I Think Dog DNA Tests Are A Scam
Based on our results the jury is definitely out
My dog, Dezi, is a shelter pup. I adopted her at 8 weeks old from the local humane society. Most dogs from this shelter are mixed breeds that have been rescued from reserves in surrounding areas.
Since Dezi’s mother was also at the shelter, by looking at mama the best they could tell me is that she’s a Shepherd mix. And since we got first pick of the litter we could clearly see that four of the puppies could pass as Shepherds.
Dezi and one of her siblings were the exceptions because they were both predominantly black with white markings. They were literally the black sheep of the family.
Her siblings looked like this:
Meanwhile, Dezi was over here looking like this:
In our first couple of months with Dezi we thought for sure she must have some Bernese in her, based on her coloring and how fast she grew.
But then we woke up one day and she was a completely different dog. If not for the white snip on her nose these could be two different dogs.
Curiosity got the best of me so I went online to order a home DNA testing kit from DNA My Dog — a Canadian brand.
I mean, I would love Dezi even if she turned out to be the leader of an unruly wolf pack but I thought it would be a hoot to find out what she really is.
Spoiler Alert:
Our results were SO all over the map that I think it’s either a scam or I got someone else’s results.
Based on her test, Dezi is supposedly a Dachshund, Boxer, Bull Mastiff, and Bulldog all rolled into one maniacal ball. But not a whisper of Shepherd showed up in her test results.
You be the judge.
HOWEVER, I didn’t come here to slam dog DNA kits.
In their defense, have you ever tried swabbing the inside cheek of a six-month-old puppy who thinks all of life is one big circus?
Getting a Q-Tip into her mouth was like trying to ride a bull for eight seconds.
But here’s my question:
If there was enough saliva on the stick to even run the test how could it go so wrong? I would have rather had inconclusive results than an incorrect or misleading one.
I mean, it’s not like I was hoping to go all the way to Germany to meet her ancestors but it would have been nice to know, you know?
Our DNA test was so whack that I actually feel jealous talking to other dog moms at the dog park who obviously got the answers they were looking for.
If you have done a DNA test on your dog…
I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Were you satisfied with the results? Or did you find out you’re the proud parent of an 84-pound Chihuahua?
To help send my dog to Ninja school, you can send your contributions here.