[Cynna]

I'm super curious as to the breed mixes in our two dogs, they're both adopted from rescues so there wasn't any information on their parents, so decided to get them tested.

We're doing this mostly for curiosity - I want to know everything I can about them - but also to be on a look out for genetic issues, and to explain instinctual behaviours.

I've read up a lot on different testing companies and while some sound almost like guesswork, others sound more reliable.

Has anyone sprung for the testing? Who did you use, did you provide a guess as to the breed and/or picture, and what did you think about the results?

 

[icemaiden]

I used Wisdom Panel. According to a survey in an english magazine, Wisdom Panel has the largest database of breeds. Some of the other companies, allegedly use Wisdom Panels tests anyway.

My cross breed's ancestry was interesting and I thought accurate. Perhaps not all in looks, but in behaviour. There are reports on this website of people's dogs being incorrectly identified, so see if you can find them and read them before commiting.

Good luck if you go ahead

PS No clue was provided.

 

[mathilda]

i wouldn't trust them too much if you suspect your dog being a mix of more rare breeds. these kind of DNA tests often have relative big sample groups if the more common breeds, but rarer and newer breeds may not even part of the testing or they only have very few samples.

If you suspect stuff like Labbie or Schäfi, I think they're probably much more acurate...I'd also stick to the bigger tests with big sample libraries, like wisdom panel.

 

[SusanLynn]

I've used Wisdom Panel three times with varying results.

The first dog had quite a mix of breeds and the results mostly came back as question marks. The ancestry of three distant relations was suggested, and only one of those choices made any sense based on his size and personality: Great Pyrenees.

The second dog apparently had one full-bodied parent: Chihuahua. The other parent was a question mark. From the dog's personality, size, and behavior, I'd guess that he was a Chihuahua - Dachshund mix.

My current dog came back as a Pekingese - Shih Tzu mix, and he definitely looks like a Pekingese with the big, round eyes, and he's very much of a companion dog in his personality.

I would say that the Wisdom Panel tests work fairly well as long as at least the grandparents approximated purebreds. They don't answer all questions, though. For example, my current dog has a longer muzzle than either a Pekingese or a Shih Tzu, but I have no idea where that feature came from.

 

[natenqen]

I think you should take the DNA tests with a grain of salt for the results. Most of us who did DNA tests did it for the fun and did not take it too seriously.

So, don't be surprised with some breeds ur pups may have. I forgot what the first test I used, but my second test was with wisdom pannel.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Pinkspore]

I did a Wisdom Panel test on my dog and got a highly-improbable result back. The company seems to have pretty good customer service these days, so I sent them pictures of my 40-lb dog and his 35-lb mother and asked them to please explain how she could possibly be half Bullmastiff. An actual geneticist called me and geeked out about dog breed genetics with me for way longer than I expected, and I learned a lot about how the test works.

Basically, their DNA information is based solely on registered purebred dogs. Other registered purebred dogs have genetic signatures that cluster tightly with the sample members of their breed. The further a dog is from registered lines, the less their genes will cluster with those of their breed, and the more likely it is that the test would show a false positive.

The results you get for the Wisdom Panel are just a tiny bit of the information the company gets from your dog. The computer spits out the most likely or best-fitting result and that's what they send you. My dog's mother was a purebred or extremely purebred-looking working ACD from working lines, but not registered or from registered lines, so her gene result didn't cluster as tightly with the Wisdom Panel ACDs. There was also a strong signal for Bullmastiff, so the first projected breed mix the computer spit out had a false positive claiming my dog was 1/4 Bullmastiff.

The geneticist then made the assumption that my dog had one purebred ACD parent and entered that into the program. The computer spit out a few different projections including some with Xolo in the mix, but she said they get a lot of false positives for Xolo in dogs that are part terrier. The breeds that came up consistently in every projection were Bullmastiff, AmStaff, and CKCS, with my dog's sire being 1/4 each of those plus 1/4 unknown. I asked if CKCS just meant 'spaniel', but she said that CKCS was consistent in every projection and no other spaniel breeds came up in any of the results. She also said the sire was likely a mid-sized, short-haired, tri-colored dog with big floppy ears. The people I got my dog from as a pup said they thought the father was the neighbor's beagle mix, which fits that description nicely.

So I had a really great experience with the Wisdom Panel, but largely because I went a bit further and didn't just look at the initial result and dismiss the test as a novelty.

 

[Cynna]

Wisdom Panel is who I'd decided on using, but didn't know if there was a better option I'd not heard of.

If I'm really honest, I want to satisfy some curiosity and this is mostly for fun, and so I have a better answer when everyone asks what my girl is (other than monkey!), and because our boy looks so much like something we've seen before - deer with lion eyes? - that we just want something better to go on than 'Chihuahua mix'.

I might just be trying to justify the cost of getting them both done with 'oh it will help training', etc. I'm also a knowledge-nerd, so if I can find out more, and it seems accurate, I'll be a happy camper.

Thanks for your experiences, I'll definitely be going with Wisdom Panel for this.

 

[anankae]

Wisdom Panel is what I used on my mixed breed. Curious because he looks like a spaniel and he came with a yellow lab so I wondered if she was his mother. (turns out she's not).

But I wonder if when I did the test at the pet expo, when I said I think he might have spaniel and labrador in him? If the person taking the sample wrote this down on the submission. Because he came back 1/4 cocker spaniel (1 set of grandparents) and 1/8 labrador. All the rest was a mess of things he's probably not. I want to know what gave him his coat, it's long and rough like a poodle's tho not as curly. And he's got this topknot no one can figure out what gave it to him.

He's definitely a sporting breed, he's got the temperament.

I want to do Wisdom Panel again and do it blind with my labrador. She's very obviously a labrador so I want to see if they get it right. Probably going to wait until the next time they come into town with a pet expo.

 

[Pinkspore]

But I wonder if when I did the test at the pet expo, when I said I think he might have spaniel and labrador in him? If the person taking the sample wrote this down on the submission. Because he came back 1/4 cocker spaniel (1 set of grandparents) and 1/8 labrador. All the rest was a mess of things he's probably not. I want to know what gave him his coat, it's long and rough like a poodle's tho not as curly. And he's got this topknot no one can figure out what gave it to him.

How long ago was his test? I'm curious whether they've gotten better over time as they collect more data.

 

[anankae]

How long ago was his test? I'm curious whether they've gotten better over time as they collect more data.

It was about a year and a half ago. They do improve as they add more samples to their database as I understand it.

Submitting the same dog won't get different results as they'll match it to the existing sample in their database.

BTW, in his picture that's not his full length of hair, it's growing out (I get him clipped pretty short). He's got the long skirt like spaniels do and the leg feathers. Picks up all sorts of dirt and debris, which is why I get it cut off.

 

[Cynna]

Sent it off for one of the dogs - was a bit of a challenge getting a good swabbing though.
Our new guy still doesn't let me brush his back teeth, but I've been getting him used to it with a qtip. Didn't think this would be difficult until I saw the actual swab, and am a bit too worried that he'd struggle and get jabbed inside his mouth. I'm sure this would be a lot easier on a large breed dog, or a big slobberer, lol.

I'm crazy anxious to get the test back - a little silly maybe, but I want to know where those giant ears on Finlay came from.