"What is my dog's breed mix?" One couple has their answer -NAH News ______________________________________________
Like many companion dog households Sara Ybema and Ben Williams always wondered what “mix” their pet Lola was. Lola was rescued almost seven years ago after being abandoned at the local emergency hospital where both parents work. Since then she has become a valued member of the family, especially to the couples 18 month old daughter Stella. When they took Lola in they were told she was a Pit Bull – Jack Russell Terrier mix. “That was easily believable,” Ybema noted, “she defiantly has the energy, curiosity, and build of both breeds.”
This January Ben, practice manager at Northland Animal Hospital, was presented with the opportunity to bring comprehensive DNA based breed analysis to West Michigan. Mars Veterinary had just launched WISDOM Panel MX and gave Northland Animal Hospital the opportunity to be the first in the area to offer this mixed breed analysis. Ben and Sara took this opportunity to find out what Lola’s background was. “We wanted to know for our own general curiosity,” says Sara, “but as Lola gets older we want to know if there are any health risks we might need to watch for more closely.”
Three weeks after submitting the blood sample the couple received Lola's analysis. The results noted Lola did not have one predominate breed, which means neither her parents or grandparents were a pure breed, but her history did reveal traces of American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Boxer, Bassett Hound, American Eskimo, and Great Pyrenees. “We were expecting breeds like the Staffordshire Terriers but the others were a complete surprise,” Ben notes. The presence of Great Pyrenees was the biggest surprise finding as the breed standard is 25 to 27 inches tall and weighs at least 85 pounds and is not uncommon to be over 100 pounds in some males.
Sara and Ben note that the results give them some level of comfort as none of the breeds noted share a common disease or hereditary illness. This does not mean that they are in the clear but they can take comfort that given Lola's current good health, Stella's buddy will be around for years to come. The couple adds “the results only support our original conclusion that Lola is a prime example of a 'good old American mutt'.”
Three weeks after submitting the blood sample the couple received Lola's analysis. The results noted Lola did not have one predominate breed, which means neither her parents or grandparents were a pure breed, but her history did reveal traces of American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Boxer, Bassett Hound, American Eskimo, and Great Pyrenees. “We were expecting breeds like the Staffordshire Terriers but the others were a complete surprise,” Ben notes. The presence of Great Pyrenees was the biggest surprise finding as the breed standard is 25 to 27 inches tall and weighs at least 85 pounds and is not uncommon to be over 100 pounds in some males.