Zazu was adopted in 1998 from DAWG rescue in Santa Barbara. I named this feisty, fun-loving teenage pup after Zazu Pitts - one of my favorite character actresses of the 1930's.Every day for close to ten years, I changed my mind about Zazu's likely breed mix. One day she looked like or acted exactly like a herding dog, other days there was no doubt in my mind she had retrieving genes. In the winter, her coat grew to a length and density not unlike that of a wooly mammoth's! Frankly, I thought she enjoyed being such an enigma, and this little guessing game became somewhat of a daily ritual for me.
As with my other mixed-breed rescue dogs, I was benignly resigned to spending our days together never knowing for certain anything about Zazu's parentage. That was, until the Canine Heritage Breed Test became available.
For $65, a kit including a special cheek swab to sample your dog's DNA is sent to you. As easy and detailed as the instructions were, I still managed to mangle my fist attempt, sending in a "corrupted" DNA sample. The company graciously sent me another kit to re-do Zazu's test and the second time was the charm!
According to the test, Zazu has no Primary Breed (that would need to be 50% or more). Her Secondary breed is Golden(!) Retriever, and "In the Mix" breeds are Chow Chow and Siberain Husky. All this makes perfect sense to me.
Only 38 breeds are presently in their data bank, and they're pretty slim on certain breed-types (like Terriers), but it was fun and not crazy-expensive like the new (but probably more accurate) Mars Wisdom Panel Mixed Breed Analysis Test - which runs about $200 and can only be administered by a vet. Plus, I got this cool, suitable-for-framing certificate. Ooh... So official!
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