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My Big N-O to Dog DNA Tests

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I picked up the brochure at the pet supply store, and it’s still sitting on my desk. I haven’t done a thing with it.

For something under a hundred bucks, I can get a test kit and send off cheek swabs of DNA from my dogs’ mouths and find out exactly what their canine components are.

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No more mystery mutts. DNA will answer all those ‘What kind of dog is he?’’ questions.

For a while I wondered which dog I would test. Edgar, the one the vet swears is mostly Jindo? Daisy, who the smart money says is half-Jack Russell and half-Staffordshire? Or Oliver, my mystery boy, fluffy as feathers, grey with grey-brown eyes?

The more I think about the test, the less I’m inclined to do it. All of my dogs, for all of my life, have been mixed-up rescues. They are much, much more than the sum of their parts. To break them down into 10% this or 20% that is to reduce them to something less than their sweet and singular selves. I would rather think of each of them as a breed unto himself or herself, a unique mix to go along with a unique personality.

And I think I’ll keep them that way -- 100% certified American multicultural canines.

--Patt Morrison

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