The results are in

And Kenai is...

A big black dog!

You may remember a few months ago, when I held a "What is Kenai?" contest. Most people thought some sort of lab mix -- seven votes were for that. All guesses were for various breed mixes, and among those, great dane was the second most common guess (4 votes), followed by a tie between greyhound and some sort of herder -- specifically, border collie and australian shepherd were both mentioned (3 votes for each of these). Single votes were cast for german shepherd, collie, and wolfhound. My sister jokingly guessed sharpei.

And the winner is...

My sister!

Wuhhhh??? you say? Sharpei? Yep. The way this test works, they tell you your dog's primary and secondary breeds, and other breeds that are in the mix. If there's a primary breed listed, that means your dog is at least 50% that breed. Secondary breeds make up less than a majority of your dog's DNA, but are significant nonetheless. Kenai had no primary or secondary breeds detected. That means that either (a) he is some breed other than the 38 this test detects; or (b) he is such a Heinz 57 mutt that only low levels of many breeds can be detected.

So the official word on Kenai is:

Chow

Shar-Pei

Akita

Rottweiler

English Setter

I can definitely see the Akita. I've wondered if that's in the mix before. Rottweiler surprises me, but would account for his giant size. Chow? I guess he could've gotten his solid black coat from a chow. English setter? That would explain the long legs and the spotted tongue. Shar-Pei??? You've GOT to be kidding me.

The most surprising thing about these results is that they include some dogs that are generally thought to be rather aggressive -- chow, akita and rottweiler. Kenai doesn't have an aggressive bone in his very large body. He is the sweetest, gentlest, friendliest mutt on earth.

I dunno...I might ignore these results and stick with my lab mix theory.