Woman thought rescue dog was a terrier—nothing prepares her for DNA results

A Michigan woman submitted her rescue dog for a DNA test expecting the results to reveal she was a terrier—but nothing could prepare her for the truth.

Kathleen Sheehan adopted Dottie from her local humane society. “She came in from a rescue in Tennessee,” Sheehan told Newsweek. “We don’t think she had a lot of meaningful human contact prior to her adoption, so we’ve been teaching her how to be a good companion dog.”

Sheehan says Dottie is still getting used to meeting new people. “She was very timid, and still is with strangers,” she said. However, Dottie’s playfulness shone through from the start and she is learning to channel her energy into outdoor pursuits.

“Currently her favorite pastime is destroying her toys, but she also is learning to enjoy walks—she even whines and sits by the door once her harness is on to hurry us up,” Sheehan said. “She also loves playing in the snow—which is great since we got a lot of it this year.”

The decision to have Dottie undergo a DNA test was one Sheehan made out of “pure curiosity.” She said: “We tested our last dog as well and it was fun, so why not do it with her?”

Dottie came from a rescue in Tennessee

Every pet owner has their own specific reasons for wanting to get a DNA test done on their four-legged friend.

In 2022, a study published in the journal Animals identified the three most commonly cited reasons saw dog owners cite a desire to learn about their dog’s background, as they had limited information, satisfy their curiosity about their dog’s breed, and participate in something fun and entertaining as the three main motivators behind their decision.

Sheehan’s reasoning follows along those lines, but she went into the test with some level of expectation as to what it would reveal about Dottie. “I expected it to show she was a terrier,” Sheehan said.

However, when the results came back, they revealed something astonishing: Dottie is 55 percent Doberman pinscher. She’s also 10 percent Pomeranian, 6 percent Pekingese and 6 percent poodle. She also happens to be 16 percent Yorkshire terrier, but the reveal that she was a Doberman was the most unexpected of all.

“Her being half Doberman blew me away,” Sheehan said. “Never in a million years would I have guessed that.”

Dottie’s DNA results.

Stunned at the results, Sheehan posted the findings to Reddit under the handle u/miz_k, writing simply: “Say what?” alongside it. “To say I was shocked is an understatement. She has a Dobie temperament though,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan shared the results to see if others were as stunned by them as she was. “I rarely post to Reddit, but I thought her results might be of interest in that particular subreddit so I posted it,” she said.

That proved to be the case. “My jaw dropped,” one user wrote. Another said: “She’s adorable! I guess if you asked me what a Yorkie Doberman mix would look like she’s the right shape, but wow, would never have guessed.”

A third added: “This one absolutely FLOORED me, but I can actually kinda see it! My family has a chi/pit mix, and the result is that he’s a pit, but short with a wide neck. This dog similarly looks very dobie/yorkiepom with this sort of hindsight from the test, but my God I would’ve never guessed.”

Related Articles