Rescue dogs looking for caring companions found not only friends but also family when their owners adopted a second dog.
After years of dog-free life and the last place not being pet-friendly, Jane Salazar and her husband happily adopted a young dog named Diego shortly after they moved into their home in Redbank, Tennessee last year…
Without knowing what breed Diego was – which Salazar described as a “fluffy” “brave” dog – Salazar decided to indulge her curiosity and had Diego’s Embark dog DNA tested…
“Testing showed that they were primarily pit bulls and Australian sheepdogs,” Salazar.
However, tests revealed even more surprising facts. Owner Diego recalls, “He had two episodes of premature retinal atrophy, and he knew he was going to go blind.”
Salazar took Diego to an ophthalmologist who claimed to be “real” to confirm the test results. An ophthalmologist confirmed Diego’s premature retinal atrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive vision loss, and noted that his one-year-old dog’s vision was already starting to deteriorate.
The ophthalmologist also advised Salazar and her husband to have another dog to support Diego and become friendly friends because the dog had lost sight.
Shortly after this encounter, Salazar revisited the rescuer’s website while searching for Diego and found a dog very similar to his current pet. She and her husband applied, and soon Dixie became a family and met Diego.
Salazar says of the Embark DNA test he did for Dixie, “We did this test much faster.” After using information from Diego’s tests to make lives healthier and more comfortable, Salazar wanted to do the same for Dixie if necessary. The
Dixie test also produced surprising results.
DNA results showed that Dixie and Diego were linked. Diego and Dixie are brothers, according to what Embark’s Relative Finder found. Dogs do not come from the same litter and most have the same mother and father.
“The two of them had a good time. She persevered and they played well together.” Salazar speaks of the bond she saw among the hybrids…
According to the owner, the two couldn’t be more different, except for their looks, their DNA, and their love of sibling play…
Salazar describes Dixie as a lively, curious and terrier-like dog, while Diego is more callous and timid. She added that Dixie is doing a “really good” job as Diego’s sister and has already improved her brother’s life…
“It allows you to prepare with health benefits,” says Salazar of dog DNA testing. “For Diego who knows how long it took us to find out about his sight loss. Without tests, you might think of him as a strange dog that likes to sit and watch.” Having learned a lot about pets through DNA testing, Salazar’s experience helped another pet owner get his furry friend’s DNA tested. I hope it will be.
