Dog DNA test holds surprises for beloved mutt (and owner)
In 2005, four years after the Human Genome Project was completed, the Dog Genome Project was mapped out, making it possible to see the differences in the DNA of each breed of canine. It wasn’t long before companies started to make a business out of the data.
The one consumer-focused company in Canada to make use of this data to is Toronto’s DNA My Dog (dnamydog.com). Mindy Tenenbaum, whose background was in business and marketing, and canine rescue, started it in 2008, offering to detail the breeds that make up your dog, for a fee.
The first step is to purchase a DNA kit for $59.99. Given Tenenbaum’s longtime involvement with canine rescue, it makes sense that her company encourages dog owners to purchase the kit from a canine rescue organization. In so doing, $10 of the kit’s cost goes toward the rescue organization. I ordered my kit from the Alberta Rescue Foundation (ARF). To date, more than $63,000 has been raised.
From there, it’s a simple procedure, provided your dog will sit still for 20 seconds and trust you to stick a swab in his mouth and rub the inside of his cheek. My dog Jiboo was a good patient.
Then, you mail the sample to Toronto and, once the lab processes it, it runs the results through DNA My Dog’s database of certified dog breeds. The database includes 79 different dog breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, and represents 96 per cent of the most common domestic breeds. The results take two weeks and provide a percentage breakdown of each breed found in your dog. (Call it dog forensics — it’s also possible to test your dog’s DNA from beyond the grave, by extracting the DNA from an object once slobbered over.) The results will inform you of the diseases and health concerns your breed is predisposed to, allowing you to be proactive about its health.
“Definitely, some medical decisions can be made differently when we know the parentage of the dog,” says Dr. Danny Joffe, medical director of the Calgary Animal Referral and Emergency Centre. For example, if Joffe detects a heart murmur in a dog that he knows to be part Doberman, he is much more concerned about an acquired heart disease, known as dilated cardiomyopathy, that Dobermans are very prone to.
Over the years, I’ve been told that mixed breed dogs tend to have fewer health problems than purebreds, but I always chalked this up to dog-park folklore. True, says Joffe, explaining that the idea of hybrid vigour in animal husbandry is that the more genes mixed into an individual animal the healthier it will be. But just as I was about to believe the hype, Joffe adds that recent research is throwing this long-held belief into dispute. “It’s been found that, for certain genetically linked diseases, mixed breeds get them as commonly as purebreds.”
Last week, I detailed Jiboo’s story in the Herald as I sent off his swab to Toronto. I spent the time awaiting the results wondering if they would confirm what I’d long suspected — a German shepherd-husky mix — or if Jiboo was a motley mash-up. But what if there is some emotional fallout from learning your dog’s lineage. Says Joffe: “My dog-loving clients love their pets for who they are and what I’d hate to happen is for somebody to become disappointed in their dog because they always thought it was this crossed with that and then they find out it’s not. Maybe they find out it’s a breed they’ve never liked.”
A shortcoming of the test, for me, is that it will not reveal if Jiboo’s mom was dating outside her species so I will not be able to determine if he has any coyote in him. DNA My Dog’s database is based only on domestic dogs. Having said that, if you are able to make this determination you’d have to keep it on the down-low because it’s illegal to own a coyote-dog cross or a wolf-dog cross. Now, on to the results. In processing the results, breeds are detected as ranges, which are listed as levels on the certificate.
Level 1: The absence of a breed in the Level 1 category means that there is no one breed that makes up 75 to 100 per cent of Jiboo’s total genetic makeup.
Level 2: The German shepherd represents between 37 to 74 per cent of Jiboo’s DNA.
Level 3: The Saint Bernard represents 20 to 36 per cent of Jiboo’s DNA.
Level 5: The Akita represents less than nine per cent of Jiboo’s DNA.
For me, Level 3 came as the biggest surprise. Saint Bernard? Wow! I never imagined this. I don’t see any physical attributes of this breed in Jiboo but it may explain why he is so jubilant in the snow and still wants to go for a walk even when the temperature is -35 C.
I have to say it’s a strange feeling to have believed your dog was a certain mix his whole life only to discover that he is in fact something entirely different. To be honest, I still think of Jiboo as part husky and I don’t believe that he is part Saint Bernard.
Tenenbaum says that disbelief and denial is a common reaction to a surprising DNA result.
I will not require any therapy sessions but this new information about Jiboo will certainly take some getting used to but I think it’s a neat discovery. I like Saint Bernards. They have a noble history as alpine rescue dogs and they are loyal and affectionate.