Kenobi's DNA Test Results!
Did I pay to have my dog’s DNA tested to find out what breed he is? YOU BET YOUR BUTT I DID! It should come as no surprise, seeing as I’m obsessed with my pup and treat him like a spoiled human child.
Mr. San Diego and I are regularly asked what breed Kenobi is, and we were always telling people that we had no idea! As a rescue pup, we had no idea about his parentage other than knowing a bit about his biological mother. His mother and his sister were completely white, but Kenobi has completely different coloring, making us even more curious about his breed! He was listed as a Retriever Mix when we adopted him, and we suspected he might have some Beagle or other type of Foxhound in him.
We bought the Embark Dog DNA Breed + Health Kit, which also tests for health markers, not just breed. According to their website, “An Embark Breed + Health dog DNA test enables a dog owner to learn about their pup’s breed, ancestry, health, relatives, and more with a simple cheek swab. With a research-grade DNA genotyping platform, Embark looks at over 350 breeds and more than 190 genetic health conditions and traits. You can discover and connect with dogs that share DNA with yours with the world's only canine relative finder, free with purchase. The most accurate & highest rated dog DNA kit on the market.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about your pup’s breeds or health, I have a Referral Link for $40 off your order! Click here: https://www.talkable.com/x/NOXQU1.
We ordered the kit online and it was mailed to us with everything we needed to do the test and return the sample. All we had to do was swab the inside of Kenobi’s cheek for 60 seconds with the provided swap and mail it back with the prepaid label. We’re lucky that Kenobi is a very chill pup and it was easy to have him sit and stay while we swabbed his cheek.
Getting the results back took several weeks (which was rough since I’m quite impatient), but they did a great job sending email updates on where they were at in the process. It was very, very exciting to get the email that his results were FINALLY READY!
breed results
Y’all…are you prepared for this? Have you already tried to guess what breed(s) Kenobi is? Are you on Team Beagle, Team Foxhound, or Team Terrier? Maybe you’re thinking Corgi or Healer? What if I told you that ALL OF THOSE ARE WRONG?! Besides the obvious fact that he’s a mutt, here is what his DNA Results told us:
Ummmm - what?! BOXER and CHOW CHOW?! Are you kidding me?! I would have never guessed those breeds! Now that I know this, I do see Boxer in him, especially with his coloring, small head, and droopy lips. The only Chow Chow I see in him is when his little tongue sticks out of his mouth. It has been a several days since we got the results and I’m still in awe over them. I’m SO HAPPY we decided to do this.
ancestry
Another really cool element of the test was to show his ancestry. I think it’s super cool to see his family tree by breed!
Health + more
They checked for 32 breed-related genetic health conditions to see if he had the markers for those diseases. They also checked for 160 other health conditions! Of all of those, he only matched to 2 and it showed that he was not at increased risk to develop either of those conditions - hooray! One aspect of the test that I was surprised to see was the Inbreeding percentage - which he is only 12%. Apparently there are significantly more health risks with higher inbreeding percentages, which I found fascinating.
They also provided a bunch of really interesting trait details, such as what he should expect his full grown weight to be (62 lbs, gasp!), details about his coat, shedding habits, muzzle and trail lengths, and body size.
All of these details are on the website and they also provide a convenient printable report with a bunch of the details! Ours was 32 pages long!
relatives
You know how 23+Me lists people you might be related to? This test does the same thing, and guess what?! We found his little sister! His cute all-white sister that he was in a foster home with also had the test done and they matched the pups together as Immediate Relatives. How cool is that?! I sent the owners a message through the Embark portal and am hoping we can set up a playdate between the siblings!
all in all
Seriously, I’m so glad we decided to have this test done on Kenobi! It was so easy and super informative. Now I know that my mutt is indeed a SUPER MUTT and I no longer have to guess what he is mixed with. It’s nice to know what we can expect in terms of genetic health concerns and I’m especially happy to know that he’s at minimal risk! It was worth upgrading to the kit with the Health details and I highly, highly recommend it!
Again, you can get $40 off your Health + Breed Kit if you use my Referral Link: https://www.talkable.com/x/NOXQU1