Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I tested my adopted puppy, who I knew to be a mixed breed, purely out of curiosity. First, the process itself. It is very easy to do; the instructions and materials are well done. I was especially careful with the waiting period for objects in the mouth (Phoenix is approximately 5 months, and is still in the chewing phase), so that presented a little bit of an issue, though undoubtedly a necessary one. I took her toys away and did it very late in the night as she was sleeping. The two included swabs have light bristles on the end. Phoenix did not mind one bit; in fact, she went back to sleep as I was doing it. Everything for return shipping is included, and it is all quite simple. It was marked as received 1 day after tracking indicated (again, completely understandable), and the website has its own tracker as it is processed. It was completed in about 7 days, 2 weeks before the promise date. More importantly, the results. I notice some of the others here doubt the results because it does not meet their preconceptions. This is understandable to a degree, but I came in with a more open mind. My dog's physical traits can be interpreted in many different ways, and it seems everyone has their own opinions (wire haired fox terrier/lab mix was the rescue's best guess, but she was very up front that it was in fact nothing more than a guess). I will include a picture on the product page so you can see for yourself (edit: this feature doesn't seem to be available right now for some reason, sorry). With that said, I was extremely surprised with the results. Yet, when I put the pieces available together, it did make some sense. Logically of course it could be argued that you could say that about just about anything, but I take it at face value. It turns out my 25 lb 5 month old wire haired puppy has a plurality of Yorkshire Terrier! Needless to say, nobody had that one. Still, my dog is such a mix that this still accounts for only 25% of her lineage. Indeed, the report did in fact get the adult weight range of 26-43 lbs correct despite the Yorkshire terrier (this is impressive in my opinion). The other primaries were Bulldog and cocker spaniel (12.5 % each). That leaves 50% mixed going back to at least her great-grandparents. The minors that showed had some dogs that made sense as well given her physical appearances (lab was included). Still, I am at a loss to explain her wire-haired coat (her hair is primarily black and about 3 inches and sheds very little, while her slight undercoat is a soft brown). In the end, I enjoyed it. It still left some questions, but this was expected going in. I do have one suggestion. The report is very ambiguous as to the mixed breed signatures (less than certain breeds). I completely understand that there are limitations given the complexity of the science and data pool, but I would like to know the quantifiable likelihood of these breeds. The bar graph doesn't help very much. It shows relative comparison to each other and in relation to "detection threshold" (which itself is not quantified), but I really have no reference to be able to say how likely any of them truly are. All I know is that these 5 breeds are possible, and more possible than other breeds. That's better than nothing, but given a bar graph is provided, more specific information it would seem is available. The bottom line - for me it was worth it. The results were both plausible and interesting. I am satisfied. Indeed, for me the idea that this kind of thing is even possible let alone available to the individual consumer is a scientific marvel. 25 years ago this was nothing more than science fiction. Now I have a DNA test on my dog to satisfy my curiosity! Pretty astounding when you think about it. Who knows, maybe in five years the test will have improved to the point where I can tell where my dog's hair came from.