VERIFY put three dog DNA companies to the test to figure out if they can identify your dog’s breed as accurately as they say.
Dog DNA tests have become an increasingly popular purchase for many pet owners who are curious about their furry friend’s ancestry. And since so many dogs are rescues or mixed-breeds, there are plenty of potential customers for these dog DNA companies.VERIFY looked into the science of dog genetics, DNA testing and what research says about different dog DNA companies. We also conducted our own experiment to determine the accuracy of three popular dog DNA testing companies.
When asked what she was expecting from the DNA test, Delaney said she would be “absolutely amazed” if the results suggested Versace was anything but a purebred dachshund.Maka is an 11-year-old rescue mutt who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with Tony Loeffler and Michael Griffin. Loeffler says they were told he is a mix of Labrador retriever and German wirehaired pointer.Beau is Sidorowicz’s dog he adopted as a puppy from a local rescue in 2018.
To illustrate this, Ostrander described a study in which a computer had to identify a dog’s breed by genetic profile alone. The computer correctly identified the breed of 99% of dogs it was asked to identify.First, you have to get a sample of a dog’s DNA. Dog DNA companies usually provide a swab you can use to collect your dog’s DNA from the saliva inside of its mouth.
Halie Rando, Ph.D., a computer scientist and the lead researcher in a University of Colorado study on the accuracy of several dog DNA tests, explained how these reference panels of purebred dogs can then be used to identify the pedigree of mixed-breed dogs. Dockweiler noted that other reputable dog DNA companies use a similar method to determine a dog’s breed, but the results may vary between tests due to differences in each company’s reference databases and algorithms.
“We are a DNA testing laboratory and our function is to report the results that our DNA analysts derive from the submitted samples,” Viaguard Accu-Metrics said in a statement. “Those results of course can be influenced by the quality of the submitted samples/other factors. Once the results have been released our work is complete and we have no further comment.”
There are a number of reasons why different commercial dog DNA tests may yield results and vary in accuracy, Foran, who works for Wisdom Panel, says. Foran said tests can yield different results because of differences in reference panels, differences in the algorithms used to detect a dog’s ancestry based on these reference panels and differences in the types and number of genetic variants considered., researchers sent various dog DNA companies genetic samples alongside photos of dogs that were genetically and physically different from the dog the genetic sample originated from.
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