Why You Should Get A Dog DNA Kit

I’ve known our precious Sunday girl was a Goldendoodle since we got her. There really was no mystery when it came to her breed.

Not only did I know exactly who her puppy mom and dad were, but you can just look at the girl and her traits and know what she is. Thanks to Embark Vet for sponsoring this post!

She’s obviously a Goldendoodle, right? (Part Poodle and part Golden Retriever.) Plus, I really don’t even care what breed she is, she’s adorable!

But, I chose to get a dog DNA test for her anyway. Why the heck would I do that if I already knew what her breed was?

Why You Should Get A Dog DNA Kit

Finding out the breed of your dog is actually only a small part of what a DNA test does. What was most important to me was screening for health conditions. Over 50% of dogs are either at risk or a carrier of a genetic disease.

Unfortunately, I learned the hard way years ago that I need to understand my dogs health better up front.

We had a family dog for several years that we adored, but she passed away much too soon due to an underlying issue we never knew about.

Embark Vet was able to test Sunday for 172 genetic conditions.

They first showed me 14 genetic conditions that are really common specifically for her breed. Thankfully, Sunday is not at risk for any of those.

Then, it goes on to show me all the of the other genetic conditions they look for like, Congenital Hypothyroidism, Kidney disease, Muscular Dystrophy and the one marker that I wish I would have tested my other dog for: Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Had we found that gene mutation we possibly could have medicated her and given her a better life.

I was so relieved when I saw that Sunday was in the clear for it.

I do know, that if there were a marker for Licking Faces she would be off the charts!

The Thing I Was Most Eager To Learn

For Sunday, the gene I was most interested in finding out is something called the MDR1 Drug Sensitivity (MDR1) (Chromosome 14). This is a gene mutation that can make dogs have an adverse reaction to many different drugs. Knowing if your dog has this mutation is vital for treating them with medication in the future.

I was so relieved to know that Sunday does not have this gene mutation!

One of the other really great things, is that they compile all of this information into a detailed Veterinary Report for your dogs vet. This way your vet can add all of this information to their file and they’ll have it for future reference.

I’m beyond relieved to know that our Sunday girl is healthy and does not have a predisposition for any health concerns. We can just feed her good food, give her love and exercise and spend our lives together.

Go check out Embark Vet  – they are the highest-reviewed dog DNA test on the market, is the World’s only canine DNA relative finder (yes, you can find their brothers and sisters!) and has veterinary geneticists on staff who can talk you through your results.

I’m really happy we did this and will be completing a dog DNA kit on every dog we have from here on out.