Local lab shows what your mutt's made of
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Updated: 5:05 PM Sep 26, 2008
Local lab shows what your mutt's made of
If you own a mixed breed dog, you've probably wondered what different breeds make up your mutt.
Posted: 6:05 PM Sep 19, 2008
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- If you own a mixed breed dog, you've probably wondered what different breeds make up your mutt.

Thanks to new DNA testing you can find out.

Stephen McLamb’s pooch, Astro the Wonderdog as he fondly calls her underwent testing Friday.

She doesn't care what kind of dog she is, but like many dog owners, Stephen just wanted to know, so Astro got the royal treatment and went to a lab in Knoxville to be tested.

She's definitely Southern. She loves fresh okra, so maybe there's a little blue tick coon hound in her.

And maybe, just maybe she has a well known relative named Smokey.

EDP Biotech Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Kevin Jones says, "Good ole Smokey for UT. hat would be a breed which is very much southern United States."

But Stephen doesn’t know for sure what Astro is, and neither does she.

Dr. Jones says, "People love their dogs. They want to know what their dog is."

So Astro got the royal treatment and got to go to the lab at EDP Biotech Corporation to be tested.

A little swab of DNA from her mouth and then it's back home to wait for the results.

Meanwhile, her DNA is now being looked at.

Dr. Kevin Jones says they test for more than 60 dog breeds.

"The 62 breeds cover about 92 to 93 percent of the dogs you will find in the U.S."

He says the average results show four different breeds in dogs but he has seen as many as 11.

Dr. Jones says, "Which is quite good fun when we get them because we look at the results and try to imagine what that dog may look like."

But determining your dog’s breed does more than answer a pet owner’s curiosity. Jones says it's beneficial for the owner and the dog's veterinarian.

"We can answer a lot of questions and give you ideas on how your dog should be trained, or how it should be fed, or what diseases you should look out for as it gets older."

Swab kits with instructions cam be found locally in Knoxville at Lange, Hardin Valley, and Bluegrass animal hospitals, as well as at Concord Veterinary Hospital.

The cheapest is $59.95 at Concord and Lange.

You can also click get them online,

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