Another lesson in don't judge a book by its cover. It's in the DNA!

Don't call me a Pit Bull!

How a dog looks can be very deceiving indeed.  A study done by Maddie's Fund Veterinary Medicine program at University of Florida  makes the point over and over...and over.  It's simple, do DNA tests on a bunch of dogs, ask people what they think the primary breed of the dog is and then compare the DNA test results. The results will amaze you.

I had to laugh at some of the results because you have to wonder how some of these dogs got together?! It's a fascinating study and it will definitely make you reassess what you thought you knew about identifying dog breeds.  All I can say is those American Eskimo Dogs sure get around! ;-)

On a more serious note, I can tell you that every shelter out there is WAY off on their guesses as to what kind of dog breeds they have.  One reason there are so many Pit Bulls in the shelters is that most mutts look like a what we think of as a "Pit Bull."  How many dogs on this list would be categorized as a Pit Bull at your shelter?

Most importantly, this study proves another reason why BSL is such nonsense. How do you identify a dog as a Pit Bull?  I seriously doubt they are doing DNA testing on every dog.  How can BSL be legal when they don't even know the breed of the dog?  I'm starting to think that we need to eradicate the term Pit Bull from our vocabulary and call a spade a spade: it is a mixed breed dog!

So, check out this study, you'll be really amazed at some of the mixes.

http://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/library/research-studies/current-studies/dog-breeds/dna-results/