The response times vary, with some claims of seven days, and others up to eight weeks. All testing companies include the return shipping in their kits' pricing. You don't create an account with DNA My Dog, Instead, you simply register a kit to your name and email, and the company sends you a message with the results attached. If you send in a kit without registering it, you're probably not going to get the data. This can come in handy for trips to the vet. On the site, you can access all the final data, which you can then print out and save. Two of the services, Embark and Wisdom Panel, have you set up accounts on their websites, which can be used to register as many DNA kits as you like. The rest are essentially cotton swabs that you let dry out, then send back. The process doesn't differ much from service to service, though Embark seems a little more high-tech with its cotton sponge inserted into a stabilizing fluid for transport. It's preferable to do it without a lot of kibble residue, or dogs biting the swab. Do this a couple of hours after they eat the goal is to swab up as much DNA-laden saliva as possible for the labs to work with. After you register the kit, take a swab or two of the inside of the cheek pouch of your doggie. How Dog DNA Kits WorkĪll the kits we tried have the same basics. DNA My Dog conversely offers genetic screening tests, around 100, separately for $139.99. Embark and Wisdom Panel each sell a less expensive $99 version that only checks breed information and a minimal number of health problems. The expensive ones test for around 210 genetic issues. That said, we'd still argue it's the strongest reason to use a dog DNA test. "Probably a lot of what they screen for is very rare." Not, for instance, diabetes, which is acquired," she said, and listed off some other maladies. That said, she questions how prevalent the genetic problems tested by these kits are in the real world. She said that what she likes about the tests is that "there are things you can rule out, like dogs with neurological issues, say if they have a negative for degenerative myelopathy, that gives you very specific info. We spoke at length about DNA tests with a veterinarian, Dr. One company (that no longer sells a dog DNA test) claimed that its dog DNA results were used in a court case to show that a dog that was going to be euthanized for the "crime" of being a pit bull didn't, in fact, have any pittie in him.Īs mentioned earlier, the most important aspect of dog DNA testing is the genetic mutation/health checks that ensure your dog doesn't have potential issues. ![]() You could, however, use a DNA test to prove your dog's makeup does, or doesn't, include a breed. (Instead, you can opt for AKC Purebred Alternative Listing registration to get your hound into AKC run events, but that doesn't require a DNA test.) ![]() You can't suddenly prove your dog is purebred and petition the American Kennel Club (AKC) to let you register. Well, except for users of Embark, a service that's added a "Relatives" tab to its results that shows other dogs in the database with shared DNA. You're not going to find your dog's long-lost relatives. We can't stress enough that this is mostly meaningless. ![]() Why Bother Testing Your Dog's DNA?įor most people, the main reason to test is to be able to point at your dog and say, "Oh, she's a mix of this breed and that breed." It can serve as a confirmation that your expensive dog is indeed the purebred (or designer hybrid) that you paid for. The list includes DNA My Dog, Embark Dog DNA Test (Breed + Health Kit), and Wisdom Panel Premium. We looked at three dog DNA test services to see how they worked, evaluating them for their ease of use, presentation of data, and ability to match even their own test results with consistency. DNA tests can rule that out-or expose a disease before it's a problem. Your dog could be a carrier of these illnesses, or be at risk of developing the full-blown disorder. DNA tests also check your companion animal for a variety of gene-specific diseases or disorders-in other words, genetic mutations. There's another goal, though, that is discussed less, yet is arguably more important.
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