Doggie DNA
Hi all -
I did this on a whim and mostly just for fun. One of the boyz' veterinarians told me about it, as she is doing research on genetic disorders in certain breeds of dogs.
Here's what I learned:
- The test cost $65 plus shipping when I ordered it directly from the testing lab. www.mmigenomics.com - click on Canine Heritage Breed Test for information and to order.
- I spoke with the company after receiving my dogs' results. They are constantly adding more breeds as they can be verified, even though the online/press releases say that they are verifying 38 breeds.
- The 38 breeds are expected to account for 75% of mixed-breed dogs in the US.
- This fall, they will be releasing an expanded breeds test that tests for 100 of the top 151 AKC registered breeds in the US. They expect this expanded list will account for 98% of the mixed breed dogs in the US.
- They discovered a glitch in Labrador DNA -- the population of Labradors is so large and popular in the US right now, that some "purebred" Labradors are actually a mix of two or more of the three Labrador subbreeds - based on countries of origin for Labradors -- American, British and German. Therefore, when the DNA test is compared to the breed DNA for just one country of origin, an "error" occurs that shows that Labrador is not a part of the mix.
- The expanded breed list this fall will test for American and British Labrador DNA strains -- the two most popular in the US. (They have offered to retest Gomer's DNA for free when this is available.)
I'm glad I spent the money - I have some insights into my dogs' histories and personality traits that didn't make sense before. I also know that they didn't come from the same litter of puppies - something that the shelter suspected when I adopted them 9 months apart, as they appeared to be the same age and were captured in the same area of town in AZ.
I do recommend waiting till the expanded breed test is available -- just so you don't have to wonder, as I did, why a breed that seems obvious (Labrador in Gomer) and a breed that isn't listed as verified (American Staffordshire in Opie) show up in the results.
Also, keep in mind that even those breeds that we call "purebreds" are actually just standardizations of mixed breeds of dogs.
The vet that recommended the test also said another company will be releasing a similar DNA test this fall. We may have my boyz retested to see how the results are similar/different. She'd also like to hear of people that know the breeds of both parents and have the test done - to see if any surprises or confirmations are made.
If you have any questions - I'm happy to answer what I can. Email me directly at
[email protected].