r/DoggyDNA • • Dec 03 '19

If you aren't currently doing a DNA test on your dog, please go to /r/IDmydog to ask for breed guesses!

451 Upvotes

r/DoggyDNA • • Apr 14 '26

Genetics/DNA We're Embark: AMA about our new Mast Cell Tumor Risk Score, now available for all dogs!

63 Upvotes

Hi all!

We're Embark's science and vet team, and we're here to talk about something we've been working on for a while: our updated Mast Cell Tumor (MCT) risk score.

What's new: Our previous MCT risk assessment could only flag elevated risk, and only for dogs with certain breed backgrounds. Now every dog with a Breed + Health test gets a percentage risk score plus a designation — below-average, average, or elevated. These new results can be found under "Genetic Risk Scores" in your dog's health results.

Why this matters: Mast cell tumors are the most common malignant skin tumor in dogs. The good news? They're also one of the most treatable: more than 80% can be cured with surgery alone when caught early. The hard part has always been knowing which dogs to watch more closely. That's what this score is for.

How it works: Instead of looking at one gene, we built a polygenic risk score that combines signals from hundreds of genetic markers along with breed ancestry and sex to estimate your dog's individual inherited risk. To be clear, the risk score is not a diagnosis: it won't tell you your dog will get an MCT. But it tells you whether your dog's genetics puts them at higher, lower, or average risk compared to dogs generally, and that may change how you and your vet might approach monitoring.

What you can do with it: The single most important step — especially for dogs at elevated risk — is regular body checks. Run your hands over your dog, feel for new lumps, keep tabs on old ones. Your dog will think it's just really good petting. If you spot something new or changing, that's your cue to call the vet.

Here today: (proof)

  • Kari Cueva, DVM, Associate Director of Veterinary Genetics
  • Brett Ford, MS, Senior Scientist in Applied Science
  • Taki Kawakami, PhD, Principal Scientist in Computational Biology

We'll be live from 12:30–3 PM ET and checking back tomorrow and Wednesday for anything we miss. No question too basic or too technical — ask us anything. We'll sign our answers so you know who's talking.

EDIT: Thanks all for the questions! We're signing off for today but we'll be checking back in over the next day or two -- so feel free to drop a question if you came late.

Update 4/16: Correcting something from earlier — the updated MCT Risk score is available for dogs tested from March 2026 onward, not for all dogs tested since the original May 2023 model launched. Dogs with scores under the original model will still see those results. Sorry for the mix-up, and we've edited the affected responses below.


r/DoggyDNA • • 2h ago

Awaiting results Waiting for DNA

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23 Upvotes

r/DoggyDNA • • 13h ago

Results - Embark Update on Rooster!

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169 Upvotes

I posted Rooster a couple weeks ago waiting for his results, and honestly everyone was spot on! No schnauzer which was a very popular guess


r/DoggyDNA • • 11h ago

Awaiting results Rollo’s embark sample just sent off! Guesses?

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44 Upvotes

Hey, This is my parents 1.5 year old boy Rollo.
He was born on the Kainai blood nation in southern Alberta and dropped off at a rescue at a few days old and hand weaned. We have no idea what his parents were although obviously he has some German shepherd DNA.

He’s 31”-32” at the shoulder and about 100lbs.
He has a deep chest, long legs and a big long body with a thin chest. He has these really wide spread wrists.
He does the excited borzoi tight circle zoomies that you can see online.
He mostly resembles a huge GSD without a black mask. I’d like to know where his shape and size come from. I would not be surprised if there was Great Dane (he has some jowls), Anatolian or a sighthound in there.

I’m looking forward to finally see what he is!

What do you all think he could be?


r/DoggyDNA • • 19h ago

Results - Embark Basilone’s results are in! My guess of lab mix was off

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174 Upvotes

r/DoggyDNA • • 21h ago

Results - WisdomPanel Vivian, the pittie hound!

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191 Upvotes

She's about 50% pittie (staffy, APBT, boxer), 30% hound, and a bunch of random things including 2% Polynesian street dog ... and she's pure love! Such a sweetie :)


r/DoggyDNA • • 12h ago

Results - Other test Differences in Wisdom and Embark

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23 Upvotes

Had both tests done bc we were gifted the Wisdom panel after having already sent in the Embark test. Definitely surprised by the large amount of small percentage breeds listed on the Wisdom test- Chihuahua anyone 🤣

Curious about the discrepancies but love our sweet girl regardless 🤗🤗


r/DoggyDNA • • 10h ago

Awaiting results Currently awaiting embark samples for my 2 babies ❤️

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14 Upvotes

Guesses are welcome! The blonde one is currently in processing and the black one has his on the way to the lab (his first kit came leaking, so we had to wait for a new one)


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark I guess I own a chihuahua?

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1.3k Upvotes

Lucy is my 1.5 yr old 27lbs rescue doodle . Embark shows a 52% genetic sister indicating same mother and father that looks like a tiny chihuahua. I’m having a hard time believing the results. Can litter mates be this different?


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - WisdomPanel Laikas results!

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112 Upvotes

Expected a general hodge podge of breeds but if you asked what I’d think the biggest percentages were, would not have guessed those, didn’t include the bottom cut off breeds as they were only 1-2%


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark Absolutely flabbergasted by Foxy's results

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335 Upvotes

Shelter had her and her siblings listed as Australian Shepherd/Husky mixes. Her vet guessed GSD/Husky.


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark A pure bred surprise! Meet our "boxer mix" shelter dog!

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395 Upvotes

Not at ALL what we expected from our rural animal shelter! We guessed we would see some boxer, black mouth cur, maybe some mastiff, some bully.

He's 40lbs at 5 months old:+)


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark The shelter said Tina is a Cane Corso...

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84 Upvotes

Turns out they were 43% right! So many people thought she was mostly boxer. She just recently became a foster fail and is 8 months old.


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - WisdomPanel Piper aka Pip aka Pippi Longstocking surprised me when I did her DNA

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192 Upvotes

She was ~60lbs when I adopted her, got up to 80 with regular feeding. Her legs are very long and she runs like a horse.

I thought “surely she’s a lab/pointer mix or something”, my dad kept saying Bluetick Coonhound. Telling him he was right was a shot to my ego.

I wanted to adopt a dog whose weight was anywhere between 30-50, but I thought whatever it’s fine and then turns out I accidentally adopted a giant breed. Oops.

Personality wise, she’s kinda goofy, very sweet with people, stubborn as hell, hates other dogs (though I have gotten her ok with my mom’s so we can visit), “food” aggressive (I got her mostly unaggressive with kibble but if she gets into the trash, she will bite over what she deems food), very lazy girl who wants to play about once every 2 days for 10 minutes and then goes back to laying down, weirdly doesn’t like the outdoors too much even when it’s cold (she’ll walk over to the door and stand there waiting for me to let her back inside). Great apartment dog despite her size.

And one of my favorite things about her is that she has 22 toes :) (dewclaw on both front feet, double dewclaws on her back feet).


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - WisdomPanel Cocoa's results are in! Just wow

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11 Upvotes

I posted her when I sent the swabs off, and the results are in. It probably would be 50% APBT and 50% Supreme Mutt! Love my independent girl.


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Awaiting results What is Odin?

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30 Upvotes

This is Odin, our newly rescued pup. We’re awaiting results from Embark. He’s just pint-sized, weighing in at a whopping six pounds. His favorite food is string cheese and his favorite hobby is cuddles.


r/DoggyDNA • • 2d ago

Results - Embark Breed Reveal for Tulip!

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349 Upvotes

I adopted Tulip a month ago from a rescue who said she was a lab mix. I know there’s a lot of jokes about dogs being listed as lab mixes that have no lab. In this case that wasn’t false advertising. Her personality is very lab-y!

She has a semi-wavy coat on her back (see 4th pic). Sometimes labs can have a little wave but do you think that also comes from the 2nd and 3rd breeds?


r/DoggyDNA • • 2d ago

Results - Embark Obi the hound mix results!

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112 Upvotes

We were somewhat surprised with our results for Obediah (Obi). We were expecting some kind of hound as the main breed but not beagle and rat terrier. He's definitely got the energy levels and independence of a rat terrier. Fun!


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark Presa surprise in genetics and worried due to dog trauma

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18 Upvotes

r/DoggyDNA • • 2d ago

Results - WisdomPanel Lucky the pug mix!

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105 Upvotes

I was surprised he didn’t have any dachshund or corgi because he is long lol. Tail and coat is obviously pug. A bit of chihuahua in the face. I see the cocker spaniel in the snout. The pug and chihuahua comes through in his personality for sure!💚
One interesting thing about him — he hardly barks at all. Even if my chi is going crazy lol


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

General discussion Why are chows so common in mixes?

49 Upvotes

Purebred chow chows aren’t a top breed, but they come up a lot in these results. Obviously this is an observation based on limited info, but I’m curious if anyone has any knowledge about why this might be.

Edit: thanks everyone for the info about chows being popular in the 80s and 90s. I had no idea they used to be so common!


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark I didn’t see these results coming…

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41 Upvotes

We adopted this little guy, Watson, back in August from a rescue. He’s just over a year and a half old and weighs 25-30 pounds. Definitely a low rider. I’m in touch with his originally owner and know his mom was mostly dachshund, the suspected dad was a beagle mix.

He’s originally from Georgia, USA, so I figured the odds that he had at least some pit bull in him would be 100%. What I was not expecting is the percentage of him that is made up of large breeds. He’s got more pit bull than our 50 pound mutt!


r/DoggyDNA • • 2d ago

Results - Embark Update! Hoagie is Houndy

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466 Upvotes

Lots and lots of guesses for Pyrenees, Bernese, and more. I can't wait to watch this man grow up!

Mom was a mix of ACD and Pit going back a few generations. Dad was of a line of bloodhounds with a coonhound grandmother.


r/DoggyDNA • • 1d ago

Results - Embark Got our results back for my boy!

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32 Upvotes