She ain’t no german shepherd.

A few weeks ago I had blood drawn from Elka to test her DNA and see what breeds she had.

The shelter had marked her "German Shepherd mix" - everyone agreed, from her looks, that she had some shepherd.

Not even a trace.

She is primarily Siberian Husky (significant amount), then some English Cocker Spaniel (some) (!?!?!?!), then some Alaskaman Malamute and Rottweiler (traces).

So, this is how it broke down on the DNA analysis:

• You should see traits from Siberian Husky.
• You may see traits from English Cocker Spaniel.
• There is a chance of seeing traits from Alaskan Malamute and Rottweiler

Well, she most likely will not be much of a guard dog, she'll happily greet strangers and love them. She'll also have a strong prey drive. Now, I've done a lot of research and many people have happily raised pure-bred huskies with cats and they managed to be best friends. But huskies are predators of small animals. I don't feel a reason to worry about Elka - she's very, very gentle with the cats, though she wants to play with them. The only issue I do see if that she chases them. However, I've been at the end of the chase and she always stops and stops - she has never put her teeth on the cats.

Now - does that mean she's safe for all cats? No. A pup raised around cats may be ok, especially with the pack; but not ok with strange cats.

Huskies are also more independent (like Odin was) and more stubborn; and they're never off-leash dogs since they're runners. Her mix will definitely speak to how she gets trained, and I'll need to amend my own thinking on that a bit. But she's doing extraordinarily well to be honest, and I think she's just perfect.

The only real hitch this puts in my plans is that I expected her to become protective as she got older. Then next summer, I was going to get a golden retriever. However, I do feel more comfortable with a dog that has some guarding instinct, so the next dog probably will not be a golden, but will be shepherd or other working dog of some sort, with a history of guardianship. But, we'll see - perhaps that Rottweiler in her will come out if she suspects danger, eh?

I always wanted a husky but wouldn't have chosen one, due to the cats. However, she's doing great with the cats, and I'm confident that I can get her to be close to perfect (a running cat will likely always get chased, unfortunately, but the cats have been easily able to handle themselves).

Adventures ahead, eh?

Comments (4)

I am both. =)

And Anji - Yes, I think so, but it means I can’t be at all lax in her training, as it’s not just puppydom but breeding that I have to overcome.