Gettin' all "Maury Povich" up in here

It has been a while since I have written about Ozzie (of course besides mentioning I left him out of the Christmas card this year). I used to write about him all the time. Remember this post about Abe's stuffed animals? Or this one about his mistaken identity? But, Ozzie is still a proud member of our family, and we still love him just as much as we did "pre-kids".

(Here is a lovely recent portrait of him taken by Ryan Smith. I like to call it, "Dog Awaiting Squirrel.")



So, when we heard that you can detect what breeds make up your dog through DNA testing, Jake and I were all about it. We made plans to purchase the test in honor of Ozzie's 9th birthday in February. But, lucky for us, Ward gifted us the kit for Christmas so we would not have to wait any longer!

Jake and I had so much fun speculating what sort of breed he was. When we bought him from the pet store (on super sale because he was a mutt and no one wanted him), they told us he was a "Lab mix." As he started getting bigger and fluffier we knew that may have been true, but he was definitely something else. Our standard answer for what type of dog he is, is "German Shepherd and Chow." Makes sense, right? He definitely looks like a German Shepherd. (see below)



But, his personality never really reflected what I thought a german shepherd should be. I always thought of them as such smart, regimented, strong dogs. Ozzie is ... well, not regimented. He is smart, I guess. I mean, he doesn't get us the morning paper and cook us breakfast, but he knows how to sit, and stay, and all of that.

We always assumed that chow made sense because he was so protective of the family (especially the kids) and hated other children. Plus, his curly tail, and ultimate fluffiness.

So, we got the results. And, you guys, I have never laughed so hard in all my life. But, it seems to make sense. He is definitely a mutt -- his parents are mutts themselves, but they were able to identify which breeds he is crossed with. He is mostly German Shepherd and then partly ... wait for it ... CHIHUAHUA. Yes. Ozzie is related to this:



And, you know, after the hilarity wore off, it all seemed to make sense. Remember his girlfriend Lupita? He also does love to snuggle and thinks that he is a lap dog. I have never tried carrying him around in my purse, but I am sure he would enjoy it.

You know, even though I never once considered Chihuahua to be the type of breed that Ozzie is, I do find it to be so fitting with our family. I don't think you can find two more random dogs to pair with each other. So, even though we loved and accepted Ozzie before, I can now whole-heartedly welcome into our crazy, random, beautiful family.

das Ende and el Final!