# Sticky  Summary of DNA tests for dogs



## spanielorbust

I'm posting this as a read for those interested in breeding, and as well as for those pet owners/buyers who like to stay informed.

The following url is to a summary page that links to a PDF (free download) which has a comprehensive list of the current DNA tests available for dogs - too many to list here so please click if you are interested.

Summary page: - http://www.springerlink.com/content/g0434425nv0314g0/

PDF: - http://www.springerlink.com/content/g0434425nv0314g0/fulltext.pdf

Of course lists like this become dated the day after they are created, and I know that there are also currently Episodic Falling and Dry Eye Curly Coat DNA tests for the Cavalier King Charles. If anyone knows of others to add, please do so.

The article also _"discusses some of the considerations that should be taken into account to successfully translate scientific findings into robust and useful tools for the lay dog breeder to use, and in so doing it uses a few representative examples of DNA tests that are currently available."_

Also mentioned is a higher disease mutation risk estimate for dogs, and humans, than I've seen before: 

_Recent data from the 1,000 genomes project revealed that humans carry, on average, between 250 and 300 recessive mutations and at least 50 mutations previously associated with inherited disorders, and it seems reasonable to assume the average dog will carry the same burden of disease-associated variants (Durbin et al. 2010). Expecting breeding dogs to be clear of all risk alleles, therefore, is unrealistic and will severely jeopardise breed diversity._

SOB


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## Cyric

Very informative. But I got a little chuckle out of this...


spanielorbust said:


> Also mentioned is a higher disease mutation risk estimate for dogs, and humans, than I've seen before:
> 
> _Recent data from the 1,000 genomes project revealed that humans carry, on average, between 250 and 300 recessive mutations and at least 50 mutations previously associated with inherited disorders, and it seems reasonable to assume the average dog will carry the same burden of disease-associated variants (Durbin et al. 2010). Expecting breeding dogs to be clear of all risk alleles, therefore, is unrealistic and will severely jeopardise breed diversity._
> 
> SOB


When was the last time humans were bred for coat or temperament? I think compairing dogs and humans in this aspect is a little unrealistic, but I'm not a geneticist so what do I know anyway. I'll shut up now.


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## spanielorbust

Cyric said:


> Very informative. But I got a little chuckle out of this...
> 
> 
> When was the last time humans were bred for coat or temperament? I think compairing dogs and humans in this aspect is a little unrealistic, but I'm not a geneticist so what do I know anyway. I'll shut up now.


I don't understand why the comparison would be unrealistic, Cyric. Are you suggesting dogs, as a species, would start with more variants ..... less ......? . . . could you explain?

I did want to post another link to a list of tests, though, and it is the OFA link: http://www.offa.org/dna_alltest.html

SOB


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## Cyric

Through forced evolution the dog has several variants in its genes, some by design and others as side effects.

Humans breed like rats (sorry) with little or no concern for genes.

I'm just saying that it is unrealistic to assume a similarity.


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## cshellenberger

I'm going to pin this to the top as a sticky, I don't want it gettingg lost.


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## xxxxdogdragoness

Cyric said:


> Very informative. But I got a little chuckle out of this...
> 
> 
> When was the last time humans were bred for coat or temperament? I think compairing dogs and humans in this aspect is a little unrealistic, but I'm not a geneticist so what do I know anyway. I'll shut up now.



True, but if humans, a species who are basically "allowed" to breed indiscriminately have that many inherited disorders then imagine what a "controlled" group such as dogs, who's gene pools are closed off have? I agree, it is unrealistic to expect a breed to have 0 probs & I don't think we should try. If breeding carrier-carrier=carrier then it's not all bad.


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## spanielorbust

Cyric said:


> Through forced evolution the dog has several variants in its genes, some by design and others as side effects.
> 
> Humans breed like rats (sorry) with little or no concern for genes.
> 
> I'm just saying that it is unrealistic to assume a similarity.


I still have no clue what you are trying to get at here. What do you mean by saying that it is through 'forced evolution' that there are several variants on dogs genes?

What do you mean by 'forced evolution' and how would that increase or decrease variants?

Selection increases the incidense rate of similar genes pairing up in the same animal. Is that what you are referring to? If so this has nothing to do with the number of mutations (singular alleles) in the species to begin with. The mutation rate (the number of new mutations) in a species is not increased or decreased by selection.

The dog genome was in fact sequenced IN ORDER to help humans. We are all mammals. Genetically we work very similarly and share similar mutations with similar effects. It does not matter that we use different selection criteria to choose our mates.

The Sequencing of the Canine Genome: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/guide/dog/ 

_Sequencing the dog genome will facilitate the identification of genes that may provide explanations for the vast range of mammalian variation and help us to better understand the genetic basis of diseases common to both human and dog. The breed chosen for sequencing is the boxer, which is one of the breeds with the least variation in its genome. _

The Canine Genome: http://genome.cshlp.org/content/15/12/1706.full 

_The dog has emerged as a premier species for the study of morphology, behavior, and disease. _ 

LUPA: Unravelling common human diseases using dog genetics: http://www.eurolupa.org/ 

_"Dogs to help cure humans"_

Canine cancer research benefits pets and humans: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/...nine-cancer-research-benefits-pets-and-humans 

_So we believe that when we can find and develop, identify agents that can be used safely in client owned animals and they have a benefit in those dogs then we believe that they're most likely to have a beneficial effect in humans as well. 
- Nicola Mason, University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School _

SOB


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## Pawzk9

Thanks. A good list to have. I'm glad they've taken Juvenile Renal Dysplasia off the list for Aussies. They offered that test at Nationals one year (so got a pretty good sample of dogs of more used lines) and every single dog tested (of lines from working to show) came back affected/affected. Now if that is true, Aussie puppies should be dropping like flies from kidney failure. They aren't. I think there have been two diagnosed cases in the breed. So, there must be another gene which allows or doesn't allow expression of this gene. The thing is, DNA testing can be a wonderful tool, but the technology is still in its infancy. It's important to also look at the test versus the real life data. For instance, if a breed has PRA, and affected/affected dogs start showing signs at 14 or 15, is that a major problem? It's also important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The Basenji people learned that the hard way http://www.asca.org/advancedarticles/badgenes note that this is an old article, it appears there is either a test now for Fanconi, or coming out - not sure what the asterisk means.


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## Pawzk9

dogdragoness said:


> True, but if humans, a species who are basically "allowed" to breed indiscriminately have that many inherited disorders then imagine what a "controlled" group such as dogs, who's gene pools are closed off have? I agree, it is unrealistic to expect a breed to have 0 probs & I don't think we should try. If breeding carrier-carrier=carrier then it's not all bad.


Breeding carrierxcarrier could equal normal/normal, normal/affected (carrier) or affected/affected. Ever hear of a Punnett square? http://anthro.palomar.edu/mendel/mendel_2.htm
Smarter than breeding carrierxcarrier would be breeding normal/carrier or even an exceptional dog who is affected to a normal, though it would take more generations to breed all normal dogs.


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## DesertWindHounds

Cyric said:


> Through forced evolution the dog has several variants in its genes, some by design and others as side effects.
> 
> Humans breed like rats (sorry) with little or no concern for genes.
> 
> I'm just saying that it is unrealistic to assume a similarity.


The genetic variants that control the variable appearance and behaviors of dogs are only very, very small part of the total genome. 

What SOBs quote means is NOT that the humans for whom we have complete genomes are _affected_ by all these disease related genes and mutations, but that they _carry_ them. Mutations and defective genes are a normal part of being a living, biological being. Dogs are, likewise, living biological beings, and there is no reason _at this time_ to conclude they do not also have a similar genetic load. The difference between humans and most Western dogs, is that dog breeds are bred within closed systems, so dogs are far more likely to be affected by deleterious genes because they are inbred, they are doubled up on these bad genes. Closed (or mostly closed) populations of humans where interrelated marriage is common also show higher rates of hereditary disease than outbreeding humans.

Jess


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## reena1

I don't understand why the comparison would be unrealistic. They aren't. I think there have been two diagnosed cases in the breed. So, there must be another gene which allows or doesn't allow expression of this gene. The thing is, DNA testing can be a wonderful tool, but the technology is still in its infancy.


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## ps.dogfor

It's strange that dog breeders in the past 200 years have concentrated on artificially creating so many different "pure" dogs, instead of one ultimate doggiest dog with superior health, intelligence and versatility. Maybe this will change as we slowly begin to unravel the mysteries of DNA (we're at about 0.1% now). 

Last time anyone tried promoting racial purity with humans, it was the nut that started WW2. Just sayin' . .


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## ackerleynelson

Wow! This is really amazing.


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## SamC130

First, it was the British and French who started World War II when they declared war on Germany. Second, there have been many, many attempts at "selective breeding" among humans over the centuries, particularly among nobility (and it sometimes led to health problems because of inbreeding.) As to why breeders have developed purebred dogs, until the past 50 years or so, dog breeds were developed for specific purposes. I have a Golden Retriever who was bred to retrieve ducks shot over water. Pointers were bred to point game birds and herding breeds were bred to herd while hounds were bred to trail. In short, all dog breeds were developed for a specific purpose until the American Kennel Club started sponsoring dog shows.


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## SamC130

We used Wisdom Panel to test two of our three dogs (the other is purebred.) While there have been a lot of criticisms of DNA tests because people didn't get the results they expected, in our case with both dogs the test came back that they were predominantly Chow, which we already knew. There were some other breeds shown that we hadn't expected, particularly in our male who we thought was mixed with Golden, as did our vet. It showed no Golden at all but showed Shih Tzuz, which was a shock, and four other breeds that we'd never heard of. We thought our female was mixed with Finnish Spitz or Shiba Inu but the test showed German Shepherd and Cocker. Considering that they got the Chow right, I'd say the tests are fairly accurate.


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## StitchWitch

SamC130 said:


> We used Wisdom Panel to test two of our three dogs (the other is purebred.) While there have been a lot of criticisms of DNA tests because people didn't get the results they expected, in our case with both dogs the test came back that they were predominantly Chow, which we already knew. There were some other breeds shown that we hadn't expected, particularly in our male who we thought was mixed with Golden, as did our vet. It showed no Golden at all but showed Shih Tzuz, which was a shock, and four other breeds that we'd never heard of. We thought our female was mixed with Finnish Spitz or Shiba Inu but the test showed German Shepherd and Cocker. Considering that they got the Chow right, I'd say the tests are fairly accurate.


How much do those generally cost when you really only want to know breed?


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## SamC130

StitchWitch said:


> How much do those generally cost when you really only want to know breed?


 We got the ones we used from Amazon and the price was quite a bit lower than if you purchase them elsewhere. The normal cost is around $75.00. I think we paid around $59.00 apiece.


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## Amaryllis

ps.dogfor said:


> It's strange that dog breeders in the past 200 years have concentrated on artificially creating so many different "pure" dogs, instead of one ultimate doggiest dog with superior health, intelligence and versatility. Maybe this will change as we slowly begin to unravel the mysteries of DNA (we're at about 0.1% now).
> 
> Last time anyone tried promoting racial purity with humans, it was the nut that started WW2. Just sayin' . .


Read up on eugenics, it was terribly popular in the US _after _WWII.

As to the ultimate doggiest dog- for what? Hunting? Police work? Disabled assistance? Herding? Companionship? 

Beagles are perfect for what they do, the right ears, nose, coat, size, drive, intelligence. Beagles would make terrible police dogs. Chihuahuas make fantastic companion animals, but I've yet to see one hunting rabbits.



> Second, there have been many, many attempts at "selective breeding" among humans over the centuries, particularly among nobility (and it sometimes led to health problems because of inbreeding.)


Sometimes? No, all the time. Hemophilia is one of many genetic diseases European royalty were subject to. 

Today, the people of the Gaza Strip are being forced to inbreed. They're holding the line at first cousins marrying first cousins, but due to their inability to leave Gaza or get anyone else in, the entire population is related. One of the results of that forced inbreeding is a bizarre genetic condition in which children are born without a definitive sex. There is literally no way to tell what sex they are until they hit adolescence, which is wreaking havoc in the population for obvious reasons.


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## StitchWitch

SamC130 said:


> We got the ones we used from Amazon and the price was quite a bit lower than if you purchase them elsewhere. The normal cost is around $75.00. I think we paid around $59.00 apiece.


Alright, thanks!



Amaryllis said:


> Read up on eugenics, it was terribly popular in the US _after _WWII.
> 
> As to the ultimate doggiest dog- for what? Hunting? Police work? Disabled assistance? Herding? Companionship?
> 
> Beagles are perfect for what they do, the right ears, nose, coat, size, drive, intelligence. Beagles would make terrible police dogs. Chihuahuas make fantastic companion animals, but I've yet to see one hunting rabbits.
> 
> 
> 
> Sometimes? No, all the time. Hemophilia is one of many genetic diseases European royalty were subject to.
> 
> Today, the people of the Gaza Strip are being forced to inbreed. They're holding the line at first cousins marrying first cousins, but due to their inability to leave Gaza or get anyone else in, the entire population is related. One of the results of that forced inbreeding is a bizarre genetic condition in which children are born without a definitive sex. There is literally no way to tell what sex they are until they hit adolescence, which is wreaking havoc in the population for obvious reasons.



Wow. That's pretty eye-opening. I've never heard anyone bring that up before, and definitely not in high school. That's pretty scary.


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## xxxxdogdragoness

Are there any DNA tests that are credible? I would like to DNA test Josefina once & for all if she is "pure bred" or not. Lol


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## Jen1959

I have had all of my dogs, past and present, purebred and mixed breeds and they have all come back exactly as I expected, pure we're pure, mixes we're what vets and I guessed, with a few traces of random breeds mixed in. Wisdom panel cheek swab and one blood test done by vet, also wisdom panel


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## dianetavegia

I'm just curious what Daisy is since the litter owners (surrendered them to the Animal Shelter) said American Bull Dog and German Shepherd yet Daisy looks like a Beagle mix I'd like to get an idea what to expect, size wise. I prefer big dogs and will be disappointed if she remains short and small, tho I'll love her dearly. 

With this being rural Georgia, she's probably got more breeds mixed in her lines than would fit on an 8 X 11 sheet of paper!


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## Keechak

dianetavegia said:


> I'm just curious what Daisy is since the litter owners (surrendered them to the Animal Shelter) said American Bull Dog and German Shepherd yet Daisy looks like a Beagle mix I'd like to get an idea what to expect, size wise. I prefer big dogs and will be disappointed if she remains short and small, tho I'll love her dearly.
> 
> With this being rural Georgia, she's probably got more breeds mixed in her lines than would fit on an 8 X 11 sheet of paper!


the DNA tests in this thread are not testing for what mix is your dog they are for testing specific health conditions.


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## dianetavegia

Okay Thanks! I thought it was like the DNA they're pushing on Ancestry

Diane


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## ps.dogfor

I guess you weren't alive during the start of WW2, and didn't pay attention in history class. A declaration of war isn't what defines a war; a course of aggression against other countries is. The French and British formally engaged in the war after Germany invaded the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, breaking numerous negotiated agreements. Geographically, they had no other choice; they expected Germany's course of unchecked aggression to lead their eventual invasion.

Yes, human experiments in selective breeding of humans, started long before the nut that started WW2 promoted racial purity, ignoring all past failures and his own highly suspect genetic heritage. 

As far as questionable dog breeding goals go, you can't blame the Clubs for staring it. Competitive dog shows preceded their organization. Few working dog breeders prior to that time were especially concerned with "pure" breeding - they valued demonstrated ability and health over "pure" parentage. 

Sportsmen started the Kennel Club (UK) after British Victorians in the mid-19th century, had already started the trend away from useful/working dog breeding toward fad breeding of show dogs, starting with the conformation Dog Show of 1859. The explosion of breeds can be directly tracked back to that time and culture. The Kennel Club (UK) was founded more than a decade later in 1873, with the stated purposes of establishing consistent set of rules for governing the popular new activities of dog showing and field trials ( http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/our...tory-of-the-kennel-club/#sthash.U3zXf7Nk.dpuf ). The AKC was founded a decade after the Kennel Club.

Neither organization directly encourages development of new breeds, but merely recognizes some of them by a combination of their external physical characteristics and parentage - perpetuating the unhealthy Victorian attitude that appearance and parentage is more important than actual integrity. Only recently has there been an effort by clubs to block registration of dogs known to be carriers of generic health problems that don't affect morphology /typology (appearance). The KC has compulsory health tests for only 2 of the 200+ registered breeds- the Irish Setter and Irish Red and White Setter. 

Most "designer" cross breeds (cockapoo, labradoodle, etc) come from puppy mills and owners who aren't KC or AKC members. Few are breeds registered (recognized) by the Clubs, and are eligible for competition/conformation showing.


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## sandgrubber

Cyric said:


> Through forced evolution the dog has several variants in its genes, some by design and others as side effects.
> 
> Humans breed like rats (sorry) with little or no concern for genes.
> 
> I'm just saying that it is unrealistic to assume a similarity.


The mechanics of mutation are more or less the same for all mammals. There is no particular reason to think mutations are more or less common in dogs than in humans. Once a non-lethal mutation is into a breeding population, it is hard to get it out, particularly if it is recessive. What is different between dogs and humans is that selective breeding, especially inbreeding, in dogs reduces the diversity within a single breed, and increases the frequency of homozygous alleles in the average animal. Result: rare recessive mutations are more likely to be expressed in dogs than in humans. Some of these are harmless, some not.


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## V-paw

I did this with my girl. I thought she was just a super mutt but turned out that she had 3 almost pure dogs. One side was pure and he other was until he generation right before her. I can see the behavior and physical body of all three breeds. Everyone knew she was a cattle dog mix, from her face, so I was happy to see that was a main one. All working dogs, yippee... Much exercise..


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## Keechak

V-paw said:


> I did this with my girl. I thought she was just a super mutt but turned out that she had 3 almost pure dogs. One side was pure and he other was until he generation right before her. I can see the behavior and physical body of all three breeds. Everyone knew she was a cattle dog mix, from her face, so I was happy to see that was a main one. All working dogs, yippee... Much exercise..


These tests are not the same test you did on your girl these are DNA health tests which are totally different than Guess the mix tests.


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## V-paw

Keechak said:


> These tests are not the same test you did on your girl these are DNA health tests which are totally different than Guess the mix tests.


I did the Wisdom panel DNA test.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Keechak

V-paw said:


> I did the Wisdom panel DNA test.


Yes that is not the kind of test that this thread is talking about.


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## V-paw

What do you mean? It sounds like it's the same thing. I sent a swab test and all. Isn't that it?


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## sassafras

The thread was started as a place to list what genetic health testing is available for dogs, not the breed tests like Wisdom panel. Although it has sort of drifted in that direction.


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## Keechak

V-paw said:


> What do you mean? It sounds like it's the same thing. I sent a swab test and all. Isn't that it?


No, they are not the same. 
DNA health tests are for finding genetic markers in specific breeds to avoid passing on health issues when breeding. 
DNA breed tests like you are talking about are for attempting to find out what breeds are in your mixed breed.

Both DNA health tests and DNA breed tests are done with cheek swabs or blood draws but the information desired is very different, this thread is specifically intended for the health tests not the breed tests.


For example my purebred Australian Shepherds have been DNA health tested to check for hereditary cataracts and for the MDR1 mutation gene. I do these DNA tests to help make breeding decisions to make the next generation of dogs healthier.


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## sandgrubber

I like the idea of genetic testing and am happy to do it for diseases that I think are important, but I find the proliferation of tests a little frightening. Will breeders end up being expected to send of 20 swabs to different laboratories? Are we going to end up testing for things where the probability of a carrier is only a few percent (eg, narcolepsy).
Another worry: How good is quality control?
I know there are problems because I once used a dog (Labrador) who had been genetically color tested and was said to carry chocolate. When I used him over a chocolate girl there were no chocolate pups, and no chocolate points in a litter of 10. The odds of this are about 1000:1. I had a swab from this dog sent to another laboratory and he came out negative for chocolate. Color is trivial, and there wal little harm done in this case. But a false negative on some diseases could result in some awful outcomes . . .like a litter of pups where half went blind. Not to mention possible propagation of error where breeders use 'negative by inheritance' reasoning.
I hope some day some lab will offer a service that does a whole panel of tests from one sample . . . as happens with some blood tests . . . and comes up with a coherent genetic outline.


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## Laurelin

PennGen has come up with a DNA test for Neuroaxonal dystrophy in papillons!

http://www.pcagenetics.com/NAD/NAD-Announcement.pdf


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## Yorkies4Life

Laurelin said:


> PennGen has come up with a DNA test for Neuroaxonal dystrophy in papillons!
> 
> http://www.pcagenetics.com/NAD/NAD-Announcement.pdf


This is for breeders, right? I mean, if your dog has NAD, that is always fatal. This is about identifying carriers I guess?


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## Midoggies

On a SuperChem/CBC will the Thyroids level be examed?


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## Ann333

Pawzk9 said:


> Breeding carrierxcarrier could equal normal/normal, normal/affected (carrier) or affected/affected. Ever hear of a Punnett square? http://anthro.palomar.edu/mendel/mendel_2.htm
> Smarter than breeding carrierxcarrier would be breeding normal/carrier or even an exceptional dog who is affected to a normal, though it would take more generations to breed all normal dogs.


I found nice schemes with explanations here:http://www.animalabs.com/introduction-to-dog-genetics-modes-of-inheritance/


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## Diagat

We are very alert about its DNA or breading of any dog while buying bird because it show how its life will go and strength and your info is very helpful.


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