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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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A dog owner has shared how she adopted a "Labrador mix" puppy from her local shelter, only for his appearance to change drastically as he grew.
Jenny, the owner of Stetson, a now 9-month-old rescue, originally thought she was bringing home a Lab mix when she adopted him at just 9 weeks old. The shelter listed him as a stray after he was found wandering near a high school. But as Stetson grew, his features began to change in unexpected ways.
"At around 3.5 months, his ears started to rise and fall, and his body thinned out instead of staying like a chunky Lab," Jenny told Newsweek.
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As Stetson continued to grow, Jenny, who lives in North Carolina, decided to find out more and ordered a dog DNA test.
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The results were unexpected—Stetson turned out to be a mix of a number of breeds, including 58 percent German shepherd, 18 percent retriever and 10 percent Chow—but there wasn't a trace of Labrador in his genes.
Rather than being disappointed, Jenny embraced the surprise: "The results didn't change how we felt about him. We immediately got a personal home trainer and took him to puppy classes, knowing his behavior would be more energetic than what we were used to," she said.
She shared Stetson's story on TikTok in a video that has been viewed over 600,000 times and gained lots of reaction in the comments.
"You got yourself a lil sheppie! My FAVE," said one commenter. While another joked: "That's a purebred good boy!"
Jenny, a longtime rescue advocate, made it clear that the video wasn't meant to criticize shelters. "This was in no way to disparage shelters and their efforts in adopting out animals," Jenny said. "We've always rescued or adopted our pets and will continue to do so."
For Jenny and her family, Stetson's adoption was meant to be. Their previous rescue, a yellow Lab mix named Sandy, passed away the summer before. It wasn't until after adopting Stetson that they realized he shared the same birthday as Sandy—sealing their belief that this unexpected journey was the right one all along.
This is far from the first time a dog has been labeled the wrong breed. Like the Labrador-pit bull puppy who changed so much the owner felt "scammed."
Many are now turning to DNA testing to find out the true breed of their companion, leaving some shocked to learn their pets' true heritage.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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