I’m just boggled. I believe in science. I love history. I’m just having an extremely hard time with what they told me, as my dog doesn’t present any physical or behavioral traits of the primary breeds detected. I’ve had him since he was 6 weeks old, he’s nearly 12 now. Anyone else get questionable results?
Which one did you use?
I haven’t done this yet, but I’m planning on it in the near future.
I got a puppy over the summer who is definitely of questionable parentage. Mom was reportedly a mastiff (English, I think) but little dude is only 45# and almost a year old. If mom really was a mastiff, dad must have been … a beagle?
Anyway, when I was reading through the reviews on Amazon, it looked like some of the dna tests were more accurate than others. Some of the reviews sounded very much like what you are saying. I think the Wisdom panel had the best reviews. There is another, newer, test that claims to have medical data as well. I’m waiting for the price to come down a bit as well as some additional reviews (as well as some spare cash). The last time I looked there were only a handful of reviews on the newer test.
Edit: the newer test:
https://smile.amazon.com/Embark-Identification-Results-Genetic-Markers/dp/B01EINBA76/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1490186207&sr=1-6&keywords=dog+dna
Reviews seem to be good.
I did a wisdom panel and found out the most prominent breed (25%) is chow, and there is zero herding dog in him.
I’ve had him since he was 6 weeks old and got him via a collie rescue group. His vet has always said BC (he has exhibited pretty much every classic trait) or at least some sort of herding dog. I’m at a loss.
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I’ve had several friends who have done dog and horse DNA tests, and so far I find the results extremely questionable. There is simply no way those dogs/horses are the breeds the test claims! One boarder at my barn got his horse from the Amish years ago. The Amish said the horse was a Belgian draft/Welsh cob cross. And looking at him, he looks EXACTLY like you’d picture a Belgian/Welsh cross. DNA result: majority Iberian. This horse is at least 50% Belgian! He looks just like a short, pony-sized Belgian draft.
Another friend sent her dog’s DNA in. Dog looks very hound-like, or possibly an English pointer. Tall, short haired, long floppy ears, majority white with various color splotches. Body shape like a foxhound or something, around 80 lbs. DNA result: majority Papillon.
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And this is exactly why I won’t do a DNA test! Even if I have no proof of my dogs breeding I’m 99% sure based on size, coat, color, curly tail, and personality of the two primary breeds he is.
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The horse DNA results I’ve seen on CoTH have listed “breeds” that were not breeds. I don’t know about the dog DNA tests. But I do know that of many dogs I’ve looked at at pounds and of those dogs I’ve adopted at pounds, a vast majority said on the cards that the dogs were “chow mixes” and I knew the dogs could not possibly be part chow. So don’t worry about your dog. I did ask the employees at pounds why they put “chow” on so many cards for adoptable dogs and no one had an answer. No black on tongue, no chow coat, etc. (I’ve had friends and neighbors in the city with chows, so I am familiar with them over the years.
Enjoy your dog and don’t change your opinion of his origin.
So he looks like a Haflinger?
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Yeah, he does! But chestnut in color rather than blond. And with a bigger, draftier head. (To me, Haffies seem a bit more refined, but maybe it’s just the ones I’ve seen in particular.)
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I used the Wisdom panel on both of mine. And I have seen results from a few of the siblings of my puppy, all Wisdom Panel. For the puppy and his siblings, the consistent bit is the 37% Siberian Husky. The rest are all over the map.
For my adult dog, who is a ‘German Shepherd’ of unknown origin, it came out all over the place too. 50% GSD (with some of that White GSD), and a bit of Doberman and Rotweiler thrown in, + some hound-ish mix.
Here’s some photos of Maestro (my puppy), his Mom, and a couple Siblings who also have DNA tests. I’m limited to 5 attachments per post, so I’ll put up the DNA results in the next one.
Meya - my 10 yr old GSDx
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Sage Photo
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Melody Photo
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Maestro Photo
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Harmony - dam of all the puppies
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Haffies are nothing but chestnut. Some have a pangare modifier that makes them look lighter in places.
There are draft type Haffies and those that they are trying to turn into Arabians.
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Now for the DNA results on the puppies
Meya, the 10 yr old GSD X
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Maestro - my puppy, the black and white one
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Melody, sibling, the grey wolfish colored one [ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: Melody-Sibling.jpg Views: 1 Size: 6.6 KB ID: 9689513”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“9689513”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]
Sage - another sibling, the brown and white one.
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I’m in the process of doing a Wisdom Panel 3.0 test, just waiting for the results to come back, for my terrier (I think) mix.
I do NOT see Chow in that pup!
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AliCat’s dog looks a little like my friend’s dog Asmo, who is theoretically a chow/shepherd mix. No DNA test done on him. He belongs to one of my friends.
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My vet did it with her dog of known breeding to see what kind of results she would get. Not even close to the breed he is…
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Several points:
Dogs of mixed breeding for several generations are going to be an exercise in futility for ‘sorting out’ the breeds of origin, unless there is one purebred parent; then you MAY get a positive on that parent.
BUT Only if there are genes that show up that only come from that parent breed: good luck with that, since most purebred dogs were actually ‘area-bred’ and ‘purpose-bred’ landraces before fanciers selected some founder animals and bred for looks, then closed the books some 100 years ago or so.
Meaning that if you send in the DNA for purebred dogs, you may get ‘mixed’ breeds on the DNA results.
Second, the really out there ‘breeds’ listed as possible ancestors are about as likely as a snowflake in he**.
Rare breeds are also rare in breed mixes.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if one sent human DNA to one of these companies…
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What was the known breed and what did the DNA results come back with? Just curious to see how far off the results were!
I have been struggling with do I do a DNA test just for fun because I want to pretend I know what my dogs are, or just save my money. I feel like I’ll kick myself if I don’t, but if I get obviously ridiculous results I’ll be pretty annoyed that I wasted my money. I have some friends who’ve tested there dogs and the tests appear to be correct. I can’t even guess my two dogs breeds more than “more than likely terrier in him” to “eh maybe she is boxerish but hound like too maybe”.
I did one on my horse, and I can very easily believe the results-
Most Likely to Least
Trakehner
Selle Francais
Holstein
Pursuing leads to nearby trak breeders and trying to find her lineage now.
We did one at work on a puppy- AKC registered mini schnauzer which was white with large black spots and droopy ears like a cocker. I SWORE owner was lying and momma got in with a cocker, but the DNA came back pure schnauzer- just really really ugly ones apparently.
We’re thinking about the Wisdom Panel for our dog Astrid. She was represented as a Finnish Lapphund, which is totally believable looking at her and living with her, but fairly unbelievable given that there are 3 breeders in the US according to the breed club and Animal Control found her on the side of the road in West Virginia. The Wisdom Panel appears to recognize Finnish Lapphund, but if it called her something else, I’d probably be as skeptical of an unconventional finding as you are of your Chow!
