Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I saw a DNA Breed ID kit listed in a pet supply catalog for around $60. The catalog description says "Cheek cells are collected with a soft sponge rubber spatula" and "92% of the mixed breed dog population in the USA is covered by the over 60 validated breeds". Just wondering if anyone has used a kit like this. I guess you take the cheek sample and mail it in and about three weeks later you receive the results telling you what breeds your mixed breed dog is. Could this kind of test provide accurate results? Thanks in advance for any comments.

I am not familiar with this particular test, but assuming that it is extremely accurate, what is the advantage of knowing which breeds she is descended from? Purebreeds have some breed-specific problems, but crosses supply the missing genes. This is known as hybrid vigor. In first generation crosses it is usually apparent what breeds the parents were. Second generations crosses are less apparent, but the offspring have fewer defects.

The mixed breed dog belongs to my parents who found her as a puppy. People are always asking them what kind of dog she is. All they can do is speculate. So my reason is not because of any health concerns, but strictly for curiosity. Just wondering if anyone out there has used such a DNA test and what their outcome was....pro or con.

hi! im a vet tech and my clinic carries the mars wisdom pannel, the blood dna test for dogs, before we got them 2 people at work had done the cheek swab test and then followed up with blood test, one got the less results, one got better. the blood test checks for more breeds, the cheek swab is cheeper, id say they will give you a good idea of whats in the dog, my own dogs test was suprising but did explain where he got some of his markings from, id say its a fun thing to know, but may or may not be that relavent to health issues. mine came up as mostly lab, and he has hip displasia, but from the size and shape of him before the test id already had x rays done to check out his hips, so the test really hasent afected the way i care for him in a medical way, but did get my co workers to laugh at me cuz ive said so many times id never had a lab, nothing against labs, they just tend to have to much energy for me, and my boy pushes my limit on a daily basis!!

Hi PO. Thanks for your reply.

Are you saying that the two people you know who did the cheek swab tests got similar results as they got with the more expensive blood test? Did they feel that the results from the cheek swab test matched up with the breeds they suspected their dogs to be?

Did you do the cheek swab or the blood test on your dog? I was just thinking of getting the cheek swab test out of curiosity and not for any medical reason. So from what I understand, you would recommend the cheek swab DNA test?

Thanks again.