I was wrong about the Embark Breed & Health DNA test. There is a place on their website that addresses the question, "Why did my sample fail?" which says the two most likely reasons are 1) insufficient DNA on the swab (this might be us, we'll know in a few weeks) and 2) contamination, usually with DNA from another pet via shared food or drink. Embark says if either of these is the case they'll know right away and they can send a free replacement kit by request. So that's nice.

In researching this I learned more about how the test works, and according to reddit (source of all wisdom), Embark acknowledges that breeds are not a science, but rather (like human race or the definition of a continent*) something that a bunch of people agree is true without consistently delineable and replicable evidence. Therefore, Embark asks the people in charge of gatekeeping breeds to provide DNA from animals those people agree are representative, and Embark uses that as their standard.

So now I'm much more interested in what Embark thinks about Daphne's DNA, because apparently it's really based on something. (Does the something matter? Only as much as you want it to. I appreciate it when people trying to convince me of something (in this case by offering their service in exchange for money) acknowledge this and are straightforward about limitations as well as strengths.)

Also, reportedly people with purebred dogs often get a "100%" result on DNA tests, which I was skeptical of prior to my reddit investigation. I don't have a DNA test for Whinnie (supposedly a purebred Cairn despite her size and color), but I have one for Mimi and it looks like this: Chow, Shetland Sheepdog, Shih Tzu, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed, Mixed Breed. I mean, fair, right? But in her lifetime I met two other dogs who looked very similar to her and heard of a third, unlike Whinnie, who remains entirely unique in my experience. (I get that you can't tell by looking. But I hear phenotype is still a 20-30% indicator, which isn't much but it isn't nothing either.)

...This was going to be like a three-sentence post, so that's typical.

*The continent thing is really funny though; if you're bored you should definitely google "why isn't Greenland a continent?" (Don't ask AI; the synthesized LLM answer is boring. This is a great discussion, though: Why Greenland is an Island and Australia is a Continent, by Emily Upton, which includes a variety of post-scripts with comments including, "The truest part of the article is the implication that the whole concept of continents is borderline incoherent.")

Anyway, as I was about to say, almost half of the winter sowing containers have germinated seeds! Here they are on the porch, getting some air. (Just the containers, the seeds are basically invisible. You might have to take my word that sprouts exist. The lupines are big though, and the gay feathers are red, so it's neat to see some variety even when they're tiny.)

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And down the hill by the dogwood garden, we have: dogs! Sometimes you decide to clean out a garden and dogs show up; it's so great. Especially when they entertain your dog and keep her from wandering off.

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