Dog DNA tests

[VeruccaSalted]

Am curious if anyone done one? How much was it? Do they break down the dog lineage in percentages? How specific is it? Would you recommend it?

The reason I ask is that our dog is a mutt but when I went to collect him, the lady mentioned he was mixed with a breed I had never heard of and then totally forgot about until yesterday when my son were l looking at random dog photos and he pointed out one that looks like our dog but it seems so unlikely that our dog would have this random pedigree dog in him.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

I've never had one done but I am so tempted... I know the ancestry of both my dogs so I'd be intrigued about the accuracy.

The impression I have is that they have got a lot better over the last ten years, and are pretty good for a first cross, start to get iffy when a dog is 25% each of four different breeds, but beyond that are not reliable at all. This isn't surprising given that so many breeds have bits of other breeds in them and that the lines (and thus the genes) that exist in a breed will vary from country to country.

I always feel that if the companies were really confident, they'd go to research projects where there are carefully-pedigreed mixed breed dogs (or even invest a bit and breed their own) and do a blind trial.

[Thunderpunt]

Jo Lycett did a feature on Dog DNA companies a couple of weeks back, very interesting and some scammers out there.... (basically they guess by looking at a photo ) be very careful,who you use!

[fivedogstofeed]

I've done a Wisdom Panel test on two of my dogs and I'm pretty sure it's been accurate. I've been told that Embark is more reliable, though more expensive.

[VeruccaSalted]

Oh I'll check out that Joe Lycett show, thanks. And am not sure how many breeds are in my doggo, seems unlikely that he was bred from two fine pedigrees, but you could definitely identify the main one (springer) from a photo.

[VeruccaSalted]

fivedogstofeed did you have a good idea of the lineage of yours before you had the test?

[fivedogstofeed]

VerucaSalted both were strays and I could hazard a guess at least one part of the cross in both., based on looks. They were both fairly straight forward - one pure bred parent and one crossbreed parent. All the breeds fitted with what would be fairly common in my area and also fitted with their characters.
I've also tested a couple of foster pups when I couldn't work them out. These also turned out to be unusual but entirely possible mixes, which became much more obvious in both looks and character the pups got older (GSD X cocker and retriever samoyed! )
I have heard of people getting really bizarre results containing breeds that are obviously ridiculous for the dog they are looking at, or foreign breeds which just don't exist in the area they live, but tbh my experience has always been entirely believable and I am a complete dog geek quite good at guessing breeds in the first place

[VeruccaSalted]

Ha you should get a job at one of those scam agencies. Do you think you could guess the other breed from a picture of mine?

[fivedogstofeed]

Is he a Chesapeake x ?

[VeruccaSalted]

Oh my god, yes! You are good. I'm not even going to do the DNA test now. That's made my day.

[fivedogstofeed]

Fantastic! He's lovely :)
It is unusual, but I have actually met a Chesapeake x lab before and it seemed like a nice mix.

[VeruccaSalted]

Ach he's the bestest boy (and I have 3 sons). And obviously I don't care what 'pedigree' is in him, but it is interesting, especially as I'd never heard of the Chesapeake before. Explains his absolute insanity near water though.

[fivedogstofeed]

Absolutely! The one I met years ago had a family who sailed and they had specifically looked for a dog that would be as safe as possible around water - he didn't disappoint

[Scattyhattie]

I used wisdom panel for my 2 & a friends dog which all seemed accurate, you don't send a pic so they can't guess by that.

I was already fairly sure what crossbreed one was and it came back as 2nd generation rather than straight cross. Other is a mutt he had 4 breeds of varying % all ones had considered over years, they were bred in UK.

I'd have guessed springer x lab for your boy.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

This nature article is a peer review of the evidence out there and found that the vast majority of pet genomics are very doggy.
Specific tests for individual diseases are good, but wide dna tests for both breed and disease are wildly inaccurate.

[KonTikki]

In case your using DNA to sex your dog,
there are other cheaper ways

[VeruccaSalted]

Ha, am sure they are very 'doggy' but I know what you mean, I probably won't bother with the test now. And Scaryhattie, I do love a dolly mixture pup, we had assumed ours was lab/springer even though the lady we rehomed him from did say something retriever, but I didn't think his hair was long enough to be golden x. He does have the amber eyes and wavy hair on the shoulders of a chesapeake though, so can believe its in there somewhere.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Lonecat, that article is It makes me wonder how reliable standard health tests are. I would assume that the well-established ones are legit e.g. for things like PRA.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

The standard ones run by Idexx and the animal health trust and Optigen are fully validated and good. Basically if your vet is involved and sends it to a reputable lab it's good. The result will be matched to microchip to ensure it identifies the correct individual.
If you take a cheek swab or hair sample yourself and send it off be very skeptical.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Thanks Lonecat, worth knowing. I did hope that ones through the vet would be AOK!

[Scattyhattie]

Wisdom in Europe use a lab in Denmark to process the swabs. I chatted to a lady who worked in Animal Health Trust's genetics lab who had visited it so its not some dodgy place. My wisdom test also included MDR1 for drug sensitivity which seemed like a useful addition.