Can you guess the breed of this feral puppy?
Katrina Kiefer - Dog Bone Studio 2010
Mixed breeds can be puzzlers.
One of the biggest challenges of managing a shelter is the assessment of a dog's temperament before placement in the adoption kennels. Shelter behaviorists can only do so much to evaluate a potential pet's temperament and/or behavior issues, if any.
For example, food guarding aggression can be baldly displayed even under the stressful circumstance of a shelter environment, but may not be displayed right away if the dog is particularly shy or physically traumatized. Dogs that are extremely stressed may emotionally shut down completely, ignoring food or even water. Recognizing canine body language is a crucial skill, but it cannot predict future behavior issues in a shelter environment, particularly if it is the environment itself causing the issue.
According to the APPA, an estimated 10% of the 75 million dogs in homes today are shelter rescues that came into the shelter with almost zero background information. Discovering breed type is often guesswork based on the most prominent characteristics of a dog's appearance and behavior. Hardly pinpoint science. Injuries and health issues can further mask the true nature and breed of a shelter dog, making it even more difficult to guess the dominant breed type.
How about this little fuzzball's background?
Katrina Kiefer - Dog Bone Studio - 2010
Science offers a solution.
DNA test kits for dogs are a wonderful tool, if you stumble across the right one. The efficacy of different brands is still under question. The techology requires a large database of breeds from which to match your mutt's DNA, so look for a company that can back up their results with that large database, or use the blood test available to your vet.
Unfortunately, most non-profit shelters and rescue organizations rarely have enough money to cover existing expenses without adding the burden of a DNA test for every new arrival. It just isn't practical.
An adopter, on the other hand, would be wise to order that DNA test ASAP. The information can be vital to your veterinarian, obedience trainers, other pets at home, and even the safety of your children. Once a professional knows your pet's prevailing breed type, they're much better equipped to teach you the right training techniques for that breed type, especially for problem behaviors.
So, who IS your pooch’s daddy?
If you are relying on educated guesstimates noted on a kennel door, swab that dog's cheek and find out!
Make sure you scroll through the slideshow to see if you're at least a little bit right about your breed type guesses.
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Comments
I work at a large vet clinic and we've used all the different places that do the canine DNA and we prefer the DNA Diagnostics Center. They are the ones you see on TV doing the human DNA but they also have a Pet DNA site vetdnacenter.com
We have found them to be accurate and reasonably priced...and they just need a cheek swab sample.
Thank you so much for your input Joe. I appreciate every piece of information that leads to successful adoptions and retention in the home. Please feel free to contact me through my email(located in my bio) whenever you have news or information you feel is important, newsworthy or generally helpful. I'll do my best to get it out there.
Katrina Kiefer - Charlottesville's Pet News Examiner
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