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!

We Interrupt This Blog... (UPDATE)

For an important announcement...

Dogmom got our DNA test results in the mail yesterday!

Since nobody guessed correctly (ahem, including her) ... she's launching another survey to guess what breeds are in us.

That's right, not just Opie... but in Gomer, too. She apparently really wants to give away some of the dog treats and chew bones and toys that she bought...

You can click here to guess: http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?90B4D8C592D7C7.

Or, you can click the button at the top of our blog.

She said to tell you some hints...

• At least one breed that would appear pretty obvious is missing from each of our results.
• At least one surprising breed is listed in each of our results.
• Both of us have four breeds listed as "in the mix."
• Neither of us has a "primary breed" that makes up 50% or more of us.
• Neither of us has a "secondary breed" that is prevalent and makes up less than 50% of us.

So - click the link... guess four breeds for each of us... and we'll see if anybody can figure us out.

(Dogmom says good luck with that... after seven years, she still hasn't figured us out!)

You have until Monday night, May 28, to guess -- so tell all your friends, too, so they don't miss out!

Wuf Ya!

UPDATE - WE JUST RECEIVED CONFIRMATION FROM THE DNA TESTING COMPANY THAT ONE OF THE BREEDS IN OPIE WAS NOT ON THE ORIGINAL LIST OF BREEDS VERIFIED... SO IF YOU'VE JUST VOTED... PLEASE VOTE AGAIN, AS DOGMOM HAS ADDED THE OTHER BREEDS TESTED TO THE SURVEY LIST.

Boomies!

Ok, dawgs. So, we were gonna talk about the pet wash for all those dogs that emailed us and read our post and asked what it is... and then we were gonna remind everybody to vote in the "Guess Opie's Breed" contest before the DNA test results come back (which should be sometime this week!)

But, instead, we have to talk about the boomies. We don't like the boomies. Dogmom thinks if she gives the boomies a cute name like boomies, that we'll not freak out. Doesn't work. Dufus of a human, you'd think she woulda figured out that it doesn't work by now.

You know what boomies are, right? I don't know what else they're called, cuz dogmom always calls 'em boomies. We don't like 'em. But I said that already.

You know how sometimes, not every time, but sometimes, when it rains, the sky flashes really really bright and then there is a big noise? Not when it's the other way around and the sky is growling for a while and then there is the light. Those growlies don't bother us. We figure the sky's just having a bad day and is upset cuz of the rain.

But the other ones... the ones that Crack! Pop! Flash! BOOOM! ... those are the boomies that we don't like. We don't like them at all!

Opie has a reason. A few years ago when we first moved to Minnesota and when Jennifer was our bestest dogwalker and dogmom was traveling a lot for her job... See, one day when Jennifer was walking us, some kids (big kids, not little kids) were playing around with these things that make a boomies sound. Not a big boomies sound like last night, but big enough, you know?

Jennifer called them firecrackers. She was mad at the kids and tried to walk us really fast and stay away from them. But, you know what they did? Do ya, huh? Those bratty kids actually threw the boomies at Opie! Right at him. They went Boom! Crack! Pop! Crack! Boom! right under Opie's tummy. Yup! Scared the bejeebees (and a lot of other stuff) right out of him.

So, it's kind of understandable that Opie's a-scare-ed of sudden loud noises. Dogmom tries to help him and for some things, he's better. Like, he doesn't freak out if dogmom drops a pan any more. (Of course, there are rewards when she does that...) And, he doesn't freak out so much at the construction sounds for the highway behind our house.

But boomies are a whole 'nuther story. There's no talkin' to him. There's no consolin' him. There's no convincin' him. His new way of coping is to try to get into the bathroom and when he does, he hides in the tub. Behind the curtain. Just sits there and shakes and stares at the corner. He doesn't want anybody around him or touching him or talking to him.

It makes dogmom feel really bad. I can tell.

I don't freak out quite that bad on the first one, but if there is a second one, I'm under the bed faster than agility dogs can run through the weave poles. And I'm not coming out till the sun is shining, I tell ya!

When we come out from our hiding places, we'll talk about the pet wash and DNA test, K?
How do you dogs feel about boomies?

Wuf Ya!

Still Waiting For DNA Results...

If you've been reading our blog for a while, you already know that Opie and I aren't very good at waiting. Dogmom keeps trying to get us to "Wait" and sit still while she walks away or goes outside or opens the door or whatever else she thinks up to do to torment us.

But, we're not very good at it. Sometimes, I just lay down and look at her 'cuz I know she's gonna do one of her misguided "I'll pretend to do something else" things while we sit there and wonder if she realizes just how ridiculous she looks and sounds. With the "uhnt" and the "hmmm" and the "sssssss" and the "uh-uh" noises.

Anyways... we're still waiting to find out what breeds are in the Dopester. Geesh. Four weeks is like a lifetime in dog years, isn't it?

You can still vote for the contest. Click the button at the top left of our blog to see pictures and the other button to go to the survey .

Oh, yeah, forgot to tell ya... Dogmom has figured out the prize will be a gift basket of treats and toys (not ours, of course) and stuff. We'll try to sneak a picture of it this weekend... but she has it hiding in the closet so we don't dig in it.

Did I mention I hate waiting for stuff?
Wuf Ya!

Doggie DNA Test

Ok, so we promised to give you more information about the doggie DNA test that dogmom is getting for us for our birthdays that are coming up. Lazy dogmom hasn't done our tests yet, but she promises we will do it and send it in this weekend. Something about us not having food just before the test and that we seem to be eating all the time.

Ok... so here's the poop scoop. The official name is the Canine Heritage Breed Test. It's done by a company called MMI Genomics.





Probably, some of the humans that you purebreeds own have already heard of this company, 'cuz they've been doing parentage testing for a long time to prove your purity, per se.

Anyways, this test is just like the one on that show that dogmom watches on the big grey box in the cabinet in the living room. You know, the one where they're always trying to figure out how somebody got dead?

Dogmom says it's really simple and even lowly humans without veterinary degrees can do it. If your human can brush your teeth without you freaking out and biting them, then they can do this test. 'Cuz it's about the same... she's going to stick a little brush in our mouth and rub it on our cheek (instead of our teeth, so I guess it's not exactly the same) for 30 seconds. Then, she scribbles on some paper and puts the brush and the paper in the tube and drops it in the mailbox. Then we wait for results... and that's the hard part.

Anyway, there are some limitations... they've got 38 breeds that are verified that they can test against. If you're not one of those, then you might get a false reading - they might pick up some breed that is way back in your ancestry and the only evidence of that breed in you is the single white hair between your toes on your left front foot or something. No, not really, but they say in the materials that it might happen that your results show some breeds that your human won't think are right. But they also say that they will be adding more breeds in the future... but that they believe the 38 verified breeds will account for the majority of mixed breed dogs.

Here's the link directly to their web site for information: http://www.metamorphixinc.com/products2a.html

And, here's a link to frequently asked questions about the test:
http://www.metamorphixinc.com/faqcanher.html

And, here's a link to a video of how easy it is to do the test yourself:
http://www.metamorphixinc.com/k9sample.mov

Anyways... the test costs $65 per dog, which dogmom says doesn't compare to what she's going to spend in a couple of weeks at the vet office to update our vaccinations and everything.

Oh, yeah, Tosca suggested that we have a contest to guess what breeds are in Opie. So, dogmom's gonna do that!

We'll post some pictures of him tomorrow from different angles and let you enter guesses.
Wuf Ya!