Guess the breeds in this lovely dog we recently tested and win a What Breed Is My dog? test worth £59.99!

The individual who guess is the most accurate will win…..Its that easy!

If you, your friends or family would like to enter this competition you can email your answers in to info@whatbreedismydog.co.uk

GOOD LUCK!

competition winner to be chosen on 23rd May 2012.

“I have 2 mixed breed dogs Tia and Ellie and I have always been curious to know what breeds they have in them. Ellie was a gorgeous blue puppy with big blue eyes, I fell in love with her straight away.  She was one of 9 puppies but I knew she was the one for me. When I first met Tia she hid under the dining room table and spent most of the time there. Again she was 1 of 9 but her mum was a rescue dog from the local rescue centre. She is very different from Ellie as she is very weary of strangers and other strange dogs but is the perfect family pet. I got in touch with What breed is my dog through a friend as we were talking about my dogs and she said about this company that could do tests to find out breeds were in my dogs. I thought that this was a great idea and bought 2 tests off of the website. I received 2 swab packs for each dog, and had to separate my dogs overnight and carried out the test in the morning. Enclosed was an envelope for me to return the swabs. I sent off the swabs and waited with anticipation. It took a few weeks for the results to come back but i was amazed by the amount of information that came back. I had great fun with daughters aged 10 and 7 years old going the results. I now have a much better insight in to both of my dogs habits, temperaments and their looks. I have recommended this to so many of my friends as it has been a fantastic experience and if i ever bought another cross breed i would definitely do it again. Big thanks to you all at what breed is my dog.”

Want to know what breeds were in her 2 dogs? watch this space as we will be running a competition to win a breed identification test!

You already know that DNA Testing is the only accurate way of identifying what breeds are in your dog and we are extremely proud being the favourite choice for dog lovers especially due to the accuracy of the test and excellent customer service! As there is always room for improvements, here we are:

We have just added over 120 new breeds to our database which now totals 185 (click here  the full list)

We have improved or Ancestry certificate – an even more detailed and complete certificate! If you want the certificate ready to frame just order the Hard Copy Certificate – we are more than happy to send it to you by post.

We want to be closer with our customers, find us on Facebook and on Twitter and share your dogs’ stories and photos!

We know how you have always appreciated our customer service – and we are still here assuring you that you will have the best service! Send us an email or give us a call, we are more than happy to help!

Everyone loves a treat, so watch this space as we’ll have loads of competitions coming soon!

Along with this you can expect to see the addition of Whippet and English Cocker Spaniel soon.

Aside from being in the know about your dogs ancestry, it’s a fantastic idea to find out your dog DNA for a variety of other reasons, such as health and behaviour. Lots of purebreds in the UK are bred for specific behaviours or temperaments, so when these are crossed, your dog may exhibit behaviours from a mixture of the breeds. If you are able to distinguish which behaviours are typical of certain breeds, this makes training your dog much more easy. It allows you to alter the training techniques to help you best engage with your dog, and use these specific traits to tailor the training and rewards to what motivates your canine.

Knowing the mixture of breeds in your dog can also be invaluable when it comes to your dogs health. Due to such strict breeding of purebreds, this has unfortunately lead to certain breeds being susceptible to hereditary diseases for example, hip dysplasia or respiratory problems. If you are able to know in advance what problems your pet is most likely to be affected by, then you can work to help prevent the onset of such disorders in the future. For example, if your dog is a mix of a breed which is prone to weight related illnesses, then you can ensure that they are kept at a sensible and healthy weight with exercise and good diet.

The What Breed Is My Dog DNA Test Kit is already proving to be a good seller, and as we come up to the Christmas rush, it’s looking set to be one of the top pet related gifts of the year, as it’s the perfect present for any dog lover. For a one off price that includes the kit, all the necessary equipment to allow you to obtain a swab, a stamped address envelope, and a results certificate and breed summary, this kit is a very cost effective way to help you to decipher your dogs genetic make up.

What am I? 

Now this is the tale of a rescue,

An unusual one to be sure.

My coat’s not the usual red one

But black with a white bib and paw.

If you think this is just a tall story,

I’m the calendar’s Mr July.

I’m Rocket with my best friend Sadie

And photos I’m told never lie.

The Aunties were told that the mixture

Could be Irish and English Setter

But I scurry along like a Spaniel;

Setter cross Springer what’s better.

The words that I hear the most often:

“What a beautiful dog, what is he?

With long legs and snowy white markings, 

 Part Setter, Springer or Collie?”

So my Mummy sent off a mouth swab,

And they gave me a DNA test.

I’m Setter!  More Irish than English.

Who cares when I know I’m the best!

His results are actually Level 2 – Irish Setter and Level 3 – English Setter and as he has settled down and gained in confidence his behaviour has become more ‘Setter like’ or is that because we now know for sure what he is?

 Joy Smith

We always assumed that because of his white ruff and his herding instincts, he had Border Collie in him then, because his hair doesn’t shed and he’s non-allergenic we also assumed he must have some Poodle in him. We also thought there must be some Terrier in him because of his behaviour towards hunting small animals including ducks, fish and horses! Nearly everyone who had an opinion was convinced he was a Labradoodle but we were never so convinced, he didn’t seem to have the personality of a Lab or Poodle.

So to find out he’s:

Level 3: Chow Chow

Level 3: Dalmatian

Level 4: Parson Russell Terrier

Level 4: Shetland sheepdog

Level 4: Pekingese

Level 5: German Shepherd

Level 5: Miniature Pinscher

……………….is just amazing. I realise that because he has Australian genes the breeds may not be exact, but Chow Chow/Dalmatian is something nobody could have picked but, when reading the traits there certainly are similarities. “Aloof, independent, not a strong desire to please/ high energy, aggressive towards other dogs, especially males, strong willed”. But he is also loving (when he wants it), fearless and intelligent (but hard to train)and obviously we also think he’s the most beautiful dog that ever existed.

I can’t say he specifically looks like any of the breeds but then again he is the epitome of a scruffy mutt and we always guessed he’d be a Heinz 57 varieties dog. We’re seriously still in shock to his mix but I have to say this was money well spent and the discussions will continue with friends and family for many months to come.

Thanks again,

Steve

About 6 months ago I took in a lovely dog from Heathlands Animal Sanctuary in Royston. I wasn’t looking to have any more dogs as I was quite happy with my two King Charles Spaniels, but when I went onto the Heathlands website and saw the plight of some of these rescued dogs brought over from an awful existence in Ireland I had to have a look – and there she was! Within two days Ciara was home with us and getting to know Molly and Meka and thankfully all are great friends.

She was quite thin and traumatised. After only 2 days she managed to scale the 5ft garden wall, and was seen by my Grandson weaving in and out of traffic on a busy main road. We now have trellis on top of the wall. She then started to dig her way under the wall, so have now had the garden paved! She was quite a scavenger and opened Christmas presents which were high up on a sideboard – eating a whole box of Tesco Finest Dark Belgium chocolates – quick visit to the vets. Several weeks later she climbed into a cupboard in the conservatory and managed to open a tin of rat poison – another visit to the vets! She was quite destructive when I left her in the house and never knew what to expect on my return. She chases anything that moves, but that is improving slowly having been given some good advice from the dog training class that we now attend.

When my sister told me she was thinking of having her recently rescued dog tested, I couldn’t wait to have mine done and beat her to it! Although both our dogs were rescued 6 months apart and both from different rescue centres, they had both come over from Ireland. They looked so alike (although mine was only 16 months old and my sisters 4 years old) we had convinced ourselves that they were related as my sister’s dog had had puppies at some stage in her life!

But when the results arrived how wrong we were – there was no DNA resemblance at all! My dog Ciara (who we thought was a Beagle cross,) is Border Collie x American Staffordshire Terrier x Dachshund and Millie is Labrador Retriever x Beagle x English Springer Spaniel x Lhapa Apso x Yorkie!

Ciara is one of the nicest dogs I have ever had (and I have had quite a few)!

Sue Charlton

After seeing the advert online for “What Breed is my Dog” and due to the very reasonable price I thought what the heck, contacted the staff to see if they would be OK to perform their service with me as I am based in Cork in Ireland, they said they would at no extra charge. My contact with the company has been extremely pleasant ever since, they send regular update emails to let me know how the process was going, and I was delighted to get back the results of Tyson being a level 1 Boxer with level 3 Labrador Retriever so a Boxador he is.

Bully AKA Bulldozer as at 2 months old he dug under the fence within the space of an hour to the neighbours ;o) Bully appeared to us on the 17^th September 2009 – we had rescued his mother, Roxy, on the 18^th August 2009 from the dog pound here in Cork. We had her checked by the vets that weekend and apart from her being 10lbs underweight we thought all was well – until Thursday 17^th Sept when she delivered 6 pups, one of whom was Bully, luckily all pups and mom survived and are creating havoc to this day, we kept “Bully” and “Penny” ourselves (along with Roxy) and found suitable homes for the other four.

Now of course since they arrived the speculation as to the father raged, initially we where thinking Newfoundland due to the size and colourings (Black and White) then while Bully continued to grow in every way, the rest of the gang didn’t seem to be getting as wide, so the thought turned to “Flat Coated Retriever”. As this breed is apparently prone to cancer and can only live to the age of 10 I had concerns for my two new babies. On seeing the advert online for What Breed is my Dog I thought now’s my chance to find out, not only out of interest as to the father, and answer the question to people who meet us in the street, but also from a health point of view, if I knew what breed they were made up of, it meant I could keep a watchful eye for those issues which increase due to genetic composition.  

As it runs out Bully is level 2 German Shepherd, level 3 English Springer Spaniel and level 5 Pekingese – the German Shepherd we knew because of Roxy, the English Springer Spaniel fills the gap of the colourings and the Pekingese explains why he thinks he is a lap dog – at 4.5 stone at 7.25 months, he is some lap dog!

Paul Buchanan