Rosie's heritage

We've been joking that Rosie is half cattle dog, half wolverine. I figured out this morning that a quick squirt in the face with a spray bottle makes her let go when she is tugging on my clothes. I was desperate--Doug was still asleep, Riley was outside, and Rosie was tugging so hard on my pajama bottoms that I feared nakedness. And no one to help me.

Squirt bottle to the rescue. It startled her, enough to make her let go.  I couldn't tell if she liked it or not, or if this is a hint as to whether or not she'll be a swimmer.  (We used the squirt bottle on Boscoe when he was a baby--he used to come up behind us and nip us on the heels, to get us in line. A few squirts put an end to that.)

I have been curious, though, about her lineage--someone mentioned that they'd never known a pup that was part Australian cattle dog to be a solid color, as she is. They're always mottled. So I emailed the woman who fostered her and asked if there was a picture of the mom.

She led me to their website, and the "adopted dogs" section, where I found this picture:

It's pretty small, but it gives you an idea. She is gorgeous! The text says she's Aussie/cattle dog/blue heeler mix. A herder through and through.

Here's a picture of four of the pups. I frankly am not entirely sure which one is Rosie, though I think she might be the one in the far back:

There's one missing, though--the cinnamon-colored one is a boy, and he was adopted before we met the four girls.

Rosie was 6 pounds when we adopted her. She is now 11. We must be doing something right--or wrong. In the last two days she's had a huge growth spurt, all in her legs. She can now easily get onto the couches, which she could not do even as recently as Thursday (though she tried mightily).

I watch her feet with worry; are they getting big? Will she be huge? Who was her dad, anyway?

Yesterday I perused Websites for companies that will check your dog's DNA and let you know which breeds are in there. It costs about $55 for one dog. If I do it for Rosie, I should do it for Riley, too, who I have always described as "Lab/springer/coonhound/beagle," even though I have no proof of any of that.

And then I think, "I'm going insane. Here I am, I barely know who my own great-grandfather was, and yet I'm thinking of doing geneaology on my dogs!"

And yet...and yet.... I might....