My Dog

I want to tell you about my dog, Tommy. We've had Tommy for about 15 months now. He's a rescue dog, and we got him from the Springfield, Ohio Animal Welfare League. They operate a no-kill sanctuary out in the country - a facility they call "The Farm."

We went looking for a new dog when the last of our two previous pets, Suzi and Mr. Ed, passed away last year. Sweet Suzi is the one with the pointy ears, and stoical Mr. Ed is the black and white guy marked like a Holstein cow.

Those guys were with us for a lot of years and we missed them terribly when they were gone. A couple of weeks after Mr. Ed passed from complications of diabetes, we were dog-shopping again.

We went to the Animal Welfare League farm because that is were we found Mr. Ed years ago, and because my wife had worked with the League for years. 

I looked online at the League's web page and my wife took one look at Tommy's photo and we were off to meet him.

The League's write up described him as a "bull terrier mix."  When he was first introduced to us at the "interview room" at the Farm,  I was a little taken aback. His wide jaw and pugilistic ears made me think immediately "Pit Bull."

But despite him being stressed, he seemed friendly and I took him for a walk around the grounds. I talked to a couple of the attendants there who assured me that he had never shown any aggression towards people or other animals. The people at the Farm really liked Tommy and enjoyed walking him. 

I took him down to the feline enclosure, the "Cat House," and we walked in.  I needed to know how he would get along with our cat Smoochie. Tommy encountered loose cats in the Cat House, and didn't show any aggression at all. 

It was very obvious from the beginning that we'd hit the jackpot - Tommy is the perfect dog. He's very clean. He's perfectly house-broken and I swear he understands the spoken word. I can just say, "Go to bed," in a normal tone of voice and motion with my hand and he'll take off for the bedroom. I just say "Come on Tommy," and he'll be with me instantly. He's very calm most of the time, but very protective of the house. He behaves well on the leash, he has a wonderful sense of humor, and likes to play.

My wife and I debated Tommy's lineage for a couple of months, then decided to have his DNA tested. Not that it mattered really, he was one of the family already. We just wanted to know since he is such an unusual dog.

For about $100 you can get your dog's DNA tested. Here are Tommy's results:

There's no Pit Bull lineage, but there is American Staffordshire Terrier, a healthy dose of Shar Pei. Then equal parts Chihuahua and Labrador Retriever. The remaining 12.5% is a bunch of other stuff.

The Staffordshire I had already guessed. The Shar Pei was a surprise as was the Chihuahua. I suppose the Chihuahua explains why Tommy isn't as big as a Staffordshire or Shar Pei.

So the test pretty well proves that our Tommy is a unique individual. There can't be  too many Staffordshire-Shar Pei-Chihuahua-Labradors out there in the world. 

The DNA tests showed that one pair of Tommy's Great Grandparents were a Labrador and a Chihuahua. I wonder how they worked that out - seems impossible, physically. But, where there's a will, there's a way.

When an adult asks, "What kinda dog is that?,"  I give them the whole DNA story. When a child asks, I say, "He's a very rare bi-colored American Chucklemutt."  'Cause he's a mutt and he makes me laugh.

We kept his original name, Tommie, but I call  him a variety of things: Tommy, Tom, Buddy, Mr. T, Fuzzbutt, Mr. Fuzzybutt, etc. He doesn't seem to mind. 

So we're the proud owners of a young athletic 40-pound dog who is happy, healthy and well adjusted. He's not aggressive except in defense of the house. He's clean, has a sense of humor and enjoys our neighborhood walks. He's great company. He's terrified of thunder and doesn't much like garbage trucks and school buses.