I would not test a dog for its parentage. I would test a dog if I suspected it was sensitive to some flea medicines and I wanted to use a topical preventative

Washington State U offers a genetic test for Ivermectin sensitivity. Simple. Swab the brush inside the dog's mouth and send back.

$60 US Dollars per test for 1-4 tests included in a single shipment

Here is a link that might be useful: Multidrug Sensitivity (e.g. ivermectin)

I guess it depends. If samples were needed for a project reasearching genetic links for health problems in my breeds I would send samples.

Have you done web search for melanistic Daschunds? That's what she looks like she may be to me.

Lisa

What is the point of the testing? The information is only going to tell you if she is 100 percent the breed you think she is or not. Does it really matter if she is or is not what you were told.

It won't be compared to any other DNA for lineage, I guess I just don't understand the need. Will this test be advanced to tell her future as in human DNA testing for susceptibility to breast cancer or things like that? If not, why bother?

I don't mean to be facetious, but I don't think it is worth it regardless of how cheap the test may be if it isn't going to predict her health future.

In the event it can tell you a little of her health to come, it is what it is. Regardless whether you know what may be coming, it doesn't mean it will come, and if it does, you cannot prevent most diseases in dogs. I am curious to read the responses on this one.

I would agree that the swab testing for Ivermectin is a definite plus.

I see where you are coming from since my old gal is putting me in the poor house. I can relate to the costs of dog care. I have 3 labs. Last night I spent $501 in meds. Ugh. Still would not do DNA on a new puppy even if a health prediction could be made. I would be a wreck worrying over if and when it would arise. There's enough stress in life without that worry. Besides, what could I do, give the dog back? Heck, I am bonded by the first hour. Regardless of what the health problem is, once I take a dog, it's mine and I accept and respect that I am responsible to care for it no matter the cost. It's a committment for the life of the dog.

She's adorable whatever breed she is.

I think I asked this same question about my boxer and the AKC and people on this forum said it can't tell you if a dog is purebred. Am I confused on this?

It may be just the pic but he looks overweight to me - careful with that - i know it's hard to keep them trim but it's important - especially with them itty bitty legs.

I did not know that dachshunds don't come in black - that's interesting. Learn something new every day.

For that small of a price, it would be interesting and I would go ahead with it. But you must share with all of us here what they say. I, for one, LOVE to learn new things.

vicky

Here is a link that might be useful: thought this couldn't work

measure_twice - Thanks for the information on the drug sensitivity.

dobesrule - I have never heard of "melanistic Daschunds". I will have to look that one up.

labmomma - I honestly don't care if she is 100 percent pure or not, I'm a little curious though. As far as health problems, certain breeds are more prone to breed related problems and if you knew what your dog was or wasn't you could be prepared. Or at least that is the theory.

luvdogs - It seems to me they could tell if a dog was purebreed because that is the only breed that would show up in the test. And yes she is overweight and I do have her on a diet, special doggie diet food, which she hates so she is losing the weight.

I might just do it for the heck of it. Thanks everyone for your comments and replies.
Clare

Clare - Even tho some breeds are prone to certain problems, does not mean they will develop. For instance, I have a purebred female lab who is now 12. She has had degenerative hip dysplasia since she was about 5 or 6 yrs. old. My two males 5 and 3 have perfect hips - x-rayed at Penn Hip at 2 yrs and my 5 to be 6 yr. old was just re-x-rayed.

The difference is that we rescued my female from a terrible home situation at 4 or 5 months. She is a purebred lab with all the papers to prove her pedigree, but she was breed by someone with no experience who wanted her female dog to have puppies?!?

My boys came from my breeder that I have used for many years. Bad breeding definitely increases the probability of setting up problems as well.

I have found that there are some low calorie dog foods that my middle child loves. He was 115 lbs. at the beginning of last spring. My vet wanted to do something drastic, but I went with lower calorie food and less of it. I also started more vigorous exercise (of course slowly to start). At the 3 week weigh in, he had lost 5 lbs. Many of us just feed too much food. I would never follow the guidelines on the back of the dog food bags. My big dogs only get 1 1/4 c. a.m. and p.m. and they all weigh between 80 and 100 lbs.

Good luck with your test.

I saw the story on Good Morning America. I would love to know about my "miniature Rottweiler" but probably never will.

The story on GMA was a dog that looked all GSD. What I didn't notice was his legs were about 6 inches long. He was GSD, Doxie and Norwich or Norfolk terrier.

The dog on GMA was going to be tested and they'll tell us in about 3 weeks. The owner loved the dog and wanted to get the same mix. I don't think trying to recreate the same dog is a good plan but maybe you can pick one of the breeds in the mix.

If you want to know, go for it.

labmomma - My Elvira, like your female lab, came from a terrible home situation too. For her first 2 years she was fed table scrapes and not a nutritional dog food. I think a lot of her problems stem from that. I was told she was purebred but no papers so don't know if it was a 'backyard' breeder. She has a lot of the problems already that dachshunds are prone to having. She can't exercise very much because she has the 'elbow' joint deformity where her leg collapes if she runs too much. All her joints have it to some extent or another, only one is really bad and requires surgery which will cost $5000 to $6000. I am still working on DH to agree but after last year's health scare, he is relutant to spend any more. She had a cancer scare last year and is still being watched. It was all the tests that ran over $2000.

What is the low calorie dog food that you are feeding your dog? I went with my vet's recommendation and I have never followed the package label but have fed her amount the vet said which is 1/4 cup dry dog food in the morning and another in the evening. Sometimes she won't eat the morning food so ends up eating only once a day. That will make you lose weight!

I am curious about the test to see if she is something else and maybe will be spared all the other dachshund problems. Like my DH says, she is a basket case but the most lovable basket case ever!

kim_okla - What is GSD? I will look that story up and read it. I have always had mixed breeds, this is my first pure bred, and wondered what they were but it didn't matter because you love them for their personality not their pedigree. I would do it for health reasons as I said above and maybe curiousity.

Thanks.
Clare

German Shepherd Dog.

We had a black Doxie when I was a kid named Sealy. She was a mix.

And does your baby look pure? Yes. She looks pure cute.

Yeah, I think so. If you've got the $65 and you're that curious (I am) and/or concerned about some sort of breed-specific disease, why not? It's totally non-invasive.

I think it would be great if some of the rescues around here could/would get some type of low-cost contract to test dogs deemed 'adoptable'.... there are a tremendous amount of dogs that are obviously mis-labeled. Anything with a bushy tail is a GSD/mix, big head=APBT/mix, etc.... and with my limited knowledge, there are probably more that I'm missing.

I have known some very interesting looking crosses and think it would be fun to see exactly what breeds are in there LOL. But aside from that I don't know how much BENEFIT there is. Now, if I paid a whole lot of money for a purebred as an investment (say for show or something) I could see it being valuable having the proof that the dog is 100 percent whatever.

And, that beautiful daschie looks like there is some pug in those brown eyes and paws!

This test was done from a blood test. Seeing a picture of the dog, no it doesn't look full GSD. We saw it running around. It was on a Sunday morning show so the results on the other dog will be on a Sunday I hope.

I saw a show on Nature or Nova trying to determin the origin of dogs. They went all over the world taking cheek swabs. They decided dogs originated from China.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

kim_okla - Thanks, I think she is a cutie too but I am a little biased. I watch all those shows that trace the origin of dogs and cats. I think that kind of thing is fascinating.

foosacub - I use to volunteer at the local SPCA as a dog exerciser and they use to make wild guesses as what breed a dog was. Usually they would say, hound mix, sheppard mix, terrier mix. Didn't tell you a lot. It would be great if they could offer these tests to shelters at a discount.

dances_in_garden - I don't know if there is pug in her DNA but who knows what could have snuck in there. She didn't come with papers though they swore, as far as they knew, she was all Dachshund.

Thanks everyone, will keep you posted.
Clare

Hi Clare, I don't post often, but had to jump in on this one. I know of a breeder of miniature Dachshunds that are all AKC registered, I thought I remembered seeing that she had a pure black one. Not trusting my memory, (old age kicking in), I looked at the website of this breeder, and Yes, she has a picture posted of her pure black female. So a Dachshund can be all black. They can be almost any color combination. But I think that the pure blacks just don't happen often.

Even if Elvira isn't 100%, she is precious and if anyone asked me what breed she is, I would tell them she is one of the "rare" pure blacks. If they say she can't be because she is all black, then they really haven't researched the breed.

I'm not saying that the others posting aren't knowledgeable, (so please don't flame me). I am not an expert on dogs, but have always owned several dogs and I was curious because your little girl has the right look for a dachshund (despite being a bit overweight). In any case she is 100% wonderful and that's all the really counts in the end. Just look at the love coming from her eyes. With love like that, it doesn't matter what breed she is.

garden4joi - Thanks for the information on black Dachshunds. Do you have the URL to the website? Just curious. Like I said before, it really doesn't matter to me if she is pure or not. You said it very well and I agree, I love her just the way she is. She is a little love bug!
Clare

garden4joi post got me curious so I did a search and this is what I found out about Dachshund's colors at this website.

It is not true that breeding black and tan dogs with correct reddish-tan markings together over many generations will result in the loss of the tan markings. When dogs with smudgy tan markings are bred together over many generations, it might be possible to reduce the tan markings to the point where the resulting offspring appear to be solid black. Genetically, these are not true solid black dogs, although they are often advertised as such by unscrupulous breeders. These dogs are not desirable for show or breeding purposes because they will muddy any other colors they are bred to, and from an aesthetic point of view, the typical lively dachshund expression does not show up in a solid black face.

Occasionally, true solid black dachshunds (with no tan markings) do show up in the litters of commercial puppy producers and backyard breeders. These may or may not be purebred dachshunds but they are not "rare" or "exotic" at all - simply incorrect according to the AKC standard.

Just FYI.
Clare

Your dog looks like a dachsund but the angle of the pic makes her face look strange, as for the color, it shure does look like a melanistic, it´s not solid black, it has brown hairs with black tips on the chest, melanistics are not common but they do appear sometimes, genetically they are not really pure black but black & tan.

It is one of those cases of uncommon colors I´ve seen in some breeds, a client of mine had a black english bulldog female ( the only one I´ve seen and I´ve seen a lot of english bulldogs ), a friend of mine had a black and tan female poodle and in her line of descendants they ocassionally appear in the litters when the dogs of that family are mated to their relatives ( in breeding ) or when mated to pure red dogs, when mated to pure blacks they don´t appear.

Hi Clare,

I wasn't trying to say they were "rare or exotic", as in desirable, I was simply pointing out that just even if your sweetie appeared to be all black, that she could still be purebred.

If you still want the breeders website, I'll be happy to email it to you. I do not know this breeder personally. I don't want to start any type of controversial discussion about this breeder as that wasn't the point of my reply to you. My daughter worked with the breeders husband, (several years ago) and gave me her website. I had been thinking about getting a dachshund at the time, so I bookmarked her site. I was going to contact her, (but I didn't, I ended up with a Scottie, and that's a long story). I don't know if this breeder is considered a commercial puppy producer, or backyard breeder. I don't know enough about breeders to say. I wasn't trying to pass judgment on the breeder in any way. I only know that she does breed Dachshunds.

The Scotty I ended up with is a Wheaton, but looks almost pure white. I have people asking what breed she is, because of her color. And she is AKC registered. Many Wheatons are cream colored but mine looks white. And I don't care, she is my little doll. When people tell me they didn't know a Scotty can be white, I tell them the whiteness is "rare" as it not seen often. It doesn't mean she is exotic or more valuable. In my opinion she is desirable and valuable to me, just because of the love she gives me and I give her, after all isn't that what counts? If I were more computer literate, I would post a picture of my Scotty, but sadly, I don't know how to do it.

I simply wanted to say that a purebred Dachshund can be black. Your link looks very interesting. Thanks for pointing it out to me. You can find out so much,if you take the time to research. I'm always looking things up, (too much curiosity on my part), which leaves me with so many bits and pieces stuck in my head. But I'm always ready to add more.

Hugs to the sweet Elvira.

Joi

aptosca- she is adorable! Those eyes look like they are "starving" for a treat :)

garden4joi- I am totally confused by your last post. So do you own a Wheaton named Scotty? Or do you own a Scottish Terrier? I just don't get it :)

Hi groomingal

Sorry for the confusion, I own a Scottish Terrier that is Wheaten in color. I see that I previously misspelled Wheaten, but I could have made myself clearer. Her name is Maggie.

Joi

raul_in_mexico - I don't know if these face pictures below will make it any clearer. She has a rather short nose for a Dachshund. I found an article on coat color genetics. An interesting read.

garden4joi - About the breeder's website, I was just curious to see other all black Dachshunds. I also like Scotties and Westies. You might find the genetics article that I linked to above interesting too. BTW, I wasn't confused. You have a Scotty with the Wheaten color. I have never seen one. Since she is white, do they think she is a Westie?

groomingal - Thanks. She is always starving for a treat or so she would like us to believe! ;>)

Thanks.
Clare

Elvira's many faces.

{{!gwi}}

Hi Clare,
Well, I'm glad you understood what I was saying. I was starting to wonder if what I wrote was that confusing. Yes, many people think she is a Westie. I've even had people say that she has a long face for a Westie. Well, she has a long face because she's NOT a Westie (HAHA). She's a Scotty !!

When I have a minute, hopefully tomorrow, I'll read the genetics article, thanks for posting it.

I love the newest pic's of Elvira, she sure looks purebred to my eyes. What a sweet face. And she sure can talk with her eyes, each picture is saying something different.

Can I email you through GW, I'd be happy to send you the breeders website address. I'm just reluctant to post it in this thread, as your simple post could turn into a huge discussion about breeders, etc. And your original question would get lost.

Joi

Clare - at the time of the heavy weight middle child I was feeding Nutro. All three were on different formulas, but I put him on Nutro for Less Active Dogs - 3/4 c. a.m. & p.m. The weight came off very easily with that. The vet was very pleased at the first weight re-check.

I have since switched the boys to Precise. I am actually feeding less of that then I was of the Nutro. Boys get 1c. a.m. and 1c. p.m. I don't know what you are feeding, but even if you feed less of it, it may help get the weight off.

At the time my middle guy was so overweight, my vet suggested a radical idea. He wanted me to feed my overweight dog only two days a week - Wednesdays and Sundays. He has used this method on labs in his practice, as well as his family members who have labs that have gotten too heavy. Labs are prone to hip dysplasia and the lighter you can keep them, the better. I felt it would be unfair to feed the other two and not feed my middle boy, and I also didn't want to take a chance on a behavioral problem because of it.

This feeding schedule would have been a very short term, I think it was something like 3 weeks, and then I would start the lower calorie/more exercise routine. I actually did not attend the vet appointment when this idea transpired, my DH did. The next morning I called my doc and asked what he had been smoking. He explained there was a method to his madness which I believe can work if you only have one dog. It just wasn't a good solution for us.

Where do you buy your food? I buy from a feed store and fortunately I have known the guy who owns it for years and he has directed me when I have had issues arise. If you can go to a good supplier of dog foods who actually attends the trade shows and knows the products they sell, that would be great. In fact, pack your dog in the car and take her with. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PETSMART OR PETCO. Those employees have no knowledge of what's what with anything in the store except their time clock.

Best of luck. Keep us posted!

Joi- thank you soooo much, whew, I feel better when i'm not so confused :)

aptosca- I see all dachshund and I have seen many colors but never "black" More importantly, with more pictures, I still see some "hungry" eyes :) I think she is adorable.

garden4joi - Thanks, you can send me an email with the website's address. I would love to see a picture of your Maggie! You can email me one if you don't know how to post. I have had dogs all my life, I am 55, and Elvira has the most personality I have ever seen as you can see by her eyes. She really is a character!

labmomma - Thanks for the names of the dog food. She was on Science Diet for awhile but that is really expensive and can only get it at the vets. She wasn't wild about it. So I am trying Iam's Weight Control which she will eat when hungry and if I mix a little fish oil or olive oil in with it. I would never go days without feeding my dog. What was your vet smoking?

groomingal - Thanks again and she always has 'hungry' eyes. DH has said she would eat till she exploded! For such a small dog, she has exceptionally big appetite.

I will let you all know the results if I go ahead and do it.
Clare

Hi Clare,

I sent you an email, let me know if you get it.

Joi

aptosca, after close examination of the pictures, I would say Elvira is a miniature short-legged Black Labrador Retriever.

OK, maybe not. She certainly is a sweetie!

I would start the lower calorie/more exercise routine. Oh tosh, how boring! Don't you wish there was some magic kibble or supplement that would reduce weight? Alas, the same good rules apply to us humans and our pets.

When we reduced the weight of our Wolfie, a big husky mix, we reduced the kibble and added cooked green beans. They do not add calories and gave the big guy a sense of fullness so he does not howl so piteously we are starving him.

measure_twice - You are not going to believe this but I have been asked before by more then one person if she has black lab in her. One even thought she was a black lab puppy!
I would exercise her more if she didn't have a problem with her front knee/elbow joints. Her left leg goes out on her and she can't walk and she is in pain so not alot of exercise. That is another reason why I am trying to get her to lose weight with diet dog food. I give her carrots as treats, along with other veggies, and she can eat as much as she wants. But she never seems to fill up!

Thanks.
Clare

Heck yes, I will get this little cutie's DNA tested as soon as I have the time. Everyone always asks about my little Hurricane Katrina and while it is fun guessing, it would be more fun to know!

Katie

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: My Little Hurricane Katrina

katie_a - Your guess is as good as mine! He/she is a cutie. Let us know if you do get the test done.
Clare

HELP!
Is this for real? Is it a scam?
I don't understand... For $65 I can finally find out what my scruffy terrier mix is? Oh my I want to know so badly what he is. He is the sweetest and smartest dog and I'd love to know breeds are behind this guy.
This sounds too good to be true. I guess I will read over the web site.

I will ask my vet before doing this. I don't think it will work because there's only 38 breeds on that list and I don't know if he's comprised of those or not.

Quirky - if I were to do it, it would probably be this one, depending on cost. (I expect the price will vary with the vet performing the test.) This testing is more invasive than a simple cheek swab, however. But I guess if you were having blood drawn anyway...

Here is a link that might be useful: Mars Vet.

foosacub - I wonder how much more expensive it is then the home kit. Unless you were going to the vet already for other things, it could cost a lot more. Here you would have to pay for a vet visit ($47.50) then pay for the lab blood work ($29) plus the test itself (???). I will have to ask my vet how much such a test cost and if it is more accurate. Thanks for the information.
Clare

I would expect it to be significantly more expensive, considering that there's the fee for the testing kit itself (likely to cost a lot more than the other one - covers something like 130 breeds? I forget...) and the fee the vet will charge you to do it. I doubt this test would be any more accurate than the other, but may provide more solid results since it covers so many more dog breeds.

If the vet gives you a price quote on that, I'd love to hear it. Seems that the vets around here haven't been approached by the company to provide the tests.