[joyziegirl]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Considering that dogs have between 19,000 and 20,000 genes, and it only would only take a mutation in one or two of them to make a Yorkie not look like a Yorkie, there is nothing foolish at all about these test results and the MARS test in general--the foolishness lies in not knowing the limitations of the test and what the results do or do not mean.

Consider that there are disreputable breeders who are trying to create "new" and "exciting" colors in Yorkies by mating them with other breeds to get the color from the other breed, and then mating them back to Yorkies to transfer the color to a dog that "looks" like a Yorkie, but may actually be 25% some other breed. People will "ooh" and "aah" over that dog and swear up and down that it's a Yorkie because the size is right, the muzzle shape is right, the ears are right, the hair texture and length is right. But a MARS test will reveal that the dog is 25% some other breed, and there would have been no other way of finding that out if it weren't for DNA testing.

The point is, Minnie might be an off type due to one or two genes, and there are probably a lot of dogs that look more like a Yorkie than Minnie does, but are not purebred Yorkies, and that is not the fault of MARS, Inc. MARS is VERY customer-friendly, and if Jen has any questions about the results of Minnie's test and wants to email them a photo of Minnie to get an explanation of how Minnie could test as a Yorkie but look so different, I'm sure they would be happy to work with her further.

Thanks for pointing those valuable things out. And I agree with you wholeheartedly. But really what good is a test if it tells us something is something it doesn't look like. I myself as a hobby breeder and have been involed with breed creation, would have never sold Minnie as a fullbred Yorkie. If anything I would have kept her for six months, had her spayed and placed in a pet home. To be honest with you any breeder that is willing to sell a puppy that is so off center from the rest, well lets just say that it comes back to bite you in your a$$ets.