My dogs have no lustrous pedigree. Their home will never be featured in the San Diego dream home magazines, nor will my dog-car be parked (often) at a dog groomer’s business. I’ve never really understood the Westminster Dog “Show Dog” mentality.
Dexter is “assumed” to be a Husky- Bull Terrier mix (but resembles more Lab) while Comet is part Greyhound and German Shepherd, which may be more accurate. Sometimes I think there is a master plan for dog and person; my spouse and I are curiously suited for this hodge-podge pack. Where else but in Southern California would California-born daughter of Kentucky-Alabama -Irish-Welsh extraction and son of Bronx Polish-Jew -Irish stock, make a home over twenty years for a couple generations of shelter dogs.
Genealogy has been an interesting pastime for me, tracing back the family histories to Ireland, Scotland and the former British colonies. Every week a dozen new families linking our distant ancestors are “discovered” by MyHeritage and Ancestry.com. For the last four hundred years, printers, industrialists, scholars, Sailors and even one disagreeable drunken spy and murderer are in my pedigree. Tracing lineage in a dog might have value. Perhaps the dog was bred from Cujo or perhaps Rin Tin Tin. I once had a long-hair German Shepherd, bred from an impressive German Von Something sire. A sweet dog but carried a recessive hip dysplasia gene. Pedigree is not on my list of desirable characteristics for a dog nor is it on my list for people. Strength of character, courage, perseverance, honesty, sense of humor, & commitment are far more important. Intelligence. And in the case of Dexter, sometimes a mix of other wonderful traits trumps intellect.
It's a Dog's Life 