#FeedFluffy — buy a t-shirt!

Buy a t-shirt today or tomorrow and help us ‪#‎FeedFluffy‬! 

Berkeley Humane feeds 1,000 dogs and cats each year. That's a whole lot of kibbles and cans! Your purchase of this handsome t-shirt will literally fill the fuzzy tummy of a dog or a cat with nutritious meals for a whole week.

Every time you don this super soft unisex tee (available in multiple spiffy colors), you'll be reminded of a sweet soul whose life was made better because of you! 

Buy your Berkeley Humane t-shirt here!

Going Home: Lil'Lady

Welcome to Woof Wednesday, dear reader! As you know from our long-standing feature of Going Home posts, we love nothing more than catching up with those families that adopt animals from us. Hearing how an animal settles in and becomes a real member of the family is so rewarding!

And sometimes you get a response that is so thorough and shows so much concern and effort that we just have to feature it. Not only to celebrate Lil’Lady (formerly known as Mocha) and her fantastic family but also for all you people who are considering bringing a new dog into your lives but wonder what that process might look like. 

Below you can read Anastasia’s report of adopting a big, high energy dog and integrating her into the daily goings-on of her family. Because Anastasia also asks our staff for advice, we consulted with our resident dog behavior expert, Nancy, and we have included her answer here. Settle in for a good read!

“[…]I'm happy to say Lil'Lady has continued to adjust well here and is becoming part of the pack =) 

Lady and Big Boy have become great pals, hanging out in the back yard together either lounging around,sniffing and exploring the yard, or chasing each other and wrestling. Lady's energy level is perfect for Big Boy (who has a lot himself!). She actually tires him out! They are eating their meals together, taking walks on a split leash and hangout indoors and outdoors together very nicely. We have also started using Lil'Lady's feeding times to train her. So, instead of feeding her out of her bowl we are hand feeding her while training (we are working on the following: sit, stand, down, watch, leave it, off, here). She is better at some than others, and still figuring out the more tricky ones (like stand and here), but overall has caught on quickly. Her watch and leave it are particularly nice. 

She is still taking some time meeting new people, usually barking at a friend who is visiting the house or a neighbor making noise in their yard. She has gotten used to Davi's mother visiting (as well has her elderly dog) which is wonderful since we see her often. Most of the time though, when there are visitors, Lady happily relaxes in her kennel. Oh, right, she has gotten used to her crate which has been awesome. She is happy to go in, and of course happy to come out =) 

As for the fish tank, she is still very interested and sometimes putting her paws on the counter top to get a closer look, but she no longer tries to jump on the counter or sit staring intensely as she did before. She is also responding to "off" more quickly when she is putting paws on the counter. This has turned into grabbing food off the table/counters too, so "off" is becoming very handy =) She actually pulled  a pizza box off the counter last weekend which was a surprise my younger daughter - but luckily we salvaged most of it without too much trouble =) 

I think overall, Lil'Lady has become much more comfortable here, showing more of her sweet personality, and the more mischievous one too =) And as for the kids, they feel very comfortable with Lady, and she with them. Lady does well listening to them as well as she does to us, which I'm very 
happy for. 

Thank you again for checking in! We are considering signing her up for lessons soon, although I'm not sure how she'd do in a class setting since she still seems to lose interest in treats when we are on walks. So I imagine being in a class with lots of other dogs and people might make her too anxious to care about treats or listening to us . . . any thoughts on this?  […]” 

How is that for a investing in your new dog, eh? Anastasia, you and your family are an amazing example for everyone. We are so grateful for your continuing effort to make Lil’Lady live up to her potential and we are sure she feels very lucky to be in your home. 

With regards to your question about bringing an energetic and easily distracted dog to a training class, we asked Nancy Frensley, Berkeley Humane's highly experienced dog behaviorist and trainer, and this is what she says: 

“Here is what I tell everyone who has doubts about their dogs being able to function in a class setting.

The purpose of Basic and Small Dog Basic Obedience is to help you get your dog started on a path that will build confidence and increase functionality.  Our trainers are experienced and helpful.  Any of them can help you learn to motivate your dog.  At first, your dog might feel a little overwhelmed in the class setting but we have techniques that manage that.  You go home with routines to practice and, through those, your dog becomes more confident and habituates to the class setting and many other situations that have proved overwhelming.

Training builds not only confidence but increases your dog’s trust in you as a protector and teacher.  It also increases the adopter’s confidence in handling and coaching their dogs.  You can’t go wrong trying a class.  Some of our late evening classes are small and well suited to the under-confident and less motivated dogs.” 

There you have it! A good training class will teach both you and your dog and coach you how to work together in situations that may be challenging for you. 

For more information on our Basic and Small Dog Basic Obedience classes, look here. If you have questions that you want to ask of Berkeley Humane’s behaviorists, you can do so here. We encourage everyone to reach out with any questions or concerns they may have.

Understanding the Tame Fox: The Hunt for the Genetic Mechanisms of Fearfulness

Jessica Hekman meets friendly fox.

Guest post by: Dr Jessica Perry Hekman DVM MS

Hi Mia and Julie,

One of the things I love most about dogs is how friendly they are. What's the biggest difference between a dog and a wolf? The dog probably wants to come say hi to you. The wolf is scared of you, and may demonstrate that fear through aggression if you get too close. 

But not ALL dogs are friendly, right? If “friendliness” versus “fear” was on a spectrum, most dogs would be on the “friendly” end, but some would be down towards the “fear” end with the wolves. This is what I study: what is going on in the brain of fearful dogs to make them scared of things? What are the mechanisms that are different? I'm interested in the wiring in the brain, hormone differences, neurotransmitter differences, and more.

Right now, the way I'm studying fear in dogs is by studying fear in foxes. I know you know about the famous population of tame foxes at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia. I got to go meet these foxes recently! 

They have been bred for tameness for more than forty generations, and are a lot like dogs in their friendliness and lack of fear. In the lab where I work, we compare these foxes to another group of foxes that have been selected for fearfulness/aggression. Through comparing these very different groups, we to try to understand the biological mechanisms behind their personality differences. Foxes are evolutionarily close to dogs, and because these foxes have carefully controlled genetics and environments, they are easier to study than pet dogs are. (I still hope to transition to working directly with pet dogs some day, though.)

Hekman with friendly fox.

Over the years, much has been learned about the tame foxes: their stress response is very different from that of the aggressive foxes [1]; they have different levels of various neurotransmitters in their brains [1], and they even have differences in brain structure [2]. In the lab where I work, Kukekova Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we study the genetic differences between these groups of foxes. We hope that finding differences in their genes will help us learn more about mechanistic differences in their brains. Our lab recently published a new paper in PLoSONE [3] about some of our findings.

We are still very much at the stage of just trying to figure out where in the enormous genome (3.3 billion nucleotides!) the personality differences between tame and aggressive foxes come from. (By the way, various efforts looking at personality differences in humans are at the same stage.)

Wikipedia

Our lab's approach in this paper was to look at the entire genomes of 40 foxes, 20 tame and 20 aggressive. First we found the places in their genomes in which at least one fox was different at the level of just one nucleotide. A single nucleotide differences is known as a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP. Unfortunately, while a SNP might be a pointer to an important difference, most SNPs mean absolutely nothing. The problem is telling which is which. And we found thousands of them – more than 100,000 of them, which we filtered down to 8,437 of them that we actually wanted to use. So how would we figure out which ones were pointing at real and important differences in the tame fox genome?

To answer this question, we looked for differences not just between individual foxes, but between the group of 20 tame foxes and the group of 20 aggressive foxes. With 8,437 SNPs you had better bet we used computers for this. It was a surprise to me when I got into modern genomics just how much of the work deals with complex computer algorithms to process the massive amounts of data we're dealing with!

Hekman with fox at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics.

We found several areas of the fox genome in which tame foxes tended to have one version of some SNPs, while aggressive foxes tended to have another version. To understand this, it can help to think of the genome as a big instruction manual, a book called “How to Build a Fox.” Mostly the instruction manuals for tame and aggressive foxes would be the same, but in a few cases single letters would be different. 

Imagine that the tame foxes all had, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” in their version of chapter two, but the aggressive foxes all had, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy doc” in their version. Basically, by finding places where the tame foxes all had one version, and the aggressive foxes all had a different version, we were finding places in the genome where we hoped to find important differences, changes that help cause the tame fox personality phenotype. We found 28 regions like this, but focused on three of them as the most interesting.

Next we looked at the genes that these changes might affect, because finding gene differences was the point of the whole exercise. Remember, we still don't know most of what most of the genes out there do! This is really dark side of the moon stuff, and everyone is still guessing about what's going on in the genome, human or fox. But here are some interesting genes we found. I'm including a “wild hypothesis” with some of them. These hypotheses are probably wrong, but I hope they help to show why these genes are so interesting to us...

Hand sniffing.

GRIN2B: this gene codes for a receptor for one of the major neurotransmitters in the brain, glutamate. Glutamate is involved in learning and memory. Wild hypothesis: maybe tame foxes are less afraid because of a difference in how they learn about what to fear.

GABARAPL1 (GEC1): this gene is involved with opioids, molecules in the brain that help us feel good. Wild hypothesis: maybe tame foxes are more friendly because social interactions feel different (better) to them.

COUP-TFII (NR2F2): this gene is important during embryonic brain development, especially in the amygdala, a part of the brain that tells us when to be afraid. This gene also influences expression of oxytocin, a neurotransmitter which functions in social bonding.

These genes are extremely interesting, but even more than that, this work helped our lab implicate specific regions of the genome in the differences between tame and aggressive foxes. That list of regions will prove invaluable as we do more work in the future, using different tools to examine the tame fox genome and seeing which tools point at the same regions.

Tame fox kisses to you both!

Jessica

Dr. Jessica Perry Hekman graduated Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2012, where in addition to her DVM she received an MS for work on stress behavior and cortisol levels in hospitalized dogs. She completed a shelter medicine internship at the University of Florida in 2013, and is now a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she works at Kukekova Lab. Her research interests are in the biological mechanisms behind fearfulness in dogs. You can follow her at @dogzombieblog.

Images copyright Jessica Hekman.

[1] Trut, Lyudmila N., I. Z. Plyusnina, and I. N. Oskina. "An experiment on fox domestication and debatable issues of evolution of the dog." Russian Journal of Genetics 40.6 (2004): 644-655. 

[2] Huang, Shihhui, et al. "Selection for tameness, a key behavioral trait of domestication, increases adult hippocampal neurogenesis in foxes." Hippocampus (March 2015). 

[3] Johnson, Jennifer L. et al. "Genotyping-By-Sequencing (GBS) Detects Genetic Structure and Confirms Behavioral QTL in Tame and Aggressive Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)." PLoSONE (2015).

© 2015 Jessica Perry Hekman | Do You Believe in Dog?

Volunteer Appreciation: Melissa

Volunteer Melissa and her husband Jake have made some interesting deals the past few years. Interesting, because when Melissa and Jake make a deal, animals in need seem to benefit.

Take for example, how Melissa came to be a volunteer at Berkeley Humane. When Jake received a San Francisco job offer, the couple made a deal: if Melissa went along with the plan to move across two state lines, she wouldn’t have to work. Done and done. But with her long history of volunteer work with animals, once she got here, Melissa jumped on an opportunity at Berkeley Humane to volunteer as a part-time thank-you caller. A perk of the new gig was meeting all the wonderful dogs the staff brought by to say “hello”.

One day someone brought a one-eyed Shih Tzu named “Leo” for a visit. Turns out that Melissa and Jake’s family included two cats and two dogs: and that one of the dogs (James) was also a one-eyed Shih Tzu. And so a second deal had to be struck: they would foster, but wouldn’t add any animals to their family.

And so Melissa’s volunteer duties as thank-you caller expanded to include being a foster. Berkeley Humane staff started calling her house “the zoo”. She became a greeter and started working events… Melissa has even been known to make unscheduled Costco runs to get needed supplies because, well—Melissa is just that kind of person.

"Zoo" resident James (left), guests Ellie (right)
and the amazing Maggie (center) go for a walk

I had the opportunity to chat with Melissa about volunteering at Berkeley Humane and her foster experience. She and Jake have been fostering for about a year: twenty dogs and one cat have been guests in their home. I asked Melissa about letting go. How do you say goodbye when an animal joins a new family?

While saying goodbye is difficult, Melissa said it feels great to know that you’ve helped an animal gain skills that will help them become part of their new family. With the foster volunteer, the animal learns or re-learns what it’s like to be in a home, and that it’s okay to be touched. Animals experience—maybe for the first time, what it’s like to be loved in the care of fosters like Melissa.

I asked if there were any fosters that made she and Jake reconsider their second deal (no more animals).

“There were three,” she tells me, and shares the story of one: Maggie the Chihuahua, her second dog foster. Maggie was smart as a whip and got along great with their other dogs and cats. Melissa and Jake made a side deal: if Maggie weren’t adopted by a certain date, they’d welcome her into their family. Maggie was adopted the day before, and the second deal stood.

But sometimes ‘goodbye’ is really ‘see you later’. Because Melissa is a volunteer, she has the opportunity to meet people who might eventually adopt the animals she has fostered. Some of the new adopters stay in touch, share pictures. This year, she and Jake are having a Halloween party and three former foster dogs and their adopters will be there.

“Fostering takes work but it’s rewarding,” she said. “You get to see an animal become well socialized, learn to live with people and other animals.” Melissa shared that many of the foster animals have gone through multiple shelters or been homeless before they arrive at Berkeley Humane. It takes a few days for them to relax. “It’s very rewarding when that happens,” she said. “You get to see the real personality of the animal emerge.”

Jake spoon feeds three-legged Tika as
she recovers from a respiratory infection

Her advise to new fosters is, “Give it two days: let yourself get used to the animal and the animal get used to you and the new environment.” She said it takes about forty-eight hours to win an animal’s trust. Not much time when you consider that fostering is often the first step an animal takes toward becoming a cherished family member.

Melissa and Jake coordinate their schedules so they can work together when an animal comes into their home for the first time, just to make sure everyone’s needs are met. Melissa shared the story of she and Jake bathing a new dog. After the bath the dog shook itself, like dogs do—but with each shake, loose stool the dog was unable to control splattered the couple and their bathroom. A calm Jake helped Melissa clean the dog off and handed her the leash. “Take her outside and don’t come back for a half hour. I’ll take care of this.” Now that’s some teamwork.

Two of the Oakland litter, Nephrite & Kunzite

The second deal about no more animals held until last spring. Delta (you can read her story here) was a community cat that needed a special home. Her two kittens, Epsilon and Zeta had been socialized and adopted. But Delta needed a place where she could be safe and cared for, but still live the community cat lifestyle she was used to. Melissa and Jake welcomed Delta to their back yard where she is now the newest member of their family. Jake renamed her “Loophole” because Delta was the loophole in that deal he and Melissa had made. Loophole (formerly Delta) knows her new name, comes for food every morning and has bonded with their two indoor-outdoor cats.

Melissa notes that Berkeley Humane goes out of their way to make it easy for volunteers who foster. She said that BH offers an incredible variety of supportive resources. Anything from a gallon of Nature’s Miracle for those oops moments to clothing for a dog with the shivers, diapers—even advice on how to get through situations that might be new to a foster volunteer.
"Like what?" I asked. Melissa laughed and told me about the first time she fostered puppies: two from the “Oakland” litter—each named with a letter from the city because there were six puppies and the mother. Kylie Reed, Berkeley Humane’s Foster Care Coordinator was on hand to give Melissa plenty of support as she learned the ins and outs of puppyhood and how to function on not a lot of sleep—a skill that is going to be very handy in the not too distant future. Melissa and Jake recently learned that they are to be first time parents. Will the new addition be a future Berkeley Humane volunteer? Time will tell.

Beware! Puppy teething!

Meanwhile, we extend our heartfelt thanks to volunteer Melissa (and Jake). May their love, commitment and compassion for the work come back to them many times over as this next chapter in their life unfolds. And we’ll look forward to hearing about any new deals!

There's a saying:"It's in giving that we receive." If you'd like to experience giving as one of our wonderful Berkeley Humane volunteers, we'd love to hear from you. Chances are you've got a talent that would make a difference. Visit our volunteer page to learn more.

Going Home: Theo

This past August, the end of summer marked a special new beginning for a handsome pup, Raj Mathai, and his new family.

Adam and Emma adopted Raj at this year’s Bark & Meow Around the Block. If you’re thinking, “I recognize that name!” you’re right. We initially named Raj after NBC anchor, Raj Mathai because Berkeley Humane worked in collaboration with NBC’s Clear the Shelters, a nation-wide pet adoption drive. Raj has a new name to go with his new family: he now goes by Theo.

This is what adopters Adam and Emma had to say about Theo on Facebook:

“Adam and I want to say thanks to everyone at Berkeley Humane. We got this pup on Saturday, barely over 48 hours ago, but almost can’t remember life before him.”

But it was Theo who had the last word (not sure how he figured out how to use Facebook, but he's a smart boy...). Check out what he had to say about Adam and Emma: 

The World According to Theo A.K.A. Raj Mathai

“Dear Berkeley Humane, I am really happy with Adam and Emma! We go to the beach and dog park, so I have many dog friends. Adam takes me to work all day, so I have many people friends too. Thank you for taking such good care of me. I wouldn’t be here without you. Love, Theo (A.K.A. Raj Mathai)”.

Oh, Theo (and Adam and Emma), we are really happy too! Thank you for sharing the update and the adorable beach picture. Do keep us posted.

Got love? We do! Come visit us at Berkeley Humane. We’re open Friday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Our website has great information on the adoption process and our available cats and dogs.

Going Home: Loki

Is there a Comic-Con for cats? Because if there is, this dapper lad is ready--and he won't even need a costume. Because that pose he's struck, those green eyes and that bit of ginger coloring? Well, he looks an awful lot like his namesake, don't you think? 

Loki strikes a pose ...

I suspect that young master Loki has zero interest in the convention experience, given what his adopter Amanda shared with us on Facebook:

"We adopted Loki (formerly Cobain) almost a year ago from you guys. We make a great family and he is so handsome. Thank you for your work."

Amanda, we are so thrilled to hear that Loki has been part of your family for a year already! We SO appreciate the update on your handsome (yes!) boy.

Animals make the magic happen. So if you're not on your way to Comic-Con or Asgard... why not make Berkeley Humane a destination? We’re open Friday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Check out our website for great information on the adoption process and our available cats and dogs.

Going Home: Juniper

"Can I keep him?"

As Lead Storyteller for the Berkeley Humane blog, I'm lucky enough to write about many wonderful animals and their happy new homes. 

Volunteering in this role has led to unexpected opportunities that affect my home, too: while covering the Rescued Dog Pageant at Missouri Lounge this June, I met a sweet, sleepy, adoptable puppy named Cheddar. 

Reader, I adopted him. His name is now Juniper, and a DNA test says he's a Chihuahua-Yorkshire terrier mix. Today is his first birthday and I'm very proud to write his Going Home story.

I am a cat person through and through. My husband and I have fostered nineteen cats for Berkeley Humane (including Felix, whom I still wish we'd adopted ourselves). But, I reasoned, a heart big enough to love cats so much could surely make room for a dog, too. 

Puppy dog eyes

For three years we occasionally met shelter dogs but none were right for us. When we left the house that day in June we had no intention of looking at adoptable animals. But as soon as we stepped into the MAC, Juniper and my husband took an immediate shine to one another.

We fell for his snuggliness, his friendliness to everyone he met (including very small children), and the way he curled up on shoulders to sleep. This cuddliness would not survive a round of antibiotics to treat a cough and some tooth issues, but his friendly nature has only continued to unfold for us.

Five minutes after completing adoption counseling with Berkeley Humane volunteers Celly, Stefanie, and Ming, my husband and I burst trembling into a pet store, confused puppy in our arms. "We need EVERYTHING," we told a helpful clerk. Lesson learned: it's better to prepare for an adoption -- but if the right animal catches you by surprise, like Juniper surprised us, you can still catch up!

He came to us almost perfectly house-trained (still working on that), patient with leashes, friendly to every human and canine on this earth, and extremely fond of napping in laps. He's an active pup with a very sweet nature.

Business puppy at the office.

Obedience class graduate!

To those excellent native characteristics we've added commands like "sit," "lie down," and "heel" thanks to Small Dog Basic Obedience classes at Berkeley Humane.

Juniper comes with me to the office almost every day, where he has many fans. (My boss says "That's not big enough to be a dog-- that's a squirrel.") He's a fan of leashed walks around Berkeley's Aquatic Park and off-leash romps in Alameda's fenced small dog park. 

Isn't it amazing how the Bay Area welcomes dogs almost everywhere? We've been delighted by the places we can take Juniper. From beer gardens to auto shops to comic book stores, so many places welcome him and even provide doggy biscuits.

Dogs and cats living together...
mass hysteria!

Biscuits at Beer Revolution

Our cats Ripley and Raimi have adapted much better than expected. Raimi and Juniper occasionally even play chase and take leashed walks together.

Adopting our first dog has had its challenges. These four months have introduced us to significant changes in our schedules and habits. Reading blog posts like "I Got the Post-Puppy Blues" helped me acknowledge my anxiety and accept that I can feel overwhelmed sometimes but still be a competent, loving new dog owner. 

Besides, he's a loving, happy little dog. Both the vet and doggy daycare staff have said "It's rare for a dog to bond with its adopters so quickly, but he sure loves you!" Maybe that's just flattery but Juniper really did fall hard for both of us immediately. 

He's easy to love, too! I mean, the cats never let me dress them up in Batman costumes. 

Nananananananana BATDOG

Being Juniper's human is an honor. Thank you for my wonderful dog, Berkeley Humane!


You can become a dog's human, too. Stop by Berkeley Humane Friday through Sunday from 11-5 to see which dogs might try to adopt you. 

What can a DNA test tell you about your mixed breed dog?

The results are IN!
Rudy's DNA test results have come back.

Let's see what a DNA test can tell us about this mixed breed dog.

What you thought he was
We asked you all to place your bets on what mix of breeds he might contains, and boy did you come to the party! Here's what the poll results say YOU think he is:

The 'Other' category included suggestions of: Collie, English Foxhound, Irish Setter, Galgo, Super cute curly tail hound (!), Glamour dog(!), Borzoi, Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, Pomeranian and German Shepherd.

What the DNA test says he is

Not surprisingly, Rudy has been identified as having come from a line of mixed breed dogs. 

We know that he was picked up as a stray in a very rural/bush area as a four month old puppy. In that location, it's likely he was bred to be a hunting dog, and was bred from a line of dogs very similar to him. Both of Rudy's parent have been identified as being mixed breeds. This has meant the DNA test is not just a clear cut simple cross between two breeds, but a bit murkier to decipher. 

What we expected

We always knew there would be sighthound in the mix! Fortunately, one grandparent on each side (e.g. his mother's mother and his father's father) have been identified as being a single breed. So the test says that Rudy is identified as one-quarter Scottish Deerhound and one-quarter Greyhound. This makes sense and fits with his physical appearance.

(Photo: source)

(Photo: Sue Muir)

Part of Rudy's DNA test results report

What we weren't expecting

Because of Rudy's muddled up mixed breed lineage, the DNA test results offer us a further five breeds that have been identified as "the 5 next best breed matches which appeared in the analysis of your dog's DNA. One or more of these breeds could have contributed to the genetic makeup of the ancestors indicated by the mixed breed icon. The breeds are listed by the relative strength of each result in our analysis with the most likely at the top of the list". This is definitely where the fun starts!

*Drumroll*

With the highest 'relative strength' (undefined and unclear if this is supposed to be % of total dog, or % of the 50% unaccounted for, or some other strength) of 10.86 (again, 10.86 units of what, or out to a total available number of ##, is unclear) - is... 

The Dobermann! I find this plausible. Dobermanns are certainly not unusual in Australia and I can see inclusion in a line of hunting-purpose dogs making sense to someone at some point, way back when. Rudy also has a wonderful mate who's a Dobe, so now they're totes cousins.

Dobermann reportedly represented in Rudy with strength of 10.86

Now, our first surprise... coming in with strength of 10.55 - the Shetland Sheepdog! Ha! I would have been more convinced by a Rough Collie I think, but who knows, maybe Rudy's great great grandma was a house dog sheltie? It would explain those neck flares... This is nothing compared to the next couple!

Shetland sheepdog reportedly in Rudy with a strength of 10.55

Oh hi there Puli, with a strength of 6.64. In a million blue moons, I would never have picked you in this line up! There are not that many Puli breeders in Australia, and to think that one was used to contribute to a farmer's hunting line seems... odd. But then, my personal favourite is still to come....

Puli reportedly in Rudy with strength of 6.64

...but we'll save it for last. Coming in with the second lowest strength of the five mixed breed contributors identified, we have the Irish Wolfhound. I know most of you thought this was going to be a leading contributor to Rudy's make up, but whatever strength represents, 3.28 doesn't seem like much of it. So now my favourite....

Irish Wolfhound identified in Rudy with a strength of 3.28

Basset Hound. I guess Rudy gets his leg from the other side of the family, right?! With a strength of 1.63, it's the final and lowest reported strength identified in Rudy's report.

Basset Hound reportedly in Rudy with a strength of 1.63

Part of Rudy's DNA test results report

The science behind mixed breed DNA tests

So how did the results end up like this? DNA tests for mixed breed dogs vary between providers. We used the Australian Advance/Waltham test which is 'powered by Wisdom Panel', validated against Australian dog populations. This test examines the 321 markers from the DNA against a database of DNA markers for over 200 representative (NB: not comprehensive!) breeds of dogs and a computer program evaluates and returns a probable 'pedigree tree' reaching back three generations. Every possible combination the computer program arrives at is scored and the tree with the highest score is deemed most probable and presented in the report.

An important note about this kind of test is that 321 markers are not that many. Other canine research (genotyping for whole genome analysis) can use 170,000 markers. Human ethinicity testing relies on 20,000 (to determine caucasian/non-caucasian) -700,000 markers. 

321 markers provide a reduced scope of DNA marker testing, and they are comparing an unknown dog against a bank of typical groups of alleles that representatives for breeds, so the robustness of the test results should definitely be considered as a suggestion, more than an absolute truth. 

Another way to think of it

The best analogy (that may be over simplified, but I think is still useful) that I have been able to come up with to help explain this test in relation to mixed breed dogs is to think of dogs as colours. 

By this, I mean there is a broad spectrum and range, all able to be mixed together in various combinations, over time. We've applied some values to the range (such as when blue becomes green, or orange moves into red) which we can think of as breeds. 

Image: Dean Russo

So consider Rudy as being a light brown colour. The DNA test is essentially trying to determine the combination of colours that arrived at that shade of light brown. It's pretty sure there's some red and green in there, perhaps some yellow too. But because he's such a mixed up colour, it's harder to work out if there's also been orange  (or was it a certain shade of red with a different shade of yellow?), white, a darker brown or even some bright blue included, and when they might have been mixed into him. 

The computer program has presented his report with one possible combination of colours that arrived at his shade of light brown, but it's not the only possible combination to get there. And when I consider where he came from and the likely uses and sources of his forebears, I can be fairly sceptical about some of the results (I'm looking at YOU mop dog!).

For example, I would probably have believed fox hound over basset hound. Or rough collie over sheltie, and I'm not confident how well 321 markers can discriminate between low levels of these breeds in comparison to each other by using the database of 'typical representatives'. As time goes by and the databases are expanded, these tests become more reliable. For example, the test conducted this year is likely more correct than one done five years ago. If they extend the number of markers examined to 1,000 in the future, this would improve the accuracy again.

So - what is Rudy?

He is our dog. Much-loved family member, silly goose, and constant source of delight to our family. His breed heritage is not so important to us. We knew he was sighthound mix type of dog when we adopted him, and he still is. When I next get asked (as I always do!) "What IS HE?", I can now reply with a slightly more informed "He's a mix, mostly deerhound and greyhound, with little bits of a few other things in there too". He is certainly a dog.

Look forward to any comments and questions you might have,

Mia

Further reading:

van Rooy, D., Arnott, E. R., Early, J. B., McGreevy, P., & Wade, C. M. (2014). Holding back the genes: limitations of research into canine behavioural genetics. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, 1(1), 7.

Hedrick, P. W., & Andersson, L. (2011). Are dogs genetically special?.Heredity, 106(5), 712.

McPhee, C. G. (2011). Advances in canine genetic testing—And what these tests mean for you. Veterinary Medicine, 106(12), 608.

© 2015 Mia Cobb | Do You Believe in Dog?