Frequently Asked Questions

Please take note of the following factors
that will influence your dog’s DNA test.

Experience indicates that approximately 3% of all DNA canine testing will yield results that are inaccurate or cannot be interpreted. The reasons for this are:

• Dog’s have extremely high levels of oral bacteria which may result in degeneration of the sample before our DNA extraction process commences.

• The current thoroughly isolated DNA markers in the available database to date cover 92.7% of the North American dog population representing 98.7% of the most common domestic breeds.

Can I collect the DNA myself? Yes, the collection process is very simple and can be performed at home by following the enclosed instructions.

Does DNA collection hurt my pet? The DNA collection is painless. The sterile, gentle polyester tipped swab minimizes any chance for infection or irritation.

How long does it take to get the results? Results are normally emailed in under 2 weeks (if email address is provided) from the receipt of your sample. Your paperwork will follow in the mail a few days after that.

How do you know which breeds are present in my dog? Our lab has invested a considerable amount of time in the science of DNA knowledge, analyzing DNA from purebred dogs to build a comprehensive database that highlights the differences between different breeds. By comparing your dog’s DNA with our database we can identify which breeds are present in your dog.

What is the Canine Breed Composition DNA Analysis Certificate? The results of the DNA analysis are printed on a certificate that is suitable for framing. These results will identify the breeds present in your dog’s ancestry.

Why are several breeds listed on my Canine Breed Composition DNA Analysis Certificate, and what do the levels mean? In processing, breeds are detected as ranges rather than absolute values. These are then listed on your certificate as Levels, which are defined as follows: Level 1: Over 75% of the DNA found in your dog is from the breed listed. Level 2: Each breed listed represents between 37-74% of your dog’s DNA Level 3: Each breed listed represents between 20-36% of your dog’s DNA Level 4: Each breed listed represents between 10-19% of your dog’s DNA Level 5: Each breed listed represents less than 10% of your dog’s DNA.

What if there are breeds in my dog that are not in your database? We believe that our validated breeds cover over 92% of the mixed breed population. If your dog contains DNA from a breed that is not in our database the DNA represented in that part of your dog’s genetics will be assigned to the most closely related breed or breeds.

Will you be adding more dogs to your database? Our lab is actively working on adding more breeds to the database. Please check the table below for the most up-to-date listings.

Can you confirm that my dog is pure bred? No. The DNA Breed Identification test is designed for the sole purpose of identifying breeds found in the genetic composition of mixed breed dogs. If only one breed is detected, it could be that there there is DNA present from another breed, but in amounts too small to be detected.

Why is pit bull not on your list? The DNA My Dog Validated Breeds are based on breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club® (AKC). The term “pit bull” has come to describe several types of dogs, often of mixed breed, that share similar physical characteristics. There are several AKC breeds with characteristics often shared by dogs referred to as “pit bull” that are in our database, such as the Boxer, Bulldog, Bull Terrier and Mastiff, so these breeds could be identified. Please click here for more information.

How does the test actually work? When a sample is received by the lab it is put into a solution that takes the cheek cells off the swab and releases the DNA. Once you have the DNA in solution, it is mixed with a number of chemicals and copied by a process called PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). This basically makes millions and millions of copies of the bits of the DNA that are needed for analysis, and we call those pieces of DNA “markers". Once we have the amplified DNA markers, we analyze the information from those markers and compare it to our reference database. The comparison database is really the key to the whole process. During the comparison process, the results for the DNA markers from your mixed breed dog are compared with DNA marker information from thousands and thousands of pure bred dogs. This matching process is performed on a computer through a sophisticated program that repeats the analysis thousands of times to assure an accurate result.

How many breeds does your test recognize and how did you choose those breeds? DNA My Dog can recognize about 93% of the dog DNA that is in the US according to historical trends in breed popularity. The breeds that we detect are the most common breeds you see, such as Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd Dog, Yorkshire Terrier or Chihuahua. These common breeds are the ones most likely to be present in a mixed breed dog or in the increasingly common designer dogs. The rare breeds that are found in the US are unlikely to be present in a normal mixed breed, so breeds like Pharaoh Hound or Kuvasz or Wirehaired Pointing will not be seen in many mixed breed dogs. As the cost of performing the Breed ID test goes up as you add more breeds, we decided to include just the most common breeds to keep the price down. Why pay 50% more, when for most people the breeds that make up their dog are the common ones? For more than 99% of the samples we have received, we have been able to match the samples to our breeds.

I have read that the number of markers is critical for accurate breed identification, is that true? That statement is almost correct. The number of markers is important, but it is not the only important factor. We also need to consider the amount of information that each marker will give us. For example, if you have a choice between using 10 markers that will only identify one breed each and one marker that will help to identify 15 breeds, it is obvious that you would choose the marker that helps to identify the 15. Just quoting the number of markers that are used does not really help you know the precision of the test. You must also know how much information each marker will give you, therefore basing a comparison on the number of markers used in the test is not valid. We can however tell you that in our test we compare well over 500 data points when performing the breed identification.

Is the size of my dog controlled by the same markers as the breed? One interesting genetic discovery about dogs is that there is a specific size gene for the dog. This is the reason why you can have dogs with an identical appearance except different size! The Poodle family (Toy, Miniature and Standard) illustrate this point perfectly. As an extreme example if you crossed a Great Dane and a Yorkshire Terrier it would be possible to have a dog that looks like a Great Dane but is only 6 inches tall. (reference; A Single IGF1 Allele Is a Major Determinant of Small Size in Dogs Nathan B. Sutter, Carlos D. Bustamante, Kevin Chase, Melissa M. Gray, Keyan Zhao, Lan Zhu, Badri Padhukasahasram, Eric Karlins, Sean Davis, Paul G. Jones, Pascale Quignon, Gary S. Johnson, Heidi G. Parker, Neale Fretwell, Dana S. Mosher, Dennis F. Lawler, Ebenezer Satyaraj, Magnus Nordborg, K. Gordon Lark, Robert K. Wayne, and Elaine A. Ostrander Science 6 April 2007 316: 112-115)

Do you perform any quality control tests in your assay? Having an effective quality control system is essential for a lab to process large numbers of DNA samples correctly. To prove that our test continues to perform properly, we run a number of control dogs every day. These are dogs that we know and have access to on a regular basis so we know what their results should be. By running a sample from these dogs alongside every group of customer dogs we are able to check that our processes are working properly. If our control dogs fail or give results that were different from previous runs, we retest all the customer samples that were processed at that same time.

Is blood the best sample for breed identification? No, not necessarily. It has been suggested that a blood sample is the “Gold Standard” for genotyping applications. That is simply not true. For every critical application where DNA is required it is typically a cheek swab that is used. For example, if you are watching CSI on TV, the investigators take a cheek swab to match a suspects DNA to evidence found at a crime scene. Globally, DNA databases used for matching DNA have been built by using cheek swabs. Blood samples are simply not the only, nor the preferred, way to collect DNA samples for forensics labs, the FBI or any other organization that routinely collects DNA. In human paternity testing more than 95% of the labs who perform those tests use cheek cells collected on swabs. If you look in the scientific literature, more than 85% of papers published over the past 10 years involving genotyping (what we do in the breed identification process) use a cheek swab. If the use of a cheek swab is the best method for collecting samples that will be used to determine murder trials or prove who a child’s parents are, then it is also the best method that we can use for our pets.

Why is using a cheek swab better than using a blood sample? The use of a cheek swab has many advantages over the use of a blood sample. The DNA that is present in cells is the same regardless of the source of that cell, be it blood or cheek. It does not matter where in the body those cells actually come from, the DNA that is in them is the same. The main advantage that you have with cheek cells is that the sample is easy to collect and relatively clean. When you collect epithelial cells from the lining of the cheek there is not much present on the swab other than cheek cells and a bit of saliva. A blood sample it is a very different proposition. The most common cell type in blood, red cells, does not contain any DNA. Even worse, those very common red cells contain hemoglobin which will interfere with a critical reaction in the breed ID process. Therefore the red cells must all be removed by a time consuming and expensive process. When we look at a cheek swab, the DNA that we obtain is easy to get to, relatively pure, and doesn’t require a labor intensive purification process like blood.