Welcome to our quarterly column offering advice for Golden owners. Scroll down for even more advice – for dogs, from dogs.
Is Your Dog a Spotted Canardly?
DNA Testing for Dogs
By Jean Burggraf
Molly looking very golden-ish.
Several years ago, my father inquired about an unusual-looking dog and was told that the dog was a Spotted Canardly. The dog’s owner was joking – Canardly was his made-up name for a dog that is a mix of so many breeds that you “canardly” tell what kind of dog it is.
Until recently, a mutt was just a mutt, and intrigued owners could only guess what breeds might be included in the mix. Now DNA testing is available to determine your dog’s breed makeup. Owners can satisfy their curiosity, and they may also find explanations for particular personality traits and behaviors. The test requires only a small blood sample, and it costs approximately $150.
Judy Hartlieb and her husband Daron Kruse adopted their GRRIN dog Andy in 2005. Andy had been picked up as a stray when he was just a young puppy, so GRRIN knew nothing about his genetic makeup. He looked like a Golden pup, and that was really all we had to go on. This summer Andy was DNA-tested, and his results show that he is primarily Golden Retriever, with a little bit of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Judy says this makes perfect sense and explains several of Andy’s qualities. Nova Scotia Duck Tollers are the smallest of the retrievers and often have white markings on the chest, they are retrieving machines who typically have a sad facial expression unless they’re focused on a ball, and they like to pounce on the ball when retrieving it and then toss it in the owner’s lap. This describes Andy perfectly!
My GRRIN dog Molly was also picked up as a stray, in 2000, when she was not yet full-grown. She too looked like a Golden, except for a white blaze on her face. As she matured and her adult coat came in, she began to look more like a mix, though she still looked mostly Golden. Her personality is somewhat different from the typical Golden: Molly is cheerful and affectionate toward family, but aloof with strangers, and she is very independent and stubborn. When I had her DNA-tested, I expected that she would be at least half Golden, but her results turned out to be a complete surprise! Molly’s test shows no Golden Retriever DNA at all! She has a moderate amount of Norwegian Elkhound, and lesser amounts of Chow, Sheltie, Siberian Husky, and Vizsla! This breed combination fully explains her quirky personality. Apparently it’s just an accident of nature that she happens to look like a Golden Retriever!
In GRRIN, only dogs that are recognizable as Golden Retrievers are supposed to enter the program. Most often the surrendering owners can confirm that the dogs are purebred Goldens. However, we do occasionally get shelter dogs and strays with unknown backgrounds, and then we have to use our best judgment as to whether a dog appears to be a Golden or not. My Molly is a true example of a Canardly who fooled everyone!
The DNA test results were fascinating and a lot of fun for Judy and me. If you have a dog you are curious about, you can find more information about DNA testing at www.wisdompanel.com.
Ask a Dog
A column offering advice for dogs – from dogs
Dear Goldenonymous,
I love sneaking into Mom and Dad’s bed at night. What is it about a human’s bed that makes it so enticing to a dog?
Signed, Sparky
Dear Sparky,
Ah, the sweet smell of our pack. We dogs have noses that are hundreds of times more powerful than those of our human companions. We love to be with our family, and nowhere in the house is our humans’ smell more concentrated than in their bedrooms; hence the allure. Plus it’s warm and soft when you burrow down in their blankets. It’s the perfect spot for a snooze.
Mom likes to read books by the “Monks of New Skete.” Apparently they’re experts at understanding dog behavior. They say that 80 percent of the “problem dog” cases referred to them involve a dog who sleeps outside of the bedroom. They suggest that people allow their dogs to sleep in the same room with them (although not on the bed) as a way of building trust and confidence. They even say it’s a big help with things like hyperactivity, social isolation, night barking and general unruliness.
I don’t know what half those words mean. I just know that I love to lie up against Mom when she’s sleeping. Unfortunately she wakes up sweating from it, and then she tries to push me over toward Dad. Sometimes, though, she reaches down and gives me a gentle pat, especially if I’m having one of those action dreams where I’m running around keeping the world safe from squirrels.
My advice is to sneak into bed whenever you get the chance. Just be quiet about it. My personal favorite is to wait until someone goes into the bathroom in the middle of the night. Then I jump in the bed and take their spot, all pre-warmed and cozy. Ahhh.
