DNA Testing - Would you want to know?

[dkerfoot]

If DNA testing would reveal a surprise about a family member's parentage - would you want to know?

Our dog Sadie was adopted from a rescue shelter 4 years ago. She is black and tan and has always been assumed to be an Airedale mix. The only question has always been "mixed with what?"

I decided to surprise LOML with one of those DNA tests. http://www.biopetvetlab.com/dnahome.htm Amazon had it as a lightning deal so I ordered one. You just swab the inside of their cheek and send it in. They have the 62 most common breeds in their database which is supposed to cover 92.5% of all dogs in the US.

Well, the results came back as a surprise. She is predominately schnauzer (over 75%) and 10% or less Golden Retriever. Now it does sort of make sense. Schnauzers are very terrier like and their black combined with the gold has resulted in a black & tan coat. It also helps explain the big eyebrows!

I like both of those dogs very much, but it is just odd to try to think of her as a schnauzer mix after 4 years of assuming she was Airedale...

Now I need to decide if I should share the results with LOML. I guess I pretty much have to, but it just seems very strange.

[cabinetman]

I would share the results with the LOML. We keep no secrets from eachother. But, that testing is a really neat deal. I wonder what would come back with my saliva.
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[iceman61]

Why wouldn't you share the info?

I can see the scenario now, woman opens the credit card bill & hits you up demanding an explanation about a line item for DNA testing. You tell her it was a DNA test on the dog & she just looks at you and says "Yea, right"

[dkerfoot]

I think that probably came out wrong. I obviously need to tell her.

I guess my point is that I feel funny about finding out she is a Schnauzer, so it just isn't as cool of a present as I was anticipating it being.

.

[Ed62]

I guess my point is that I feel funny about finding out she is a Schnauzer

If I found out mine was a Schnauzer, I'd be a little upset too.

Ed

[Bruce Cohen]

I wonder what would come back with my saliva.
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Hey Cab,

I'm not even going near that lead-in.

Bruce

[billwmeyer]

Well, at least it didn't come back as part cat!
Bill

[RayintheUK]

It's the same lovely dog you rescued, Doug - labels don't make any difference. Sadie's attitude to you won't change either. I'd say that the cross mix you've actually got is likely to be slightly friendlier than what you thought you had anyway! The dog won't care, so why should you?

Ray

[dkerfoot]

It has just been an interesting experience. Adapting this new knowledge to fit with my prior expectations. Sadie has been a fantastic family dog and we wouldn't trade her for anything. If she were to die, with this new knowledge, I'd probably start searching for a Schnauzer mix, instead of an Airedale mix (which is how I found Sadie in the first place!)

I have been trying to find something to compare it to. It is perhaps a little like someone who only finds out they were adopted much later in life. It doesn't change anything and if you had always known it would have been no big deal - but still hard to get your mind around... I had a friend growing up who was an American Indian. He and his sister had been adopted as kids and told they belonged to a specific tribe of Sioux in Canada. Hi adoptive parents went out of their way to help them connect with the tribe -despite the distance involved. Later, when he was 16, he was told - oh wait, we may have made a mistake - we think you are actually probably from this other Canadian tribe of Ojibwa. It actually messed him up pretty good. I think he would have been much better off not knowing in this case.

Both of these are much more extreme situations than finding out my family pet is German rather than British, but it has caused me to do some philosophical pondering of things regarding when our perceptions and expectations come into conflict with new knowledge...

As for Ed's comment regarding his dismay if he learned his German Shepard were a Schnauzer - that was pretty funny, but it also makes me wonder how the AKC will deal with DNA now that it is becoming cheap and easily available. It could shake some things up - especially since liter mates can actually be born from two different fathers...

[bruce hylton]

It could be worse, I know of a couple that were both adopted as youngsters and raised 4 very fine offspring of their own, only to find out later that they were also brother and sister. Try explaining that to your cat.

[Richard in Smithville]

Doug, let youe wife know what you did, lay down the envelope with the results, and tell her it's her choice. Like Ray said, it's the same dog.

[Gator95]

I'd asked my vet about the tests, since we've got a shelter rescue dog too. She kinda looks like a small ridgeback, but probably a mix of a bunch of stuff.

Our vet said that the tests tend to come back with odd results often enough that he doesn't really think they're all that accurate.

I just made up a breed, so when people ask me what she is I can tell them "she's a Georgia Brown".

[MilDoc]

I would share the results with the LOML. We keep no secrets from eachother. But, that testing is a really neat deal. I wonder what would come back with my saliva.
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Uhhhh .. Bull dog? Pit bull? Or maybe a cuddly little Poodle?

[cabinetman]

Uhhhh .. Bull dog? Pit bull? Or maybe a cuddly little Poodle?

Depends on who I'm with.
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[MilDoc]

Depends on who I'm with.
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Got that right!