Yet again another Black Friday (ok, so that was a few months ago…) has passed and we are the proud new owners of a Wisdom Panel 3.0 DNA test – now it’s Miguel’s turn! Shortly after test arrived in the mail, Anthony chickened out and decided he couldn’t swab Miguel’s cheeks on his own. So in our latest nail trim appointment at the vet, we asked them to do it for us and they did!
Before we receive the results, let’s take a look back at Miguel’s life, check out some photos, and make some guesses about what he might be mixed with, shall we?
Back in 2016, Miguel was found on the streets of Dallas (on/near Park Lane) by a contractor doing some work in the area. This same contractor was performing work on the Take Me Home Pet Rescue adoption center in Richardson, TX at the same time.
So Mike, the contractor, scooped up Miguel and brought him to a place he knew would took great care of him. Upon arrival, this adorable little pup was given the name Miguel and a foster home request was sent out.
I immediately saw the plea and forwarded it to Anthony. See, the timing was perfect. I had JUST started my job with Automattic and knew I would be spending loads more time at home as the gig is remote.
That evening, Anthony and I visited TMHPR to met him. He was friendly but shut down, definitely in need of a foster home. We loaded him up along with some toys, food, and a dog bed and off we rode home. He sat up straight in Anthony’s lap (in a dog bed) the whole ride home. Anthony still looks back on this time with very fond memories, what a sap.
It took a few days for his personality to come out and to settle into our pack. Mackey was the least welcoming but surprisingly Mackey didn’t absolutely hate him! He quickly became attached to Anthony, following him around the house and napping in his lap.
Around this time he started to show some “little dog syndrome tendencies” with some minor snippiness. For example we would pick him up to put him in his crate to eat his meals. He quickly figured out that when we would pick him up, that meant he was going in his crate so he would snap a little. We then started to pick him up outside on the back porch and that seemed to break the habit… for a few days. Can’t say he’s dumb, in fact he’s too smart for his and our own good.
A few weeks after taking him in (and after he was fully vetted), an adoption application rolled in. Anthony was heartbroken, for some reason he had always kept up hopes that we would get to keep Miguel although I told him he was a foster dog!
Miguel was placed in the home for a couple of days but quickly became very ill and lost a whole pound – 1/8th of his weight at that point. The adopter wasn’t very forthcoming about his illness, so the decision was made that he would not be returning to that adoptive home following treatment.
At that point, Anthony made an executive decision that Miguel would become a permanent Faxlandez pup. There wasn’t much I could do to get in the way of their bond. We covered his medical bills for the illness and TMHPR called it even with us.
He arrived back home after beginning treatment, his illness cleared up over the course of a week or so, and the rest is history!
Years later, he’s still afraid of Snuffy but does well with the other dogs. He has his occasional run-ins with Mackey but nothing too bad. He’s definitely more snippy with people though, so for that reason he won’t ever be in close contact with the smallest Faxlandez. At this point we know how to deal with his tendencies and he’s a pleasant, happy dog about 95% of the time.
A few random facts about Miguel before we get to guessing:
- He’s scared of farts, whether they come from himself or from a human. If he hears one, he shoots off running in the opposite direction.
- His nicknames include Miguelito, Manuel, Miggy Migs, and a few others that aren’t quite PG-rated.
- He has grade 2 luxating patellas in both of his back kneecaps, meaning as he walks sometimes he skips and when it gets really cold outside sometimes his knees lock up. But they always go back to normal once he’s warm or he’s had a chance to walk it out.
- He’s the only one of our dogs that can howl. I wanted a howler for forever and finally got one!
- In typical little-dog-syndrome fashion, when we take him to the vet he acts like a perfect gentleman. He lets them pick him up, clip his nails, etc. with no issue. They do use a muzzle for good measure, but the little twerp behaves better for them than us.
Sharing a bet with two of his brothers for the first time. 
Fancy in a tie. 
Sometimes at the vet we can hold him! 
My face is like this because we can never pick him up at home. 
He owns Anthony. 
His favorite spot on the couch. 
Again, he owns Anthony. 
He also likes to stand on Anthony’s side table. 
A great spot to bark at people from. 
Cuddling his similar looking brother, Splotchy. 
How he rides in the car on the way to/from the vet. 
Begging for treats. 
A center console doggie. 
On the way to the vet with Splotchy!
Now that you know all about Miguel and have seen a ton of pictures, let’s get to guessing! Anthony and I definitely think he’s primarily chihuahua, but have several guesses beyond that. I’ve only added Chihuahua to start the poll off, that way we can see if our other guesses line up with what everyone else thinks!
As soon as we receive the DNA results from Wisdom Panel, we’ll publish another post to let you all know! So make sure you’re following our blog so you get the alert.
Faxlandez Family Blog 
One response to “What’s a “Miguel”?”
[…] About a week ago we sent off Miguel’s DNA sample to Wisdom Panel for analysis. We just received the results this morning and we’re honestly shocked and find them hilarious! Before we reveal the results, let’s take a look at everyone’s guesses from our post last week. […]
LikeLike