22/01/2021
𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗗𝗡𝗔 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠 𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬
Unscrupulous breeders are taking you for a ride, they're taking your hard earned money for cross breed dogs you believe are purebred because of Embark DNA testing.
Embark testing is a handy tool for families of cross bred rescue dogs to learn more about the 'ancestry' of their dog - it's handy because you get an idea of what breeds are in your dog so you can understand their breed traits better and in-turn get a better idea of how to train and biologically fulfill them.
What Embark is NOT is a testing service to confirm a dog is a purebred so if a breeder is using a DNA report to prove to you their dog is pure you need to run very fast - the way to confirm a dog is purebred is by its Australian National Kennel Club (ANKC) Pedigree Papers. There are 'alternative' registries that have popped up over time such as MDBA, this is where breeders who can't or don't want to register their dogs with ANKC for whatever reason sit - so that should be a red flag for you to at least investigate further.
If Pedigree papers mean nothing to you, then that's cool, just understand the money you're paying could be for a cross-bred dog and if you're paying for let's say a Merle long coated French Bull dog for $10-20,000 that might not be a good investment.
𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗡'𝗧 𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠 𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬?
Embark's breed ancestry analysis incorporates a unique algorithm to create a breed population genetic signature based on a reference panel of registered dogs of a single breed. This analysis does not take into account phenotype (coat color, size, muzzle length, etc.) and can typically identify recent admixture to the great-grandparent level or to a breed contribution of 5%.
Thus, when determining breed ancestry, they look at sections of DNA that are identical by descent (IBD). These segments of DNA are inherited from a common ancestor, and their lengths reflect the time back to the common ancestor of that segment of DNA. This information is compared to a reference panel of dogs and analysed to determine breed composition. Because these segments get shorter and shorter every generation, Embark are limited to determining ancestry back to 2-3 generations (typically great-grandparent level).
🚨 What this means is that a breeder could have out-crossed to another breed to bring in different traits such as the Merle pattern, tan points, long coat etc. and then gone back and bred to the original purebred dog for a few more generations until the Embark test is no longer able to pick up the breed signature of the out-crossed breed.
So within just a few generations, a breeder has gone from a dog that could be sold for let's say $4,000 to a dog now that can be sold for $10-$20,000.
It should certainly be a red flag to you if a breed is being sold for more than an ANKC registered show dog.
When you purchase a pedigree dog, you are purchasing predictable breed traits i.e. how a dog should act which is very important for a family pet or simply a lover of a certain breed. When a breeder out-crosses to another breed then that predictability is removed. Not all breeds go well together, they may have conflicting drives i.e. cross breed a herding breed with a hunting breed and you may end up with some pretty serious behaviour issues due to drive conflicts.
If you want to purchase an on-trend breed such as the French Bulldog and you want to make sure it is actually pure, then I would recommend you select an ANKC breeder and choose one that does health testing such as Hips, elbows, spine and then the relevant DNA testing - https://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/dog-breeders.asp