When I first saw Jack jump out of his foster parent’s car, I thought to myself, that’s not a German Shepherd. He looked like a greyhound or a flat-coated collie. He’s tan and white and does not have a shepherd physique. My husband and I have had two German Shepherds and know what they should look like. We had seen pictures on the Last Hope K9 rescue website, but until we saw him in front of us, we admitted we were surprised. Jack’s chest was narrow. His legs were long. He bounced rather than walked. He was sweet and excited.
My husband and I have committed to only rescuing dogs – adopt, don’t shop. To that promise, we have had some amazing dogs that we have loved beyond our dreams. When they cross over the rainbow bridge, we continue to bring amazing, loving dogs into our home. Some were old and some were on the younger side. We found Last Hope K9, “dedicated to saving abandoned, neglected, and abused dogs from high kill shelters in Central Arkansas and beyond,” through a friend whose niece was a foster mom in Massachusetts for the organization. We don’t adopt puppies as we continue this promise with the youngest about a year old.
They are beyond ridiculous silly dogs. They play a lot…
…I mean a lot.
The two we have now are Gabe and Jack. Gabe is part Catahoula, part German Shepherd, and all hound. If you’ve ever had a hound dog with a fleshy, jowly squishy physique then you know they are their own little bosses, and the neighborhood knows them for their howling.
When we lost Buddy, a pit-mix, boxer we got from the Greater Derry Humane Society, who had been kept in a basement for over a year, Gabe needed a friend, and we turned to LHK9 which rescues dogs in Arkansas. Why are there so many dogs and cats euthanized in Arkansas? Some say since they don’t have spay and neuter laws or other regulations this causes the amount of animals to become neglected and given to the kill shelters or just abandoned on the side of the road. Gabe was found in a parking lot with his mother and rescued.
Jack, our newbie who will turn two this month, has been with us for a little over a year. He was found behind a fast food place in Arkansas with his sister. As a result of his early life exposure, he likes to be inside after dark and does not like rain.
We are very cautious when we introduce new dogs to our home and this involves sniffing one another, both the front end and the back end, through a chain-link fence. Still, Gabe has a great personality and loves to play. The initial reaction was positive, and Jack was let into the yard with Gabe and immediately they began to play and play and play. They ran and chased each other and seemed to be in doggie heaven. The two boys were a perfect match. Gabe needed a playmate and Jack needed one, as well as a place to run and use those lanky legs.
To choose what DNA company to use, I turned to Wirecutter, The New York Times product review website. They listed Embark Veterinary, Inc. as their “pick,” with Wisdom Panel as “great also.”
We started with Embark Veterinary, Inc. to see if science could explain his physique and personality. I signed up online with a price of $109 for the basic testing. The kit came in about a week and we swabbed Jack’s cheek and returned the sample in the kit they provided. There was an issue with the length of time for the sample to arrive at the company and I had to have a couple of back-and-forth help-centered conversations with them as it took nearly two months to finally get the results.
Embark gives you a lot of information about your dog including a description of the breeds they’ve identified, what other dogs could be a close family relation, a comparison to other dogs, what his family tree may have looked like, and pinpointing where Jack’s ancestors migrated from and lived. It’s very similar to Ancestry.com of which I am a member. Like any organization, they try to upsell you by offering to “unlock results for 250+ health conditions” for $69, well pet insurance, and selling dog food and nutrition items.
Still, with all that information, we decided we wanted to try another company for a comparison. We went with Wirecutter’s second choice and used Wisdom Panel. The cost was similar, and the procedure was the same. The results were delivered in a much timelier manner.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of the two products:
Embark landed with English Shepherd and 25.3% in the first place, while Wisdom Panel had Jack at 18% a Labrador Retriever. Both had German Shepherd dogs as a part of his DNA which goes along with why LHK9 billed him as such. Still, neither one explained his size, lanky long legs, and shorthaired coat. There is a herding instinct on both of the company’s outcomes which explains Jack’s overwhelming need to get in between us and Gabe. The instinct is strong in him.
No matter what Jack and Gabe are made up of, they are a wonderful addition to our family. Please always adopt don’t shop. A wonderful family member is awaiting you, too.
Beverly Stoddart is an award-winning writer, author, and speaker. She is on the Board of Trustees of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and serves on the board of the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism. She is the author of Stories from the Rolodex, mini-memoirs of journalists from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
