Doggy DNA Testing

I'm sure everyone that adopts a rescue dog thinks at one time or another about the type of breed that the dog is, and we were no different when Clive came into our lives last year. When he was young, he had a wide face like a staffy, but started to look more like a labrador as he got a bit older. He has very long legs, one white spotty paw and a very curly tail and we often joked about how much dog and how much monkey he is. Knowing his breed wouldn't in any way change how we felt about him, we were just curious, so we signed up for a DNA test. 

It was a painless process - we just had to wipe a swab on the inside of his mouth a certain amount of time after he'd eaten, box it up in the prepaid package, then pop it in the post. The only hard bit was waiting for the results, which did take around 4 weeks. 

But what a surprise when they came in! It turns out he has no staffy or labrador in him at all, and is mainly a Transylvanian Hound (26%) and Segugio Italiano (19%).

He definitely has the long legs of the Transylvanian, but doesn't seem to have any resemblance to the other breeds in his make-up, which include German Shepherd, Chihuahua and Xoloitzcuintli! He even has both Fijian and Polynesian Street Dog in his DNA, but the biggest surprise was that he's also 2% coyote!

Fun aside, the test also told us that Clive is clear of 29 genetic conditions that could impact his early vet visits, including different types of Haemophilia. This is a bit of extra peace of mind, and something that will be updated as new sciences are developed over time. 

We've loved discovering more about our wonderful rescue dog - we're just not sure about the coyote bit!!

We chose Wisdom Panel DNA testing for pets, which cost £89.99. Other DNA services are available.