Doggy DNA tests

[Dragonlady]

Does anyone have info on the dog DNA test kits?

I've been doing some research and they appear to be ....well...sketchy.
There are only so many breeds in each database and if your dogs breeds aren't in there, you can get some weird results. Such as it reading "Boston Terrier" when the dog is part "Staffordshire Terrier", which isn't in the database.

For anyone not following the story of my life, I have adopted a ginormus puppy, named Homer (DOH!) that is supposedly Newfoundland and either Husky or Malamute. The vet says she thinks Chow and Shepard. I'd just like some educated guesses, mostly for fun, because it really doesn't matter now!

So, what do you think? Find a test kit that lists all the suspected breeds and spend the roughly $60? Or just let everyone take a WAG and assume you're all correct???
After all how could a bunch of degenerates on the internet NOT correctly identify the breed of a dog using only one crappy photo?

That's not attached to this post.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Canuck_Kat]

I do this sort of thing for a living (not dog id but species ID) and I took a quick look at some of the DNA tests offered to see if I could figure out what they were looking at (gene wise) and was unable to determine that. I am assuming that the same rules apply for breed ID as species ID and you need a robust database of knowns in order to do a good job of identifying unknowns. I guess it all depends on if you have $60 to burn, I would consider it and the results a novelty myself. Can you find one that has all the possible breeds listed? And if you have a mutt that is more than simply a cross between two breeds (highly likely) and some of those are not represented in the baseline than the results really mean nothing.

Why does your vet think there is some Chow in there? From my limited experience one of the trademarks of a Chow is black gums and tongue, is that the case for your pup? Other than maybe getting a rough idea of size things such as a love for water etc you will discover over time and then does it really matter if it is because they are part newfie or part lab?

[Dragonlady]

The pup has black and pink marbled gums and a pink tongue. The vet has seen him twice and she thinks she sees different physical characteristics than the Humane Societys version of events!
Can you define "robust"? How many individuals are we talking about? I have been unable to find any test that has every possible breed, although a few have upward of 200. In this case, I would look for one heavily weighted toward large breeds (pup is 14.5 lbs at 8 weeks!) since I don't think there were many tiny breeds involved in this beast.

Thanks for your advice!

[severe delays]

Link to the photo again, we'll do it properly this time.

I say keep the money for a nice bunch of toys for Homer. The DNA test will probably tell you something but whether it's the truth or not is doubtful.

[Canuck_Kat]

Originally Posted by Dragonlady

The pup has black and pink marbled gums and a pink tongue. The vet has seen him twice and she thinks she sees different physical characteristics than the Humane Societys version of events!
Can you define "robust"? How many individuals are we talking about? I have been unable to find any test that has every possible breed, although a few have upward of 200. In this case, I would look for one heavily weighted toward large breeds (pup is 14.5 lbs at 8 weeks!) since I don't think there were many tiny breeds involved in this beast.

Thanks for your advice!

Well that is hard to say because it partly depends on the markers they are using to determine breed. For instance one of the things I do is forensic analysis on salmon. We developed a test which will tell us what Pacific salmon species we are looking at in our test sample. We had to run standards of all possible species including closely related trout species and analyzed a few hundred/species for our baseline. We were looking at a gene that varied little within a species but a lot between species. That took a lot of standardizing before we could present that sort of evidence in court. It is actually much easier and in my opinion a better use if your question is parentage. In your case you have a mutt which likely did not come from two purebred individuals but rather were mutts themselves so you likely have multiple breeds contributing to the genetics of your pup. If they are looking at a number of loci you may very well have a confusing mix of genotypes which may well include breeds not listed in the test.

Sorry I can't be more helpful but I don't have enough information regarding the tests to be any more specific but I think it might work better when you are testing an individual that is being sold as purebred and there is a question about that or when you are testing for particular parents. Good luck, I am sure that the pup is keeping you hopping regardless of breed . And while I might very well be wrong about this I think I would tend to lean towards the vet assessment, likely over the next few months things will start firming up your feelings about the mix as he loses his generic puppy look and developing his adult coat and body.

[brownie55]

My wife and I do German Shepherd rescue. Did all breed for a while, then large breed, Rottweilers because they needed a friend, but finally settled on GSDs because that's what we own.

Last fall we placed a yellow dog, about 40 pounds, that some shelter had classified as a Shep with a family. The family did the doggy DNA test.

The yellow dog (looked like a small lion turned canine), with a long coat and erect ears came back as:
Borzoi
Dalmatian; and
Min Pin.

Also, our neighbors had their short-weiler (you can see the Rott in this boy, black and tan, ears down, stocky) tested. He came back as a terrier-terrier-terrier cross with no trace of Rottweiler.

The only thing that I'd rely on the dog DNA tests for is to turn your money into their profits.

[Dragonlady]

Here's the link, for the curious.




I'm figuring to save the money, at least for now.

Kat Thanks for your insight. It helps to have the "whys and wherefores".
And your advice to wait awhile and see what he looks like later is probably the best idea yet.

[Canuck_Kat]

He is a cutie Dragonlady, I think it can be a crap shoot trying to guess the breed mix particularly when they are young since both their coats and body type can change somewhat with maturity. You will be needing that $60 to cover some of the costs inherent in raising a puppy of any breed mix .

It will be interesting to see how he changes over the next few months, I hope you will continue to post updates and pics. I lost my dog in the spring and have been thinking about getting a pup from the SPCA ever since. Haven't done that yet because the time has not been right for me but when I see pictures like that one I think long and hard about if I should. I am sure that one day it will become clear that it is time and I will be at the SPCA in a matter of minutes.