Dog Talk – Drugs and DNA

Take a break from politics and think like a dog

This letter is an update on Sophie. I wrote about her origins – how we met – a couple of years ago. I think the best way to describe life with Sophie is to say: “We are a pack.” Sophie, Bonnie and Bill. Not sure who “the leader of the pack” is – but we are all happiest when we are together. Sophie’s dinner ritual involves us sitting near her while we have a glass of wine. We applaud as she woofs everything in her bowl. Then she gets a taste of our cheese appetizer. She loves cheese.

Overall, Sophie is doing well. But just as with all of us, as we age, a few conditions develop. One is arthritis. We recently began her on a new drug called Librela. It has produced amazing results. Most of her limping is gone and she is bounding around like a puppy! Here is a video on Librela. It has been used for cats for several years. Not shockingly, Europe has employed it for a few years already. In March of last year Librela became available for dogs in the US. It IS revolutionary. It means that dogs can enjoy their later years in a new and wonderful way. Less pain and more activity. If there are human trials for this…sign me up!

I also thought some of you would be entertained by Sophie’s DNA results from “Wisdom Panel”. Read below. Try to imagine the various dogs listed here getting together over the generations to produce such a creature. The most perfect dog ever, of course.

We detected 16 breeds in Sophie’s DNA.

Sporting
- 24% Labrador Retriever
- 2% American Cocker Spaniel
- 2% Golden Retriever
- 1% Flat-Coated Retriever
Hound
- 20% Beagle
- 3% Basset Hound
Guard
- 12% Boxer
- 7% American Pit Bull Terrier
- 2% American Staffordshire Terrier
Herding
- 5% Australian Cattle Dog
- 4% German Shepherd Dog
- 4% Great Pyrenees
- 3% Australian Shepherd
Mountain Dogs
- 7% Saint Bernard
Asian and Oceanian
- 2% Siberian Husky
Companion
- 2% Shih Tzu

Mostly Lab/Beagle/Boxer/Shepherd – but Saint Bernard and Shih Tzu?

So you might get terrific pictures of coastal Maine from Heather Cox Richardson or beautiful chickens from Joyce Vance. From me it’s dogs and vegetables. Woof.

Sophie never had kids but adopted the grandchildren

The pond where she learned to swim and fetch sticks

Bill's Focus

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