too cool. We're doing it in the fall, for sure!

Very interesting!

Ferndoggle

Anonymous said...

Hi Cubby -
DogMom is a sucker for just about any shelter that labels itself as "no-kill."

We go to the humane society walks (Carver-Scott Humane Society or the newly merged Animal Humane Society in Minneapolis-St. Paul); or she volunteers at them...

But the checks usually go to the local no-kill shelter. Her current favorite is Southwest Metro Animal Rescue in Chaska, MN, where we live.

And, of course, she still gives every year to Friends For Life Animal Sanctuary in Gilbert, AZ, where she adopted us!

Wuf Ya!

Anonymous said...

Figures that perfect Tosca would want the goodies for herself, eh?

Doggie grins and barks...
Wuf Ya!

Ari_1965 said...

Thanks for mentioning that the lab's validated breed list will grow to 100 this autumn. I just sent in my dog's sample. After reading your blog entry, I called the lab to ask about 38 vs. 100 thing (slight note of complaint in my voice, I'm sure). The guy I spoke to said no worries. They're sending me a new test anyway because I only got 60 somethings from Buddha and they need 80 somethings to do the test. He suggested I wait until August or later to send in the new test in order to take advantage of the expanded breed list.