And The Winner Is...

Weeks ago, we swabbed Chester's mouth...
scraping a few cheek cells...
and sent the specimen off to Cornell for DNA testing.


And then we waited...
patiently...
taking bets on what the final results would show.


By looks, we figured he had Australian cattle dog in him...
and most likely some sort of terrier, we thought.


The results arrived this weeks and we have learned much about our
amazing little Chester!


First of all... and we were glad to hear this...
he has no genetic markers for any genetic diseases.
They estimated that his lifespan should be about 15 years,
and that he should get no bigger than 50 pounds.
(Right now he weighs about 28 pounds at 7 months of age.)

Apparently he has a moderate amount of "wolf-iness" in his genes...
and I am not sure how exactly or even "if" that translates in his personality.  


His pedigree breakdown is as follows:

50.0% Australian Cattle Dog
27.4% Jack Russel Terrier
5.7% German Shepherd
5.1% Golden Retriever
5.0% Collie
6.8% SUPERMUTT!

His new name is Chester the Supermutt!
He definitely lives up to the name!
He is one super mutt!

So... I was a good girl yesterday and stayed in the house.
And yes, there is always plenty to keep me occupied!
(I finished the hat I started last week.)

I will be resting my knee again today and then I think I will be ready to start taking
on the world...carefully, and with ice cleats!
My pain has resolved.
Unlike ACL tears in young people, in those my age (past their pro-sports careers)
the injury does not need to be repaired.
Strong leg muscles will compensate for the lack of knee stability resulting from the injury.
I am strong, so it should be just a brief blip on my radar screen.

As far as I can tell, this may be the only thing that Bad Sammy and I have in common...
although I am sure I will be over mine in a nano-second compared to him!
And he's back boxing with Annie on his two hind legs again!

Comments

Louise Stopford said…
Good to hear you are on the mend. Chester certainly is a fine fellow - he looks to have a lovely friendly personality and I am so glad that he has fitted into your household so well.
Anonymous said…
Please take care of yourself, you have so many babies depending on you. Your hat turned out beautiful.
Colleen said…
That's pretty cool to find out all about Chester. He sure is a keeper.
Can't keep you down long!
You know I am happy to see the hat. Mine is still on the needles. seeing yours makes only want to knit until it's done. I have made a cowl in the same pattern... fun to do.
daisy g said…
Glad your injury is healing quickly. Ice cleats sound like a real, good idea!

That Chester is such a sweet thang. So cool to find out his genetic makeup. Those ears are like wings!

Lynne said…
Enjoyed learning about Chester the SUPERMUTT . . .
Those ears take the prize!
Hope the healing continues . . .
Sweet hat . . . love it!
Dee J. Hartman said…
I'm happy to hear that you will recover sooner than I thought and will not need surgery!
Gosh, so sorry about your injury. And glad that you are healing quickly. You know we are all falling in love with Chester the Super Mutt. I liked it when he stayed right by Hubbs when he was on the ice. That is a good, loyal dog. And I am glad Bad Sammy has mended and is back in fighting mode.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
how fun to find out about chester. do you need a special kit to do this? can anyone send a swab to cornell? i might want to do this! great news about your knee!
That's a gorgeous knitted hat!
This N That said…
Now we know where those ears came from ;) Cute hat..Glad you are mending rapidly!!
No surprise there...Enjoy the snow..
Karen said…
I am thrilled that you are healing SO quickly! So now I am jealous of your knitting skills (you AND your hat:)

LOVE, LOVE your blog - it's so well done.
diane in northern wis said…
Sounds like you're doing good Bev. Love your upbeat attitude...that's the most important part of the healing process. I think you just love life and it always shows up in your blog. Good for you. Wear those cleats and try not to fall any more. You'll be back to 100% in no time. so interesting about Chester! You had a lot of right guesses on what he was made up of! Thanks for a great blog. Love your hat too.