The board of a luxury New York City apartment complex raised concerns about "dog racism" in 2015, when it started requiring residents to test their dogs' DNA before granting the animals permission to reside in the building.
The board reasoned that certain dog breeds are aggressive by nature. (The complex has a list of banned breeds, which includes Pomeranians, according to DNAinfo.)
Dog DNA tests claim they can tell you about your pet's behavior, estimate how big a puppy will get, and indicate whether it will play nice with children or other pets.
Having experimented with testing my own DNA, I decided to find out more about my pup. In honor of National Pet Day, here's how it went:
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This is Izzie. When I adopted her over a decade ago, I was told she was a mixed-breed golden retriever.
She was only a year old at the time, so no one knew how big she'd get (most goldens reach their full size, about 60 lbs., around age 2) or how she'd behave. Our veterinarian told us she was likely a (smallish) golden retriever mutt.
But Izzie stayed roughly the same size, and we stayed curious about her heritage. Now 15 years old, she's friendly and loyal.
Most people get dog DNA tests so they can find out what kind of behavioral traits to expect — golden retrievers tend to be loyal and good with kids, for example, while dalmatians are super active and generally make good guard dogs.
Source: American Kennel Club
When I got the chance to test her DNA, I seized it. There were several options, but I picked the Wisdom Panel DNA test developed by MARS Veterinary, the world's largest pet healthcare provider.
At $79.99, the kit isn't cheap.
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