Sydney  - Most of us know what stock we were bred from and can even name mums and dads going back generations.

An Australian animal shelter is now offering a genealogy service for dogs.

Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne is the first provider of DNA testing for dogs outside the United States.

There's been a scramble for the appropriately named BITSA test, which costs around 100 US dollars, is a mail-order service, and can establish breeding going back three generations. All the Lort Smith pet detectives need is a saliva sample.

"I think it's mostly curiosity," Lort Smith spokeswoman Joni Tooth said. "You want to know what breeds are in there rather than just guessing."

Some customers have been sold a pedigree dog and want to establish they have got what they paid for. For others, a BITSA test is handy in explaining behaviour, because if you know the dominant breeds in a mongrel, you know the amount of exercise it requires and what it can and can't be trained to do.

If you acquired a puppy from the pound, the test can give an indication of what your pet will be like in a year's time.

"Using the dog's unique DNA allows us to not only discover the missing pieces of their breed history, but also gain insight into possible health issues, as well as important traits for many owners such as temperament and potential body size," said George Sofronidis, the manager of GT Pets, which developed the BITSA test.

More information can be found at www. lortsmith. com. (dpa)