How Can I Tell What Breed My Dog Is?
Finding out the Breed of your Dog is FUN
Do you think everything about your mixed-breed dog is special? Mutts have surprising talents and quirks, not to mention unique shapes and colors, which help you spot them quickly in a lineup at the dog park! As much as you love them just the way they are, that nagging question remains: “How can I tell what breed my dog is?” Wouldn’t it be fun to know? YES.
You could have a dog whose DNA and ancestry hail from a long line of specially-bred heroic rescuers, fox hunters or sheep herders. Your petite pooch may have come from bed warmers for royalty or fashion accessories for the rich. OK, maybe we’re glamorizing just a bit, but you never know! Here are some ways to tell what breed your dog is.
Consult with Professionals
Ask your vet: Your vet is highly-educated, experienced, has seen it all, and treated all kinds of different breeds. Why not tap into that wealth of doggie knowledge and ask their opinion about what breed your dog might be? They’ll be most happy to give it!
Ask a shelter employee: Take your fur-baby to local animal shelter or rescue and have some of their long-term employees make an educated guess. If it’s a large organization with lots of tails going in and out on a yearly basis, these caring professionals have had a lot of experience determining breeds by sight.
Ask a groomer: It’s a professional dog groomer’s job to make a pooch look its best, so she knows a thing or two (or ten or twenty!) about dog breeds. As an experience-based dog breed identifier, she can give you some possibilities about your dog’s heritage based on his coat (double or single? Smooth or rough?), coloring, and more.
“How can I tell what my dog breed is?” The above suggestions won’t give you a for- sure answer to this question, but consulting with a professional is still an excellent place to start as you em-“bark” on your own research: which is the next suggestion on our list!
Hit the Interwebz
It’s really fun to ask and research and speculate, but when you’re really ready to know for sure, the answer is just a swab-swipe away. A Dog DNA Test for breed identification provides precise information about a dog’s genetic background, going back three generations. All you have to do is swipe cheek cells from the inside of your dog’s mouth and send them off to the lab. It’s fast, painless, accurate, and affordable. It’s currently the best way to really find out the truth. Leave it to science to make something that was once impossible a reality.
Tip of the Tail
Yes, you love them no matter what. But sometimes, it’s just fun to know the breeds in your dog’s past that have combined to make him unique.
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