Can You Guess the Breed?

What Breed Is My Dog?

This is Joy. She belongs to one of our Registered Veterinary Technicians, Charity, and her family. What would you guess Joy’s breed(s) to be?

Charity and her dogs

Charity with Chloe, Simon, and Joy (l to r).

Time’s up!

DNA Testing for Dogs

Charity took advantage of DNA testing for dogs to learn Joy is 50{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} Australian Shepherd, 12.5{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} Lhasa Apso, and 12.5{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} Golden Retriever. The rest is a smattering of breeds ranging from 10{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} Great Dane to 5{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} Chihuahua!

By looks alone, most of us would never guess those. By personality, however, Charity says that Joy is always running and chasing in the yard more so than her other dogs. Joy’s behavior is more befitting of an Aussie than her looks.

It’s fun to have this information. It does help explain Joy’s unique personality more. Even without the knowledge, Charity is willing to do what works for each of her dogs. She still trains all her dogs to have manners and follow the rules. She loves them all.

Can Professionals Guess a Dog’s Breed?

groomer talking with dogs

So, tell me, what breed are you?

Not really.

A study out of the University of Florida asked 5,922 veterinarians, dog breeders, trainers, and groomers to identify the breed of 100 shelter dogs based on a photo. The dogs were DNA tested to determine their breed composition. They compared the answers for some interesting results:

  • A predominant breed was correctly selected 27{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} of the time.
  • Each dog had an average of 53 different breeds selected as guesses.
  • 22{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} of the dogs had correct guesses less than 1{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} of the time.
  • 6{cc651acb8fd21d18461bab90e3951e117ad976e0f5f2bec6fa2ec763fee94208} were not correctly identified at all.

Read the article and see the pictures of the dogs here! Put your own skills to the test!

Why Does the Breed Matter?

It shouldn’t really.

That said, not every dog is a good match for every family. Knowing common traits for certain breeds can be helpful. Just because your dog looks like a certain breed, remember you are not guaranteed to have him act like that breed.

Most importantly, dogs (and cats) should be individually evaluated based on their temperament and health history. If you are looking to adopt a pet, keep that in mind.

You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. Even when the cover is a bit crazy looking.