When DNA Explains Nothing

/ Kristine

Friday afternoon, Shiva’s test results appeared in our mailbox. Her breed DNA test results, that is. It seems like so long ago since we swiped that little cue-tip. Despite my extreme skepticism, I have been really curious about the outcome. Thanks again to PetSafe for giving us this opportunity. It’s not something I ever would have paid for on my own.

Do you remember when I said I hoped it would say Shiva was part Saint Bernard? The real results are ten times better than that. Even I could not have predicted this. I thought there would at least be something remotely resembling my dog’s appearance. I was ready to eat crow if I had to. Fortunately, that will not be necessary. In fact, the results are so awesome, I had to take a photo of the certificate because you would never believe me otherwise. I still don’t really believe my luck.

Nor have I stopped laughing.

Just in case that is too hard to read, here is a close-up.

No, you don’t need your eyes fixed. According to the DNA swab, they have determined Shiva may be mostly Pomeranian. Between 30-70% in fact. To be fair, they do a good job of covering themselves. They talk a lot about long ancestries and how the results may only show a small part of a dog’s genetic make-up. Maybe this is her parents’ parents’ parents?

Shiva's cousin, perhaps?

We’ll never know. But every single person who guessed her breed during the Magical Mystery Mutt Tour was very, very wrong. Clearly, I have some sort of mutant on my hands.

39 thoughts on “When DNA Explains Nothing”

  1. wow.. they love to throw that eskimo in there too.. an old client of mine had those two show up first too and both those dogs are tiny tiny and hairy… I still think she has Catahoula Leopard Dog in her. http://www.catahoulaleopard.com/

    I commented that on your about page but don’t know if you saw it. Highly explains color, legginess ad some herding/hunting tendencies… Tat DNA list would be more likely if it were backward.

    Glad you got a laugh out of it.
    Happy Wednesday
    Anna
    http://www.akginspiration.com

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  3. Oh yes, you’ve gotta laugh! I’ve read where people have had the DNA done by 3 different places and got 3 totally different results:) Perhaps they don’t have any Catahoula blood in their research thingy?

    Personally I think she’s mostly Cataloula/Whippet, not many breeds have those ears. Whatever she is she’s gorgeous and I love reading about her and seeing her in action:)

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  5. I used to tell folks that my mutt Dara (best guess was sheltie/GSD/chow) was a Bulgarian Weaselhound. 😉 Shiva’s a Shiva, and that’s good enough!

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  6. Of course not every testing lab owns the rights to DNA for every breed. So if they own Pomeranian DNA but not Border Collie DNA, every dog is going to turn up Pomeranian.

    I just loved it!

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  7. LOL! OMG! I was just dying when I read the results! We all were WAY off!
    Pomeranian. Who could have ever guessed that???? Have you looked up their description to see if anything matches Shiva’s personality?

    I also saw the Sheltie and thought that was odd too. I wouldn’t have guessed that either.

    Just imagine what kind of looks you will get now when people ask what Shiva’s mix is and you answer “Mostly Pomeranian.” I would love to be sitting there to see their faces!

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  8. Yeah, I don’t know if I believe them . . . A friend of mine had a dog who looked like a collie mix. Her results included Bull mastiff and Pug. But Shiva the Pomeranian is almost better!

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  11. Bwaaa ha ha ha! OMG! When you started talking about how good the results were, I was just sure it was going to say she was part Mastiff! Hee hee! You’ve got yourself an ankle biter in an oversized body there!

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  13. hahaha I can just picture people asking “what kind of dog is that?” and with a straight face, you’ll say “she’s a mix, but mostly Pomeranian”

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  14. Oh, so no whippet then, but a lot of Gus? 🙂
    Very interesting mixture of breeds, it just shows that you never know. Whatever her ancestry, one thing is sure: Shiva’s a pretty unique girl!

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  19. Haha…I laughed so hard about this! Yes, Shiva the Pomeranian…I can definitely (not) see it!

    I’m half tempted to get one of those DNA test to test Riley (purebred Cattle Dog) just to see what kind of crazy results I get! Hehe… I’d rather not waste the money though.

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  20. pomeranian!! of course!! how could we not have realized?!

    we did a test through WisdomPanel for our Chick, and we thought the results made absolute, complete sense. i wonder if the reliability varies a lot by brand?

    i’m sorry you didn’t get any answers here!

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  21. ROTFLMAO, Please PLEASE tell me that going forward you will be answering the question “What breed is Shiva” with a confident “Oh, She’s a pomeranian cross.”. Ha ha, thank you for the laugh! Will you be getting a designer purse so you can carry her around??

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  24. We reviewed one of those DNA tests and had the same result – like, huh?? The dog we profiled was about Shiva’s size and one of the breeds that came back was Pug. So weird.

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  26. I knew it! I KNEW she was a Pomambullabshet! I mean, it’s SO obvious!

    Heehee!

    I think I told you that we used the same dee-en-ay test that Aleksandra did for Chick and we thought it was pretty much right on the nosie. But I’m pretty sure they don’t have catahoula doggies in their database either. So if she IS part catahoula, it still wouldn’t answer what makes up a Shiva.

    And besides – I likes to refer to her as Shiva, International Dog of Mystery!

    Wiggles & Wags,
    mayzie

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  27. I was POSITIVE that I got someone else’s results when they sent Jack’s back, and I’ve been prolonging blogging about it because I don’t really know what to say. Glad to see I’m not alone!

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  28. Yeah, I think we need to wait until they refine the breeds they use for testing before we take their word for what they say a mixed-breed dog is all about. With my luck I’d test Darby and it WOULD come back as St. Bernard 🙂

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  31. That is just too funny! Maybe you should send it back and ask well else do they have for you to chose from!! Bet you couldn’t make that mix again!! Thank goodness there is only one Shiva!!

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  32. A few friends of mine have done the DNA test, with pretty much the same results. I’m not a fan of these DNA tests and think that they are a big fat waste of money. At least you got it for free AND it did provide you with a laugh.

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  38. Thanks for the laugh as I catch up after being away last week (for a whole day and a half). Aren’t you glad you didn’t PAY for those results?

    I asked my vet about DNA testing, and you should have seen the face she made. To be fair, maybe Pomeranian is a “recessive” gene, like blue eyes, and the Sheltie just overwhelmed it. 🙂

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  39. I understand that if a dog has a breed that is not in their database, they will report a breed that is the closest match (although not necessarily the most similar-looking breed). If Shiva really does have Catahoula in her, maybe that’s why you got the goofy results since Catahoula is not on their breed list.

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