Tuesday, January 17, 2017

DNA

DNA is the building block of life.  And a tattoo for Moby....the blogger, not the musician.

For the holidays, I got 710 a doggie DNA test for Shep. Let me tell you  - it was not cheap.  I'm not complaining or anything, it's just I got a mid-range one and the others were way way more pricey.

710 did the work. He had to scrape the sides of Shep's mouth, with three different swabs.....for 45 seconds each.

Now, that doesn't sound so bad, does it?  

Look at your watch for 45 seconds. Three times.

Now try it with a dog who likes to each anything that is in his mouth.  It's like infinity +1.


On another note, 710 got me a DNA kit for the holidays. The ancestry.com one.

No one had to scrape my mouth, but I did have to spit into a container. I had to wait for the bubbles to go down on it to make sure there was enough saliva.

So you see all these commercials about how these folks thought they were from one part of the world, but found out they were another. It's like their family has been lying to them their entire life.

The potential weird part of the ancestry thing is: if other relations have done the same test, they can tell you.....or connect you.....or something.

I don't think that matters - as I know my sisters. Assuming they are my sisters. And assuming they are my only sisters.

This could be a good thing / weird thing for adopted kids.....who are grown and now find family this way. Or for that second family you always assumed your grandfather had who now discovers you.

...for the record, I only think one of those things could happen......as I'm not adopted.

Now my father always poo-poo'd my assumptions that his father had a second family, but for the life of me I never understood his devotion to his own dad. I'm not going out on a limb to say he wasn't the most likable man in the whole world.  He wasn't the most likable man in his own house - and he was the only man in his house.

So while it might have surprised my father to know he had a half-brother somewhere, I'd kind of raise my hand and say "nailed it". Little does the new half-half-half brother know that the family fortune was pissed away years ago.

Oh, it also tells you who in history you might be related to. ....and you just know it's gonna be someone shitty like Eva Braun.........or worse, David Spade.

In two weeks or so, we will find out if Shep is truly a Basset Shepard mix. Or if the test is reliable at all. I'm expecting it come back Husky, Poodle.

In five weeks or so, we'll find out if I'm the same thing.

I certainly feel husky.



Song by: Empire of the Sun

4 comments:

Fearsome Beard said...

Honey, you will always be a poodle to me.

Dith said...

So curious about Shep. You and he are both perfect the way you are, but dog breeds are exciting.

Ur-spo said...

We were amazed - and doubtful - of Harper's make up. It was fun to do.
Please keep us posted to the results.

rebecca said...

We did the Nat'l Geo one, and couldn't make heads nor tails of the results. Except Andrew's DNA could be traced to a Norway haplogroup. Or something like that.