Dog DNA test?

Have you seen the ads for the new dog DNA tests? Yowza! I can’t imagine being that curious (though they’re not super pricey) about my dog’s ancestry.

But, I could see these as being a really valuable tool for rescue organizations, especially with puppies. One of the big concerns of most adoptive families is how big (or small) the dog will be full-grown, and that’s a question that can be hard to answer when the shelter doesn’t know much about the pup’s parents. So, a test like this could certainly help the shelter guesstimate the dog’s size and temperament.

It could also be really helpful for shelters to be able to advertise less common breeds because often people are looking for a specific type of dog when they want to adopt, and this way the shelter could accurately describe the dog instead of listing it as a “terrier” or “shepherd mix” based on little more than that the dog has a lot of energy or seems really smart.

What do you think? Would you have your dog’s dna tested? Would you want to know a dog’s ancestry before adopting it from a shelter?