Looks can be so deceiving- here is an article of a woman who adopted a rescue dog in N.J. Dog looks like a basenji - even her vet thought it might be basenji. She did an Embark DNA test - no basenji. Turned out the dog was a mixture of Mountain Cur, Rat Terrier, Beagle, and Boston Terrier. link text
Is my dog a Basenji mix?
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Luna is a 2 year old that I rescued 2 months ago. She was spayed 3 months ago and her mother is a Yorkie but father unknown. She weighs 13 lbs. She barks a lot but when I tell her to stop she starts growling instead. Thoughts?
Ann
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She is very cute, but honestly do not see any Basenji in her. Many breeds have curly tails... She is lucky that you adopted her and for sure you are welcome here
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Thanks for your reply! I've been reading up on breeds and trying to figure her background out. Someday I'll probably do a DNA test.
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@annmac I don't think you will get anywhere without a DNA test, and then you might be very surprised ! But does it really matter as long as you love each other ?
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The major reason that I think it could matter if simply health issues of different breeds.
Debra
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@debradownsouth said in Is my dog a Basenji mix?:
health issues of different breeds.
great point! Different breeds = different issues. And somehow, "mutts" are always get credit for being the healthiest! Of course, that's probably just a mathematical equation (#of mutts:%of any illness).
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@debradownsouth interesting point. If a Basenji is in the mix, however diluted, would it be liable - say - to the same sort of things, like Fanconi ? Or does a Fanconi - prone breed have to dominate in any mixture ?
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Fanconi is a recessive, so it must come from both parents. Unless the other breed or breeds in the mix are known to carry the Fanconi gene it's unlikely to be a problem. Most unwanted conditions in purebred dogs seem to come from recessive genes, (this is one of the downsides of line breeding to set traits) so theoretically a mix would be less likely to suffer from these problems, but that would depend on their prevalence in the breeds being mixed.
"In order to get along with a Basenji, you have to be at least half as smart as the dog!"
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@eeeefarm Yes but in a mix who is to know if there aren't genes from two sides ? Any way I was only using Fanconi as a hypothetical example. I am well aware of the recessive properties !
I should still like @DebraDownSouth to expand on her statement. -
@zande said in Is my dog a Basenji mix?:
Yes but in a mix who is to know if there aren't genes from two sides ?
Ah, there's the rub! Unless the parents have been DNA'd you don't know what you are getting, although the "designer" dogs generally are a mix of two purebreds of different breeds, so presumably in that case you do know. But with mixes? How many times on this forum have people done DNA tests, usually to find out if their pup might have Basenji blood, and how often are we completely surprised at the results?
Genetics is such an interesting subject!
"In order to get along with a Basenji, you have to be at least half as smart as the dog!"
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@eeeefarm said in Is my dog a Basenji mix?:
Genetics is such an interesting subject!
And the most understandable book on the subject is Mary Lou Kenworthy's ! Recommended to everyone if it is still available.
