Dog DNA update
 

Got the results for Bella's DNA. 18 total breeds so Heinz 57 for sure. The top 5 are: Staffordshire Terrier, Border Collie, Chow Chow, Aussie & Boxer. Even has a little Dachshund.https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/shock.png I guess her slim build & long legs come from the Boxer & different hounds that are listed. It was fun. I knew she was a mix just didn't realize how much.https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

That is interesting and fun to know about your pet. My dog is named Bella too. She is a rescue and looks more like a black and white terrier with lots of mixes thrown in. She is the gentlest dog we have ever had around kids. My grands love her to death.

Sounds like a long line of breeds that this doggie has

My vet once told me that while she loved her purebred dogs, she thought that mixed breeds were definitely healthier. Each breed has strengths and weaknesses and with mixed breeds there are often strengths in one breed to offset weaknesses in the other. I have found my mixed breed dogs were really healthy. I love mixed breeds but do have some issues with calling them "designer dogs" but that's just me.

Except for an Irish Setter that we had decades ago, we have always had mixed breeds. I refuse to pay huge sums of money for a dog when there are so many pets in shelters that need homes.

I will stay away from the "designer dogs" for one good reason. Some designer dog breeders put down the pups that don't achieve the "look" of a labradoodle or one of the many other "designer" dog mixes. I met someone with a funny looking dog who told me if had not taken the dog it would have been put down by the breeder as it did not meet the look of the two breed designer dog the breeder was looking for. Good Breeders of purebred dogs put a lot of work and money into their breeding programs to make sure bad genetic traits are not in their breeding lines. The breeder I got my Cairn Terriers from did a lot of genetic testing as there are a few things that can show up in Cairns. She also evaluated the breeding dogs for temperament. When you mix breeds you really don't know what you get....some are healthier....some are not... My breeder also did sell "pet cairns" which were dogs that she chose not to show but sold them already spayed or neutered. Reason, did not want some puppy mill owner breeding dogs that should not be bred or having them live just to produce puppies for sale. Having had mixed breeds and other breeds....I love my cairns...they are my kind of a dog. But Cairns would drive other people nuts as they are a bit independent!

oh...another thing I worry about is that it has become more socially acceptable to "rescue" a shelter dog these days and it is almost seen as shameful to get a purebred dog, that we are going to lose more and more breeds of dogs. Every time I see an well trained Australian Shepard working I am amazed at the intelligence and skill of that dog. Also every time I see my little cairn hunting his chipmunks, I am amazed. Both of these breeds are working dogs and have been used for specific tasks for centuries. Cairns were used in Scotland to keep vermin down on the farm and also to "go to ground" after fox, groundhogs, whatever and they were basically expected to do it without much direction from humans....hence their independent nature. The large breed animal guard dogs used to protect herds of cows, ect are also amazing and do a lot of their work instinctively, Corgi's will "herd" just about anything. It would be sad to see these working dog breeds disappear.

I don't have any dogs anymore as DH and I do not have the ability to walk a dog for exercise any more. We are both dog lovers though and have had many dogs over the years. Our pure breeds were Labs, Lasa Apso, Cocker Spaniel and St. Bernard's. We loved them all. Our Heinz 57's however were some of the best ever. They did not possess some of the 'defects' that some of our pure breeds had. No matter they all bought joy into our lives.

That's what I thought, too, but my girl, Daisy, costs my a couple of hundred a month for medication. I always say that God sent her to me because He knew I could afford to take good care of her.