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Romie

European Village Dog

  • Romie, an European Village Dog tested with EmbarkVet.com Romie, an European Village Dog tested with EmbarkVet.com
    A walk in the park

“Romie is from Turkey where she lived with with hundreds of other dogs in a landfill. She was rescued by a group called Rescuers Without Borders who helps feed and care for animals. She has dwarfism but that doesn’t stop from playing with the big dogs. Shes a sweet and loveable girl that just wants to be with you.”

Place of Birth

Turkey

Current Location

USA

From

Turkey

This dog has been viewed and been given 20 wags

Genetic Breed Result

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Village dog trace breed analysis

Village dogs often have short stretches of DNA that match purebred dogs, due to a distant common ancestor or a more recent mating between a purebred and a village dog. Romie has short stretches of DNA in common with this breed:

What exactly are village dogs?

Village dogs are the free-breeding, free-roaming “outside” dogs found around the world living in and around human settlements big and small. They are also known as island dogs, pariah dogs, or free-ranging dogs.

Many village dog populations precede the formation of modern breed dogs.

They make up about 3/4s of the billion or so dogs living on Earth today. They serve as trash cleaners, sentinels, and even sometimes companions while still retaining much of their freedom. Embark’s founders have studied village dogs on six continents since 2007 in their efforts to understand the history, traits, and health of the domestic dog. Through this work they have discovered the origins of the dog in Central Asia, and also identified genetic regions involved in domestication and local adaptation, such as the high altitude adaptation in Himalayan dogs. Embark is the only dog DNA test that includes diverse village dogs from around the world in its breed reference panel.

So what breeds are in my dog?

In a very real sense, European Village Dog is the actual breed of your dog. Village dogs like this descend from separate lines of dogs than the lines that have been bred into standardized breeds like Labradors and Poodles. If you trace the family tree of Romie back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

European Village Dog

Europe is the cradle of many dog breeds which were formed from free-breeding village dogs living in Europe for many millenia. These dogs adapted to the cold winters of Scandanavia and the hot summers of Spain, and they also, over time, found many ways to be useful to the humans they lived near. Some became hunters of everything from boar to squirrels while others became talented sheep herders, guardians, or just companions. Some of these dogs eventually became the founders of many popular dog breeds today, though most village dogs just continued living on as free-breeding village dogs even after the formation of modern breeds. Now they are found mostly in southern and eastern Europe.

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Village dogs have lived just about everywhere across the world for thousands of years. Long before there were any recognized dog breeds, there were village dogs around the fires and trash heaps of early human villages. Romie is part of this ancient heritage, not descended from a specific breed, but continuing the ancient lineage of dogs that were our first, best friends.

Embark's co-founders studied Village Dogs on six continents in their efforts to understand the history, traits, and health of the domestic dog. Through this work, they discovered evidence for the origins of the dog in Central Asia , and they also identified genetic regions involved in domestication and local adaptation. As a result, Embark has the largest Village Dog reference panel of any canine genetics company.

We compared Romie's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Romie's DNA is most similar to those village dogs. The areas of darkest red reflect the greatest similarity to our village dog panel.

Village Dog Map
Similarity to village dog groups around the world. Darker red reflects greater similarity.

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Health Summary

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Romie is at increased risk for one genetic health condition.

Intervertebral Disc Disease (Type I)

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Romie inherited one copy of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

Our research indicates that this genetic variant is likely to increase the risk that Romie will develop this disease.

Scientific Basis

Research studies for this variant have been based on dogs of other breeds. While dogs with similar breeds to Romie have not yet been the focus of research studies, our data indicates that Romie is likely to be at increased risk.

What is Intervertebral Disc Disease (Type I)?

Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) is a back/spine issue that refers to a health condition affecting the discs that act as cushions between vertebrae. With Type I IVDD, affected dogs can have a disc event where it ruptures or herniates towards the spinal cord. This pressure on the spinal cord causes neurologic signs which can range from a wobbly gait to impairment of movement. Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) refers to the relative proportion between a dog’s legs and body, wherein the legs are shorter and the body longer. There are multiple different variants that can cause a markedly chondrodystrophic appearance as observed in Dachshunds and Corgis. However, this particular variant is the only one known to also increase the risk for IVDD.

Breed-Relevant Genetic Conditions

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Additional Genetic Conditions

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Traits

Explore the genetics behind your dog’s appearance and size.

Base Coat Color

Base Coat Color

Coat Color Modifiers

Coat Color Modifiers

Other Coat Traits

Other Coat Traits

Other Body Features

Other Body Features

Body Size

Body Size

Performance

Performance

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Through Romie’s mitochondrial DNA we can trace her mother’s ancestry back to where dogs and people first became friends. This map helps you visualize the routes that her ancestors took to your home. Their story is described below the map.

Haplogroup

A1a

Haplotype

A16/17/99/100

Map

A1a

Romie’s Haplogroup

A1a is the most common maternal lineage among Western dogs. This lineage traveled from the site of dog domestication in Central Asia to Europe along with an early dog expansion perhaps 10,000 years ago. It hung around in European village dogs for many millennia. Then, about 300 years ago, some of the prized females in the line were chosen as the founding dogs for several dog breeds. That set in motion a huge expansion of this lineage. It's now the maternal lineage of the overwhelming majority of Mastiffs, Labrador Retrievers and Gordon Setters. About half of Boxers and less than half of Shar-Pei dogs descend from the A1a line. It is also common across the world among village dogs, a legacy of European colonialism.

A16/17/99/100

Romie’s Haplotype

Part of the large A1a haplogroup, this common haplotype is found in village dogs across the globe. Among breed dogs, we find it most frequently in Labrador Retrievers, Newfoundlands, German Shepherd Dogs, and Golden Retrievers.

Shar Pei dogs think A1a is the coolest!

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The Paternal Haplotype reveals a dog’s deep ancestral lineage, stretching back thousands of years to the original domestication of dogs.

Are you looking for information on the breeds that Romie inherited from her mom and dad? Check out her breed breakdown and family tree.

Paternal Haplotype is determined by looking at a dog’s Y-chromosome—but not all dogs have Y-chromosomes!

Why can’t we show Paternal Haplotype results for female dogs?

All dogs have two sex chromosomes. Female dogs have two X-chromosomes (XX) and male dogs have one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome (XY). When having offspring, female (XX) dogs always pass an X-chromosome to their puppy. Male (XY) dogs can pass either an X or a Y-chromosome—if the puppy receives an X-chromosome from its father then it will be a female (XX) puppy and if it receives a Y-chromosome then it will be a male (XY) puppy. As you can see, Y-chromosomes are passed down from a male dog only to its male offspring.

Since Romie is a female (XX) dog, she has no Y-chromosome for us to analyze and determine a paternal haplotype.

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