It came to my attention this past week that some of you do not read the comments about my posts…LOL. In the post What’s My Dog? I had received a comment and a good discussion about DNA testing your mixed dog to see what breed it is made up of, from a representative of The Canine Heritage Breed Test. In all fairness to both companies offering this type of test I will post Theresa’s comment here so those of you that do not take the time to read or post in the comments section can read about it.
There is another do-it-youself test already on the market called The Canine Heritage Breed Test. The pet owner can order the kit on-line. It comes with a little soft brush that is used to take a cheek swab of the dog which then is mailed to the lab. In about 4-6 weeks, the mystery is revealed in the form of a certificate. Right now the test can identify 38 breeds but the company will expanding that to over 100 this fall. The test is only $65 plus shipping and handling! Go to www.canineheritage.com
I had questioned the accuracy of this test, which uses cheek cells instead of blood; however after further research done by me it seems that UC-Davis concluded that DNA testing is accurate with either type of sample.
One of the advantages that the Canine Heritage Test has would be cost since you do it yourself. In Theresa’s support of the Canine Heritage Test another advantage she mentions is that it is less invasive than a blood draw and that they do not believe that an invasive and possibly painful method such as drawing blood is necessary for this non-medical purpose. However, this can be overcome by having the Wisdom Panel Breed Test done at the same time you are having the annual blood tests for a wellness exam or heartworm check.
In either case I think it is an interesting test that could solve some dog owners curiosity.