Dog DNA Testing

The AKC Canine Health Foundation (AKC CHF) and the Orthopedic Foundations for Animals (OFA) published the Review of the Current State of Genetic Testing – A Living Resource in 2020. It is an extremely useful guide for both novice and long-time breeders. Not only does it provide practical explanations of genetics and scientific testing methods...

Dog fanciers are passionate about their breeds and the unique attributes that define breed type, characteristics, and temperament. Generations of careful breeding and selection have helped to refine these breed-specific traits and allow everyone to enjoy the remarkable variation that is represented in hundreds of purebred dog breeds. At Embark, we celebrate and support the...

DNA testing is rapidly growing among breeders, giving them increasingly detailed information to manage and improve the genetic health, diversity, and physical traits of their breeding lines. Given the importance of these test results to the health of not only each dog but also that of future generations of dogs, we believe it’s critical to...

All living things inherit their traits from their parents, whether it’s a person’s height, a dog’s coat type, or a flower’s petal color. Traits aren’t copied with 100% accuracy from parent to offspring, though. Since traits are inherited from both parents, all sorts of mixing and matching can occur on the genetic level. The environment...

Why do littermates look different from each other? How is breed ancestry inherited? Learn more in this introductory video on genetic inheritance with Embark cofounder Adam Boyko, PhD. What is genetic inheritance? How does genetic recombination work? Why do human siblings not look exactly alike? Why do canine littermates often look different from each other?...

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When two different purebred dogs have puppies, the resulting litter can have a wide spectrum of looks. This effect is compounded if the parents themselves are mixed breed. Sometimes it can be hard to believe the puppies are related going solely off their appearance. While it’s possible for one litter of puppies to have multiple...

People are often surprised to learn their dog has some Chow Chow ancestry. Why are Chows common in mixed-breed dogs, but uncommon as purebreds? Learn more about this surprisingly common breed result with Embark’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Adam Boyko. Chow Chows were popular in the 1980s Although we don’t see as many purebred Chows...

Spots and ticking can have a surprising origin in your dog A dog’s breed is more than coat deep. Dalmatian? Maybe not. Some dogs have spots on areas of white fur, commonly called “ticking”. While this is a characteristic of Dalmatians, many breeds can be spotted, such as Border Collies and American Staffordshire Terriers. Sometimes...

The splotchy coat pattern called merle can come from many breeds A dog’s breed is more than coat deep. Many assume that dogs with a splotchy, merle coat pattern have ancestry from Australian Shepherds or Catahoula Leopard Dogs. However, this isn’t always true. Merle can be inherited from many breeds, including Collie, Great Dane, Dachshund,...

Every day, we hear from Embark customers who are surprised by their dog’s breed results. This often happens with mixed-breed dogs that don’t quite look like you’d imagine based on their breed breakdown.  These expectation-defying differences are possible because of how genetic inheritance works. Just like you, your dog gets one set of genes from...

Hi everyone! Erin, Embark’s Senior Veterinary Geneticist, here. As more people have been choosing Embark for their genetic testing needs, I’ve been receiving quite a few questions about our technology — what is “DNA microarray technology?” “Is it proprietary?” “How do you know it’s accurate?” “How is it different from the single mutation tests that...