This story (written in October 2007)
comes from Anne Visser from Dallas, Texas. Anne is a member of
Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas.
Barkley is not a typical looking Golden,
despite being a rescue from
Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas
(GRRNT). Over the years we've had him he's displayed
some traits untypical of goldens: long snout, curly fur, undercoat that is
so thick you can barely run a brush through it, howling songs (sometimes in
tune), deep sunken eyes, long ears, etc. He's also had illnesses each year
that have been a mystery to his vets (and us).
Many in GRRNT and many of our friends and neighbors speculated that Barkley
was part poodle, because of his fur. I think many of you have fondly
referred to him as the "Goodle". John and I suspected, if anything, he
might be hound, setter or airedale. Earlier this year we bought a $70 DNA
cheek swab test kit (MetaMorphix) that tested for 38 different breeds
(including poodle).
Barkley
came back as "primary" Golden Retriever, meaning he was at least 50% Golden,
but if he had any non-golden dna it wasn't one of the breeds they tested.
So, when a new blood DNA test came out that covered over 131 breeds, we were
the first in our veterinary clinic to get the test. It's called a Wisdom
Panel test, developed by Mars Veterinary. Well, the results are back and our
vet is just as surprised as we are.
Barkley is 100% Golden Retriever! Yes, Barkley is NOT a
"oops" dog, he's a Golden Retriever, not a mix. His veterinary records are
now being changed to reflect his new status! We love him no matter what he
is because he is such a funny and loving dog. He just has an "exotic" unique
golden look! He won't be offended if you still affectionately refer to him
as the Goodle!
The other part of the story is
that we had Barkley in for surgery at the vets last week to remove two
cysts and a dental cleaning. One cyst was under his forearm and was
suspected fatty lipoma (and it was), the other was more suspicious and
on his tail. That one was more solid with a lot of vascular action
and was sent off for pathology. The call we got from the vet today was
also to tell us it was not a hemangiosarcoma (suspect) but a
hemangioadenoma (benign). Of course those results were much more
important than the DNA test. We've been a little worried about the
biopsy results and that is a huge weight off our minds. We didn't want
to have to face that kind of cancer with him. Our vet relayed that she
was also very relieved as it was very suspicious to her as well. So we
have two reasons to celebrate our little funny-looking golden.
We'll be at the GRRNT picnic
on Saturday with our rescued AKC guy Toby (the real ball fanatic)
and our affectionately nicknamed Monkeytail Barkley, with purple vet
wrap over his surgery incision on his tail.
