Written by Nicola Martin
Professional photography by elysian
2017 was, for us, our annus horribilis. Losing our first Dachshund, Brandy, in November of that year was the absolute last straw. Her sister, Roxy, pined terribly, but we were about to move into a smaller place and we couldn’t even think about another furkid at that stage. Also, we didn’t want to. Never having been fans of little dogs before we got Brandy, we couldn’t fathom the massive hole that tiny little dog had left in our hearts.
Come 2019, we were blessed to move to an amazing new home with more than ample space for another little sausage. But we were thwarted at every turn by the Dachshund rescue organisations. Do this, do that, instal the next thing. Eventually we resigned ourselves, and Roxy, that we wouldn’t be able to get another Worsie.
But then we received a WhatsApp from a friend who runs a cat rescue: “Just got these three little guys in; one parent is a Dachshund, the other is unknown. Pick one, he’s yours.”
Enter Chester – a force of nature from day one, this tiny little guy with an enormous voice grew and grew and grew… Endless conversations of “what on earth can he be crossed with?” And then we saw MuttMix on Facebook and decided this was the answer! The kit arrived, with much hilarity when we saw the two swabs and read the instructions.
Early one Saturday morning, having just had the car valeted to avoid cross-contamination, we whisked Chester off for an hour’s drive away from home to do his DNA swab test. What he must have thought when we stopped at an abandoned beachfront in Yzerfontein, gloved up, and shoved this strange object into his little cheek (we found out why there were two swabs when he bit the first one in half). Quickly sealing the test tube, we were filled with excitement to find out what his parentage could be.
Fast forward approximately five weeks, and we received his results.
Chester’s MuttMix Results:
Level 2 Dachshund
Level 4 Weimaraner
Level 4 St Bernard
Level 4 Bichon Frise
Now his beautiful stance and happy nature made perfect sense. His colouring is definitely more like his Weimaraner ancestors, as well as his tendency to “herd” the cat.
We were extremely impressed with the awesome service from MuttMix and would recommend them to anyone. We had somehow lost Chester’s results and received copies within eight hours of our query.
MuttMix, you are wonderful!
PS: Chester has his own Facebook page, so you can check out his antics: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296224761315150.
