Well, I did it. I got a DNA test for Lambeau. We know he’s a mixed breed, and were told he has “American pit bull” in him, but I have always been curious about what else might be mixed in there. He was from a rescue litter, so it could be anything. I got the Embark Dog DNA kit because it seems the most comprehensive, gets high ratings everywhere you look for these things, and they work with the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine to further research into genetically inherited diseases in dogs. And that’s the other part of the test- they will test for those diseases so we will know if he is prone to any.
Now, I know the more valuable part of the test is the disease end. The breed profile is done by comparing the genetic type for known breeds (they claim to have 350 different profiles to compare), and it isn’t necessarily 100% accurate, especially when you get into the lower percentage IDs. But it will be fun to see what comes up. I have some suspicions. Anyone care to guess what this guy is? (I won’t get results for 2-4 weeks.)
I have also been participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count (another one associated with Cornell). It’s pretty simple. You watch for birds for at least 15 minutes on at least one day between February 12-14, count what you see, and upload those counts to a website. I’ve done it before, but missed last year. I count the birds that come to our feeders. Glad I did this year, because we had a new (to us) visitor- a red-breasted nuthatch. We get the white-breasted regularly, but this is the first red I have seen. We also have a robin. He must have missed the “fly south now” memo!
We are supposed to get more snow this week. Yay. I know it’s winter, and we get snow here, but did it all have to come within one month? It’s like Mother Nature looked out the window at us here and said: Oh, crap! There’s supposed to be snow!” I could do without more, honestly.
Otherwise, it’s been a pretty normal week. Which, you know, is okay with me.
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And So On... 